Marstrand
Summer and Swedish National Day arrived simultaneously today. As we made our dramatic entrance into the charming harbor from which this small island community takes its name before breakfast, Swedish flags and pennants - blue for the sea, yellow for sunshine - were fluttering in the breeze, lit with glorious sunshine. The harbor was once full of fishing-boats following the shoals of herring but, although there is still some fishing, most of the boats in the harbor are now pleasure craft. Now a fashionable summer vacation destination for yachting folk from the city of Gothenburg on the coast, it was the particular qualities of this anchorage that gave Marstrand its historic importance. Strong currents at the confluence of the Skagerrat and Kattegat prevent the waters in Marstrand harbor from freezing in the winter months. With the proximity of Denmark and Norway - neither country well disposed to their Swedish big brother - the Swedish crown chose Marstrand for the construction of elaborate fortifications based on the designs of the great French military engineer of the seventeenth century, Vauban.
Ironically, the resultant Carlsten Fortress - named after King Carl X - considered virtually impregnable by contemporaries and modern historians alike, was surrenderd to a combines Danish-Norwegian force in 1719. The disgraced governor of the fort who appears to have been overawed by the sight of the approach of the enemy paid for the surrender with his life. Back in Swedish possession in the nineteenth century, the fortress became a prison, housing the romantic figure of Lasse-Maja, a notorious thief and transvestite who was also a good cook. When Marshall Bernadotte was installed as King of the Swedes by Napoleon he visited the fortress and had what he claimed was his first good meal in Sweden. On being introduced to Lasse-Maja who had cooked the meal, the prisoner was instantly pardoned. At the end of the nineteenth century, Marstrand developed into a spa resort patronized by King Oscar; the king's bust can be inspected in front of the fine fin-de-siècle spa facility recently restored with funds from the European Union.
Summer and Swedish National Day arrived simultaneously today. As we made our dramatic entrance into the charming harbor from which this small island community takes its name before breakfast, Swedish flags and pennants - blue for the sea, yellow for sunshine - were fluttering in the breeze, lit with glorious sunshine. The harbor was once full of fishing-boats following the shoals of herring but, although there is still some fishing, most of the boats in the harbor are now pleasure craft. Now a fashionable summer vacation destination for yachting folk from the city of Gothenburg on the coast, it was the particular qualities of this anchorage that gave Marstrand its historic importance. Strong currents at the confluence of the Skagerrat and Kattegat prevent the waters in Marstrand harbor from freezing in the winter months. With the proximity of Denmark and Norway - neither country well disposed to their Swedish big brother - the Swedish crown chose Marstrand for the construction of elaborate fortifications based on the designs of the great French military engineer of the seventeenth century, Vauban.
Ironically, the resultant Carlsten Fortress - named after King Carl X - considered virtually impregnable by contemporaries and modern historians alike, was surrenderd to a combines Danish-Norwegian force in 1719. The disgraced governor of the fort who appears to have been overawed by the sight of the approach of the enemy paid for the surrender with his life. Back in Swedish possession in the nineteenth century, the fortress became a prison, housing the romantic figure of Lasse-Maja, a notorious thief and transvestite who was also a good cook. When Marshall Bernadotte was installed as King of the Swedes by Napoleon he visited the fortress and had what he claimed was his first good meal in Sweden. On being introduced to Lasse-Maja who had cooked the meal, the prisoner was instantly pardoned. At the end of the nineteenth century, Marstrand developed into a spa resort patronized by King Oscar; the king's bust can be inspected in front of the fine fin-de-siècle spa facility recently restored with funds from the European Union.
