Göteborg

“ Moreover the absence of any mention of ships in the fighting narrated in ll. 2922-2945 would be remarkable if the contending nations were Jutes and Swedes, but suits Götar and Swedes admirably: since they could attack each other by land as well as by water.
(4) There is reason to think that the old land of the Götar included a great deal of what is now the south-west coast of Sweden [15] . Hygelac's capital was probably not far from the modern Göteborg. The descriptions in Beowulf would suit the cliffs of southern Sweden well, but they are quite inapplicable to the sandy dunes of Jutland. ”

“ Here he built himself a house (Printzhof) , and erected a fort of heavy logs, armed with four brass cannon, called Nya Göteborg (New Gottenburg) ,—a name also bestowed on the whole place in a patent from his sovereign of the 6th of the following November, granting it “to him and his lawful issue as a perpetual possession.” About twenty emigrants settled on this island, with their families, including Printz’s book-keeper and clerk, with his body-guard and the crew of a little yacht used by the Governor. ”

“ Gothenburg (109) , the second town of Sweden, at the mouth of the Gotha, 284 m. SW. of Stockholm, is a clean and modernly built town, intersected by several canals; it has a splendid harbour, and one of the finest botanical gardens in Europe; its industries include shipbuilding, iron-works, sugar-refining, and fisheries; its licensing system has become famous; all shops for the sale of liquor are in the hands of a company licensed by government; profits beyond a five per cent. ”

“ It has an excellent harbour always crowded with ships, and the port is seldom blocked by ice in winter. The Baltic Sea near Stockholm is on the contrary blocked with ice every winter, and trade becomes well nigh impossible.
At the time that we reached Gottenburg there was an annual fair held in the town, thousands of people come from different parts of Norway and Sweden and also from Holland, were present there. ”

“ In midsummer the trip from Stockholm to Gottenburg usually takes three days, though it is sometimes accomplished in two. The distance is about three hundred and seventy miles by the shortest route, through the Wettern and Wenern lakes. Time, however, is no great object in Sweden, and a day or two more or less makes no great difference. The beauty of the scenery, and the diversity of land and water, render the trip one of the most agreeable in Northern Europe, and for one I can safely say it would have pleased me all the better had it lasted longer. ”

“ You have still some hours to journey before you reach Gothenburg, the second city of Sweden. The steamer threads its way through a crowd of rocky islands, very bare, barren, and desolate, with scarcely any vegetation. Here and there can be seen a lonely fisherman’s hut, painted red, and perhaps an occasional lighthouse. If it be a Sunday afternoon or a holiday, there is plenty of life. There in summer can be seen hundreds of men and women bathing in the water, or basking in the open air on the banks of the river or on the islands. ”

“ The city makes a splendid impression on one, as the streets are well laid out and the houses well built.
How bright and fresh everything appears in the King’s Port Avenue or the Allée, lined, as they both are, with rows of spreading trees and stately buildings! These are the fashionable streets and favourite promenades, where can be seen the youth and beauty of Gothenburg.
The visitor must also see a large public park—Slottskögen—where the working-men, with their wives and children, listen to the music of the band. Then there are the Botanic Gardens, which are also a pleasure-resort. ”

“ CASTLE OF ELSINORE.
“A journey of twenty-four hours brought us to Stockholm. We only lingered on the way to see the very fine Cathedral of Lund, the Oxford of Sweden. The scenery is not beautiful, but pretty—an exaggerated Surrey, low hills and endless fir-woods, with tiny glistening lakes.
THE JUNCTION OF LAKE MALAR AND THE BALTIC, STOCKHOLM.
“Stockholm has deeply interested us, and there is an odd feeling in being at a place and knowing that it is for once and once only in a lifetime. ”

“ To keep the memory of the founder fresh, the inhabitants have erected a statue of King Gustavus Adolphus in one of the squares. It represents him with big boots, military cloak, hat with feathers, and finger pointing out the site of the city.
The steamer has arrived earlier than was expected. You cannot leave the ship, as your friends are coming for you. You need not remain on board because you cannot speak Swedish. Nearly every intelligent inhabitant of Gothenburg can converse fluently in English. ”

“ This Protestant warrior king was the founder of the town;—or, more strictly speaking, the inviter of the founders. Under his direction and at his invitation it was settled by Dutch people who were commercially inclined and saw great possibilities in a city built at the mouth of the Gotha River. Gothenburg has prospered since its foundation and now ranks second in size to Stockholm ”

“ South of Gothenburg on the open coast are Varberg and Halmstad; and on the Sound are the three large ports of Helsingborg, Landskrona and Malmö. Passing to the Baltic, Trelleborg and Ystad lie on the southernmost coast of the country, and Simrishamn, Åhus the outport of Kristianstad, Karlshamn, Ronneby and Karlskrona on the wide Hanö Bay. On Kalmar Sound are Kalmar and Oskarshamn; and continuing northward, Vestervik, Söderköping at the head of the inlet Slätbäken, Norrköping, similarly situated on Bråviken, and Stockholm, far within the skärgård. ”

“ The town is situated, like all the towns of Scandinavia, on a fiord of its own name, sleeping with all the placid beauty of a lake; but there is so much monotony in the romantic position of the Swedish and Norwegian towns, that, to describe one is to describe all. There are one or two fine buildings in Gottenborg; and the many villas in its neighbourhood, invariably bosomed in thickly wooded valleys, urged me to remember an old tradition among the Swedish Laplanders, which has not been lost on the Swedes. They maintain the Swedes and the Lapps were originally brothers. ”

“ Helsingborg, itself, as I learned as a result of my climb, is a very pretty town with bright, clean buildings, magnificently situated upon the shores of the Sound through which many ships were passing. Below me, up and down the clean, well-paved streets moved the busy Swedes, intent upon their daily tasks. But as it was a clear day I also secured a fine sweep of the surrounding Swedish landscape, and—most interesting of all—had a clear view of the nearest corner of Denmark, Helsingör, as the Danes call it, but the Elsinore of Hamlet to all English-speaking peoples. ”

“ Roll, ye runes! see over Brunkaberg sand-ridge, where the Swedish people conquered the Danish host, there they raise the May-pole: it is midsummer-eve—Gustavus Vasa makes his entry into Stockholm.
Around the May-pole there grow fruit and kitchen-gardens, houses and streets; they vanish in flames, they rise again; that gloomy fortress towards the tower is transformed into a palace, and the city stands magnificently with towers and draw-bridges. There grows a town by itself on the sand-ridge, a third springs up on the rock towards the south; the old walls fall at Gustavus Adolphus's command ”

“ My experiences in Sweden were even more delightful in this respect than in Russia. At Stockholm I saw drunken men every day, and at Gottenburg it was the prevailing trait. The trouble was to see a man who was not laboring under a pressure of bricks in his hat. On one occasion I must have seen in the course of a single afternoon several hundred reeling home in the highest possible condition of ecstasy—either that, or the streets were so badly paved, and the roads so devious and undulating, that they made people stagger to keep straight. ”

“ If Gotheborg is not a prosperous town, Sweden will not support one at all, for it is impossible for any situation to be more favourable for trade. The river itself forms a secure harbour, its only fault being that vessels of heavy draught cannot anchor within a mile of the town. ”

“ Stockholm has not such a marked personality, such charming quaintness, as Copenhagen; but it is more, much more, beautiful, than Denmark’s capital. If the site had been selected, and the city all planned out by a modern landscape architect, it could scarcely be more charming. The place, however, is nearly seven centuries old and its founder, the Swedish warrior, Birger Jarl, was primarily looking for a good harbor, easily defended, when he selected the passageway between Lake Mälar and the Baltic, and proceeded to fortify the rocky, woodsy islands. ”

“ By the middle of the twelfth century there were a considerable number of people gathered together round the fortress for commerce and protection.
There is one man honoured by the people of Stockholm as the founder of the city. This was Birger Jarl, who was a King in all but name. He built walls and towers round the houses on the largest island, gave it the name and privileges of a city, and styled it the capital of Sweden. As he was a man of great power and influence, many more people were attracted to it. This city then took the place of Upsala, which before had been the seat of government. ”

“ The farm houses here were quite different from those in Denmark, both as regards material and style of architecture. The gaard arrangement was exceptional; instead, the buildings, which are generally of wood, painted dark red, with white trimmings, were unconnected, and frequently arranged parallel to each other.
As we neared Gothenburg the scenery improved; the rolling territory with its stones and stone walls gave place to a more hilly landscape with great rugged rocks and beautiful trees. ”

“ Any one acquainted with the bright little Swedish seaport, and the orderly, polished lower-class population of Sweden, will be in no hurry to draw analogies between their condition and that of our great, busy, turbulent Anglo-Irish towns. At any rate it is obvious that experiments ought to be made upon the most closely proximate cases which can be found, and, if three or four such towns as Birmingham, Bristol, Bolton, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne could be induced to try the Gothenburg scheme, it would be an ample first experiment. ”

“ But the richest locality as regards ancient ecclesiastical architecture is the island of Gotland (q.v.) .
Travel and Communications.—As a resort for foreign travellers and tourists Sweden lacks the remarkable popularity of Norway. The Göta canal route, however, is used by many; the uplands of Dalecarlia (Dalarne) are frequented; and the railway through the Jemtland highlands to Trondhjem gives access to a beautiful region, where numerous sanatoria are in favour with the Swedes themselves. ”

“ Gottenburg is not without a cathedral and numerous fine churches, nor let us forget to speak of its excellent schools, attendance upon which is compulsory throughout Sweden. English is regularly taught in her public schools, and is very generally spoken by the intelligent people. Education is more general, and culture is of a higher grade in Sweden than is common with the people of Southern Europe, while music is nearly as universal an acquirement here as it is in Italy. The population is frugal, honest, self-helping, and in many respects resembles that of Switzerland. ”

“ The falls are accessible from Gottenburg by rail in about two hours' travel, or by canal leaving the city early in the morning and returning in the evening, giving the visitor six or eight hours' time at the falls. Trollhätta presents one of the great curiosities of Sweden, to visit which tourists come from all parts of Europe. It is true that the hoarse music of these falls is mingled with the din of sawmills, foundries, and smithies,—but one need not specially regard them. A little poetical latitude adds zest to imagination, and we see the beauties and marvels which we come prepared to see. ”

“ LUND, HELSINGBORG,
GOTHENBURG
Gothenburg, Sweden,
August 15, 191—
My dear Cynthia:
As you see, I am at last in the land of the Swede,—a land even less known to Americans than is Denmark,—which is saying considerable. The sum total of information which most Americans possess about Sweden seems to be that Swedish girls make good cooks. Consequently, they appear to look upon all Swedish women as potential American “servant girls.” To be sure, in view of the fact that my ancestral roots sink deep in Swedish soil, I deserve no credit for such knowledge of things Swedish as I have ”

“ The northern railway offers a land route to the Arctic coast of Norway. Along the southern coasts there are many watering-places. Marstrand near Gothenburg is one of the most fashionable; Strömstad, Lysekil and Varberg on the same coast, Ronneby on the Baltic, with its chalybeate springs, Visby the capital of Gotland, and several villages in the neighbourhood of Stockholm may also be noted. The headquarters of the Swedish Touring Club (Svenska Turistföreningen) are in Stockholm, but its organization extends throughout the country, and is of special value to travellers in the far north. ”

“ A people’s library was founded by members of the family of Dickson, several of whom have taken a prominent part in philanthropical works in the city. The connexion of the family with Gothenburg dates from 1802, when Robert Dickson, a native of Montrose in Scotland, founded the business in which he was joined in 1807 by his brother James.
In respect of industry and commerce as a whole Gothenburg ranks as second to Stockholm in the kingdom; but it is actually the principal centre of export trade and port of register; and as a manufacturing town it is slightly inferior to Malmö. ”