Daytrip from Stockholm to Linkoping: Exploring historical Linköping,Sweden

 I stand gazing at possibly the best preserved medieval cathedral in Sweden, with the structure standing at over  100 meters high. ‘It took about 300 years for Linköping’s cathedral to be built this way!’, I exclaim to myself. With my mind replaying flashes of the articulate details I had just seen inside , including the glass sculpture of Maria and the ‘Tree of Life’, I turn to face the Linköping Castle.  How many changes and events might have been witnessed by this 12th century Castle! After all, this or the Market Square might have been the spot where the largely popular public execution of six Swedish nobles was held , way back on March 20, 1600…

 

September , 1598, Sweden. The Battle of Stangebro has just concluded, resulting in the defeat of King Sigismund of Sweden. His opponent, his uncle, Duke Karl, enters into a treaty with him. Sigismund chooses to leave the country, but a price had to be paid. Karl wouldn’t want any supporters of Sigismund in his kingdom anymore. Six of his trusted counselors from his ‘Privy Council’ would be handed over. In six days. Six days was all that Gustaf Axelsson Banner would get to be with his wife and their newborn son. Who knew what lay ahead for these brave noblemen. Gustaf bids goodbye to his family and is detained in prison at Gripsholm Castle, Stockholm for the next year and a half. He is then transferred to Linköping where the six noblemen are sentenced to public execution. An event that will go down in history as the Linköping Bloodbath. The brave Banner , the first of the six to be executed, steps up, makes a heroic speech about his innocence and his loyalty to Sweden, throws some coins at the executioner and bows down to prepare for his end. An untimely end at age 52.

 

 

I enter the Castle as I notice some of the jesters taking a break outside. The oldest part of the castle dates back to the 12th century though a lot of destruction, renovation and changes took place until the 1930s. Sweden was very different back in the 11th and 12th centuries; it was a unified Christian kingdom and later included modern-day Finland. You might associate the Vikings with Sweden (about 800-1000 AD) but there’s a lot more to Sweden’s history, particularly military history with Denmark, Russia and Norway through the centuries. I make my way to the old tower of the museum and am taken back in time as the jester guide takes us through the exhibit and tells us about the history of Sweden right from the time that Stockholm was founded by Birger Jarl in 1250.  The Old Sweden.

Located about 200 kms south of Stockholm, Linköping (pronounced “Linshooping”) is the fifth-largest city in Sweden (seventh-largest in terms of population) and is the capital of the county of Östergötland . Rich in history and culture , Linköping offers scenic beauty and an insight into Sweden’s political as well as industrial past.

As someone interested in history , mythology and culture, I had quite a few questions about Sweden – some of them like:

How did the people of Sweden live in olden times ? What would they eat and how would they dress up? What were their beliefs?

 

I was glad to get to know a lot more on my visit to the  Gamla Linköping Open-Air Museum .  This neighbourhood in the old town of Linköping is preserved as an open air museum to highlight the life of people from about the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. The typical red houses (with apt interiors), cobblestone alleys, well-maintained gardens (some with berry trees), classrooms and guides dressed up in the attire suited to that era – it all culminates into an enriching experience.

Dressed up in a white and blue costume from that era, our guide took us around the neighbourhood and gave us a sneak peak into the lives of the people a hundred years ago. As we entered into a house that still had several possessions of the family who once lived there, I noticed a lot of old furniture and pictures. They had also kept a bowl of coffee beans on the table and I couldn’t help noticing some kind of soup placed on the iron stove. ‘It’s made of nettles’, we were told. As Sweden was going through an economic turmoil at that point, people did not want to waste anything. Sometimes, people on the guided tour are also made to taste some fresh nettle soup.It does need to be cooked for a long time though. Depending on the season, visitors might also get to try some elderflower lemonade or gingerbread cookies made in the house.

 

During my time in Sweden, I noticed the variety of food products made of berries. Lingonberry jam, for instance, is a staple item in the Scandinavian cuisine. Many people would also eat it with meat balls. Blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are also commonly found growing in Sweden. I was glad to see some berry trees in the garden of this particular house we visited and also happened to see berry picking in action!

Another fact I got to know was that in the mid 1800’s, only the rich people could afford to send their kids to a private school. We got the opportunity to enter some of the classrooms in the school museum and see for ourselves the types of desks, slates and equipment used to teach the kids at that time. Remember how Sweden wanted to minimize the waste? Well, I could not believe seeing a rabbit claw being used as a duster in the classroom! Besides, they also had sand boxes on which the kids could write and erase with sticks.

While walking through the interactive open-air museum, we got to see several craftsmen demonstrating their skills. For instance,there was rope making taking place in the learning area and we were also introduced to the process of dying yarn using plant extracts.

Of course, you cannot miss out on the Swedish custom of having ‘fika’, which is a time for getting together, having coffee and relishing traditional cinnamon buns.And that’s what we observed in the cafe located at Gamla Linköping too.  If you visit Sweden in December, you can also find a Christmas Market in Gamla Linköping . What a perfect setting it must be!

To bring some more perspective into the timeline of Sweden, Sweden’s first electric railway opened in 1895. In the same year, Alfred Nobel wrote his will and declared his wish to award the Nobel Prizes for excellence in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. Interestingly, the Peace Prize awardee was to be selected by the Norwegian committee and it might have been so because Sweden and Norway constituted one Kingdom until 1905.  The 2nd Olympic Games were held in Paris in 1900. The first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901 in Sweden. Since then, the tradition of awarding the Peace Prize in Norway has just been carried on.

Now, in the 1940’s, Saab,the Swedish automobile company, moved into the area and started manufacturing planes. As  a result, the Flygvapenmuseum (or the Air force Museum) is a treat to visit if you love planes and history too. From seeing some of the oldest planes to seeing those used in the post Cold-War era and seeing models of houses from the 1950’s to 1980’s, adults and kids can easily spend several hours here. As of 2016, the entrance to the museum is free of charge.You can take bus no. 13 from the Linköping travel centre (Resecentrum) to the museum and get off directly infront of the museum.

Woop! Back from time travel. Time to indulge in some scenic views and enjoy some culinary delicacies of Ostergotland.

Where to eat, what to do and how to get to Linköping

If you visit Linköping, you ought to take a short ride and visit the Göta Canal, which hosts the Berg Locks, a renowned work of engineering. Apparently, it has been named ‘Sweden’s Greatest Wonder’. While you can go for a long cruise, you can also just hop on a bus from Linköping Central to Bergs Slussar, have lunch or ice-cream by the canal and see the boats pass through the Berg Locks which are connected to form a staircase. This system allows small ships to travel across 190 kms of the long waterway in Sweden and the canal connects many rivers and lakes to form an easy route from the west to the east of Sweden. Interestingly, this canal was constructed out of anger for Denmark-Norway when they started levying huge taxes for shipping goods in the Great Belt.  Today, it serves as a popular tourist attraction and you can hop on to a canal cruise to experience the mechanism first hand.

 

We enjoyed our lunch at Restaurant Kanalkrogen, directly overlooking a part of the canal. If you like fish, you should try out the specialities of the region like Herring or Salmon. As a vegetarian, I enjoyed a lot of delicious salads in Sweden. By far, my week in Sweden has been the only time when I primarily ate the most delicious salads ever with fresh and locally grown ingredients and absolutely loved it all.

 

 

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For dinner, we headed back to Linköping Market Square (Stora Torget) and enjoyed Italian food at Restaurant 1864. I was surprised to see they even had Limoncello (a typical Italian drink)!

 

Although Linköping has a small airport, you can also easily get a train from Stockholm Central Station  or even from the Arlanda/Bromma airports in Stockholm. It would take you about 1.5 to 2 hours if you take the train from Stockholm Central and about 2-3 hours if you travel directly from Arlanda airport. Besides, it is also easy to take a bus from Skavsta Airport or a direct train from Kastrup Airport, Copenhagen.

From Linköping Central Station, you can take bus 3,12 or 13 to reach Gamla Linköping (Old Town) and take a 1 hour guided tour of the Open Air Museum or simply stroll around by yourself.  As I mentioned earlier, you can also visit the Air Force Museum easily by taking bus 13  from the Central Station.

For visiting the canal,  take Bus 522 from Linköping Central Station to Bergs Slussar or Buses 520,521 to Vreta Kloster Kyrka and then walk a few minutes to reach the restaurant. For all updated timings and connections for local transport, you can refer to the Östgötatrafiken website.

I went for a day trip to Linköping from Stockholm and came back to HTL Hotel, but I would have loved to spend an extra day there as there was so much to see and do. If you are in the region and have time, you could certainly consider staying overnight. Some options I found online were :

Linköping –     Hotels

                               Other accomodation options

Berg Slussar – Hostel and Cottages

                              Hotels and other properties

Or you can sign up on AirBnB and earn 32 EUR for the apartment you book!

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and find it useful to plan your next trip to Sweden. Please do share the post with anyone who might be interested in knowing more about Sweden and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

 

You might also like:

Stockholm photostory – From sunset to moonlight

 Smart design hotel – HTL, Stockholm

Visiting Norrköping – just 30 minutes away from Linkoping

 

I am thankful to Visit Linköping and Swedish Railways for organizing this day trip and introducing me to so many interesting facts, stories and food. All opinions and thoughts are my own. I have a lot more to tell you about Sweden. But, until next time.

 

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