Local history, southeast of Sweden

Local history
the southeast of Sweden

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Blekinge - Between Denmark and Sweden:

from woodshed to naval base - now back in focus!
by Ingemar Lönnbom
translated by Eva Jonasson, Evas språkservice, Asarum.

Once upon a time, Blekinge was a major supplier of wood to other parts of the rather more poorly forested Denmark. Later on, large parts of the county became an important naval base. In a way that is indeed rather unique, Blekinge's role in history switches from peripheral to central.

When Blekinge, the south-eastern corner of the Scandinavian peninsula, became Swedish through the Peace of Roskilde in 1658, the county was no more than a remote spot of the Kingdom of Denmark. Its major export commodities were all kinds of wood products. Some thirty years later, the county had turned into a power centre of Sweden. The transition from "the woodshed of Denmark" to Sweden's finest naval base was not an easy process, but the people of Blekinge had long ago learned the difficult art of survival. Today Blekinge is once again back in a geographical focus - an inspiring challenge, not least for its trade and industry.

The picture of Blekinge that emerges in the first half of the 17th century is a county on the very outskirts of the Kingdom of Denmark, although with a certain strategic importance as buffer zone vis-à-vis Sweden. From the Copenhagen perspective an out-of-the-way spot, the inhabitants of which were granted a certain freedom as long as they paid taxes to the right king.

An illuminating example is the trading operated from the numerous little local harbours along the county coastline. according to prevailing commercial policy, trading at that time should be concentrated to the towns - in particular to Ronneby and Lyckeby. But the local peasant harbours prospered, and in the 16th century a Danish official report - commissioned by the King - seems to have realized that the rural trading was indeed vital: the poor people of Blekinge would never survive without it. Better a county with people paying modest taxes than a barren county generating no income at all, and rural trading was thus permitted in Blekinge even though rigorously forbidden in other parts of the kingdom.

An odd-job people

The population of Blekinge became something of an odd job people: farmers, merchants, fishermen - multifarious occupations more often by not performed by one and the same man. Trading partners were the inhabitants of Småland, across the northern border as if it simply did not exist. The kings of Stockholm and Copenhagen regarded this cross-border trading with suspicion, or even hostility. The Swedes wanted commodities from central Småland to be exported via Kalmar not out of Ronneby and other smaller harbours.

The people of Blekinge were no faithful patriots, nor were the Smålanders across the border. On several occasions when Denmark was at war with Sweden, the rural population in the border area made peace with one another in sheer defiance ' of their respective authorities. In these unofficial peace negotiations, the populations on both sides of the border promised each other not to participate in any act of warfare aimed at its neighbours. Kind of a declaration of neutrality, indicating how weak the emotional ties to Copenhagen or Stockholm really were. For these people it was of utmost importance to maintain peaceful relations with a trading partner living across a border that was all but non-existent for the people living close to it.

Historians used to emphasise the large differences in the living conditions of Danish and Swedish farmers. Not anymore, though - now, life is believed to have been rather similar, no matter which side of the border you lived.

Geographical focus

Following the conquests by the Swedish great power on the other side of the Baltic Sea, Blekinge suddenly found itself a geographical centre. The focus on Blekinge was of an economical nature as well, however. Unlike the Danish King, the Swedish authorities had no intention to let the people of Blekinge live in freedom. Control was taken on all fronts economy army and religion. The most important change was brought by the foundation of the two towns of Karlshamn and Karlskrona. In particular the heavy investments in Karlskrona, naval base, had enormous consequences. Trees were cleared, food produced, commodities imported, people moved, rural areas urbanised - all these measures with large effects on and damage to nature and people. One such example is that rather soon after Blekinge became Swedish, as much as one third of its population lived in Karlshamn and Karlskrona. Not until 1930 did Sweden as a whole reach a similar population concentration to the cities!

Is history repeating itself?

Sweden has been living in peace ever since 1814; also Blekinge's history has thus become much more quiet and peaceful. The memory of ravages, peace treaties and exposure is probably obliterated, but maybe lingers somewhere in the subconscious of the very soul of Blekinge? One large difference between then and now is that the odd jobbers are long gone - the diversified economy has been all but replaced by the more monotonous labour of manufacturing industries. Maybe, in view of the millennium, would it be time to once more strengthen the traditions ' of cross-border trading, co-operation and entrepreneurship? after the fall of the old Soviet Union, Blekinge once again found itself in a situation like the one of the late 17th century: the geographical centre of a large Baltic region. New and purposeful investments, like the one in Karlskrona in 1680, might turn Blekinge into a financial hub of this part of the world.

Photos (sorry, not available at this moment): Karlskrona was founded as a naval base in I 680, and rapidly became one of Sweden's major towns. Now the county administration has applied for Karlskrona, with its old fortifications, to become part of the UNESCO world heritage. The decision will fall in late 1998.

The fort of Kungsholm, with its characteristically circular harbour and historical role us " lock and key" of the naval base Karlskrona, has lately become a popular destination for tourists.

The oak, large and safe, has become the official symbol of Blekinge - the county that once upon n time was the woodshed of Denmark. . . .

" Skottsbergska Gården " is an old merchant house in Karlshamn, the smaller of the two towns founded by the Swedes once Blekinge was conquered. The town has long-standing merchant traditions: this was once the village of Bodekull, fishing hamlet and rural harbour long before I 664, when Karlshamn was granted its town charter.

Ronneby Church is a beautiful example of Danish architecture. It almost seems to be floating on its hill by the Ronneby square - once the centre of Blekinge's main commercial town .

An interview with professor David Kirby can be read in Swedish at www.galatea.nu/kirby.html

The ever changing borders of Scandinavia - a small introduction
Carolyn Swenson Gorr of Illinois and I have had an interesting conversation over the net. Here in an excerpt, that might be of value for you that have ancestors from the south of Sweden (former Danish territories).
It began when Carolyn wrote:
Thanks for taking the time for those of us who have Ancestors from your area but do not speak the language. I had a grandfather from Halltorp, Kalmar and a grandmother from Kristianopel, Blekinge. They met in Chicago, IL where they married.
What are the chances of these folks really being Danes? I thougt of myself as 100% Swede-American because my maternal side is from Varmland & Vastmanland. Just recently I read (online) where some Varmlanders came from Finland and some were Walloons. I haven't been able to trace the Ancestors any further back than 1700s using the Family History Center of the LDS Mormon church.

Yes, Carolyn you are about to discover one of the most intriguing problems in Scandinavian history - the multi-layer jigzaw puzzle our territories once were.
Let me give you some background:
Before 800 A.D. it is hardly relevant to talk about Sweden, Denmark or Norway as states. The Scandinavian territories consisted of small kingdoms. As you might know Smaland actually means The small lands, and each land might have had a king. This notion that you belong more to your surrounding "land-skap" than to the large nation is deeply rooted in the minds here.
Whether you were Swedish or Danish had little importance e.g in Smaland or Blekinge as late as in the 1500's. In the 1600's the rivalry between Sweden and Denmark led to a centralized governement, this is when you can talk about states in the sense we use today (some people might disagree with me now).
Finland was a part of Sweden between the early middle-ages until 1809. Finland was a part of Russia between 1809 and 1917.
Denmark and Norway were in reality one state between the early 1400's until 1814. 1814 Sweden took Norway by force and there was a union between the countries until 1905. Three important territories in Denmark, Skane, Blekinge and Halland were lost to Sweden after the Roskilde peace agreement in 1658. If your Kristianopel ancestors lived in Blekinge before 1658, they were danes in our sense, but they were formoust "Blekingar", Blekinge-people.
The ancestors in Halltorp has always been "Swedes" but of course most of all "Smalanningar" if you see what I mean. The danes never actually controlled Smaland for any length of time. There would be much more to tell, Kristianopel is one of the most interesting places in this part of the world, hope you will be able to go there one day!
Carolyn then urged me to tell more about Kristianopel. She has been there, but was not able to get the whole story about this exciting town.
About Kristianopel:
This was the place where the border between Sweden and Denmark met the Baltic Sea. Just north of here Kalmar castle (and subsequently Kalmar town) was one of Sweden's most important fortresses. It is no wonder Danish kings wanted a town in this region to match Kalmar. I don't know if you remember the old church-yard outside the town of Kristianopel to the north.
That is where the medieval town of Avaskaer was situated. It existed long before Kristianopel (maybe in the 13th century). It was not fortified but lay in the decievingly "reliable" nearness of Broemse-hus, an old fort with moat and everything. But of course the town was eventually abandoned, supposedly because of problems to keep the swedes out!
In 1600 Kristianopel was founded by the Danish king Christian the fourth. You can still se the net of streets (if you have a trained eye or are an archeologist...). But the people were slaughtered in 1611 by the Swedish king to be, prince Gustav Adolf, who later intervened in the 30 year-war on the European continent.
The town rose again. In 1658 Kristianopel and the rest of Blekinge became Swedish and Kristianopel lost its strategic significance.
This is why the small village has such a big renaissance church (and such a grand name)! There is still more, but this is just an e-mail! I hope you will be able to get the book about Kristianopel translated!
Then the subject of place-names emerged! You wrote: (I know that the "by" ending is usually designated as being Danish). Anyway, that is what my English professor once stated about the towns in England that have "by" endings.
Your theories about the -by ending are correct. The language spoken in Scandinavia was in the days of the Vikings called Danish tongue. Strictly speaking, Danes, Norwegians and Swedes are speaking different "versions" of the same language and can (not always easily, though) understand each other. (Icelandic is the old Norwegian - Iceland was colonized by Norwegians and they kept the old form of the language until present days!)
"By" is an old word for village. In Swedish it still means village, but in Danish and Norwegian it is more like "town". Town by the way is probably a loan from Danish to English, from the old word for the area around the farm. Yard is also scandinavian. There are a lot of -thorpe in English place-names, that is an old word for farm. In the 1800's it had changed so "torp" meant a very small farm or cottage away from the village, you have probably seen the profession "torpare" in the Husforhorslangds. That is the man who lives at the torp (but not necessarily owns it!).

Elsie Martin Ekstrom of Minnesota, writes:

Enjoyed your homepage very much. I am writing this e-mail message from the University of Minnesota where I am a secretary.
My parents both immigrated to the USA during the 1920s. They have their roots in the area your database covers. My mother, Margit Olsson, was born in Karlshamn 13 April 1911 and my father, (Bror) Erik Ekstrom, was born in Virserum on 25 December 1908.
My father passed away on April 18, 1995 in Albert Lea, MN. He made about 30 trips back to Sweden and particularly Virserum to see his friends and relatives. One of his good friends, Rune Petterson, works for Oscarshamns Tidning, and he has written about my father, and also about me and my daughter when we visited in 1986.
My father has about 100 cousins in Smaland so I imagine we are related to almost everyone.
My mother's family is smaller. She has a relative called Sven Davidson that we would like to research. In Tararp's kommun there is a stuga called Sven-David's stuga on Ramsjomala, where my relatives lived. This stuga was written up in Karlshamn's Allehanda. I have more particular information at home with dates and all.
I imagine the best way to get information on relatives is through the Family History Center. Is that what you did, or did you conduct research at Lund or Vasteras?
Manga halsningar onskas av Elsie.
Hello Elsie, I am so glad someone outside Sweden and outside my circle of friends have noticed my home page! (Now you can count yourself inside that circle!)
The world is so small! I have just waved goodbye to two american visitors, Duane and Harriet Anderson of Madison, WI. We have been to the House of the Emigrants in Vaxjo, wich I am sure you know about, and of course to my old home in Monsteras, Kalmar lan. Duane even have relations to Virserum!
And, what do you know, I have worked for Oskarshamns-Tidningen too, just like Rune Pettersson. The only difference was that I roamed the Monsteras country-side in search for news, as he did the Virserum surroundings. I think he is retired now, but I remember his columns very well. He used to write poems which he publicized when nothing had happened in Virserum!!!
It is so interesting to read about your father and mother. They must have belonged to the last emigrants before the rules for immigration were changed in 1923. I am afraid I will disappoint you when I tell you that I have no connections (that I know of) to either Virserum or Karlshamn in my own family research.

I have not done any research in Lund or Vasteras, but I have been in the castle of Vadstena, where the "landsarkiv" archives of Smaland are situated. But mosty I have studied church records on microfilm or fiche. There were no Family history centers when I started in 1975.
I must try and find the cottage in Tararp you mention - it is less than 40 miles from where I sit right now! I hope you don't mind if I publish our little conversation - I hope to accomplish that more people will write me!!!
Hope to hear from you again!
Ingemar

Blekinge - Between Denmark and Sweden:

Once upon a time, Blekinge was a major supplier of wood to other parts of the rather more poorly forested Denmark. Later on, large parts of the county became an important naval base. In a way that is indeed rather unique, Blekinge's role in history switches from peripheral to central.

An odd-job people

Geographical focus

Is history repeating itself?