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Skansen
Stockholm, Sweden
ABOVE: A horse and wagon pass the Seglora
Church in Stockholm's Skansen open-air museum. INSET BELOW: A flower crown and a
folk duet.
 Skansen,
in the former royal park of Djurgården, has been
one of Stockholm's most popular attractions since it opened in 1891 as the
world's first open-air museum. And rightly so: It's a delightful collection of
farm buildings, houses, workshops, and other historic structures from all over
Sweden, displayed in naturally landscaped grounds where you'll also find
traditional breeds of Swedish livestock, wildlife, and views of Stockholm
Harbor.
 The name "Skansen" means "the fortress" in Swedish. In the early
19th Century, young Crown Prince Oskar and his friends had a miniature fortress
atop a hill in the royal park where they played military games. The property was
later acquired by Artur Hazelius, founder of the Scandinavian Ethnographic
Collection (now the Nordiska Museet), who petitioned the crown for additional
land that could be used for an open-air museum that would preserve Sweden's
material culture and folklore.
Skansen opened in October, 1891 with a single building, the Mora
Cottage. Over the decades, the open-air museum has grown into a collection of
more than 150 buildings from five centuries of Swedish history, organized by region
and displayed in authentic settings. Costumed
guides, artisans, and performers help to bring Sweden's rural heritage to life.
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Top inset photo by Beppe Arvidsson, lower inset
photo by Marie Andersson for Skansen. | |
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