As promised, here is my round-up of Stockholm’s bestest museums and galleries…
First up, the Vasa Museum!
The Vasa Museum, on the right, and Nordiska Museet
The Vasa Museet houses the Vasa, a nearly perfectly-preserved ship built from Polish Oak by Swedish King Gustav II Adolf in order to fight against his cousin, Polish King Sigismund (who had also been the King of Sweden twelve years before Gustav). Unfortunatley for Gustav however, the ship was built for disaster (apparantly it was poorly-balanced; a week before it was due to set sail, thirty sailors tested this by attempting to run back and forth across the deck two dozen times.
They only managed three runs before the ship began to rock dangerously from side to side) and on 10th August 1628, twenty minutes in to its maiden voyage and whilst still outside the Royal Palace, the Vasa heeled, allowing water to rush into the open gunports. This, coupled with the weight of the Vasa’s sixty-four bronze cannon and the fact that there was not enough ballast meant that the ship, and approximately 150 people on board, sunk having sailed barely 1300 meters. It is thought that around thirty people died in the accident.
And it is this part of the story that provided, as far as I am concerned, the most interesting display in the museum.
After the Vasa had sunk to the bottom of Strömmen , the top half of the masts, which had been sticking out above the water, were sawn off and the ship, and those who had perished on it, were all but forgotten about until 1956, when it was discovered by Anders Franzén, who had been searching for several famous ship wreaks for a number of years.
Amongst the wreckage was found the remains of at least sixteen people. Although none of the victims has been identified, osteological and archaeological research has enabled scientists to piece together the skeletons and create profiles of what they believed the people would have been like. Six skulls have also been used for facial reconstructions, so that you can ‘meet’ some of the victims. As I say, I found this the most interesting exhibit in the museum and the facial reconstructions were amazing.
On the whole, I did enjoy the Vasa Museum. It was definitely something unique to Stockholm and provided an interesting way to spend a cold morning. The free Guided Tour was a bonus but I do wish there had been more about the actual people who had been involved in the Vasa’s history, both before and after it’s sinking.
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