History of Sweden
An exhibition covering a thousand years of Swedish history from the 11th century to the present day. History of Sweden offers a new perspective on power and the exercising of power, highlights the influence of women, tells the story of minority groups and much more besides.
View of the opening scene in the exhibition History of Sweden. Photo: Christer Åhlin/SHM
Exhibition poster.
The History of Sweden exhibition starts in the 11th century, long before Sweden became Sweden. Each century is represented by a variety of dramatic scenes. A timeline runs through the exhibition, with visitors encountering kings, queens and other figures of power, influence and radical new thinking.
Well-known and unknown stories
For example, Gustav Vasa – who can be considered father of the nation and a tyrant – takes on the main role in the scene on the Reformation and the hereditary kingdom in the 16th century. However, the exhibition also offers less well-known stories about people, objects and environments that in various ways have shaped Sweden.
New perspectives
Among many others, we’ll meet world traveller Ulfair, who lived on Gotland in the 11th century and, through his travels to Jerusalem, came into contact with other cultures and schools of thought. We get to know more about the knights of the 13th century and about the female ideals of the time, as well as meeting Ulrika Eleonora Stålhammar, the woman who dressed as a man and signed up with the Swedish army in the 18th century.
The exhibition also provides new perspectives on life for the Sami and the Swedish Travellers over the centuries. There is the story, for instance, of Sweden’s colonisation of the north in the 17th century and the ensuing silver mining in Silbojokk, all told from a Sami perspective.
- Updated: 8 June 2010
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