Gustaf Fröding lived for 14 years in Kristinehamn at a number of places. On 22nd August 2010 it will be 150 years since he was born at the manor house Alster’s Herrgård, a few kilometres east of Karlstad.
Visit the water pump in the town square Södra Torget and read the delightful poem that the poet wrote about it:
The Parish Pump
Pump is flushing,
water’s gushing,
out it’s rushing
into pots.
In the square with sunshine on it,
basking skirt and bonnet
and with barrows,
buckets, dippers,
one maid skips and one maid trots,
shuffling grannies in their slippers
and with bare feet hop like sparrows,
little tots.
Gossip, chatter,
women natter,
bairns and housemaids titter, snigger,
noise gets bigger,
racket rattlers
town-talk tattlers
cause a hubbub up and down,
God preserve the town!
(Translation: Mike McArthur, Swedish Poetry, Brunskog)
The house at 5 Nya Kyrkogatan
This is where Gustaf Fröding’s family lived for 10 years.
Siri Fröding, Gustaf’s cousin, also lived in Kristinehamn. In her book My Cousin Gustaf Fröding she wrote, “It was quite delightful when, on winter days, we played in the Fröding garden, and heard Aunt’s voice call out “Come on in children, there’s coffee and freshly-baked buns!” We rushed at once into the big kitchen where Aunt and Mina had piled the kitchen table high just for us. A wonderful sight…”
Both of the entrances have their original doors, with iron grating in beautiful patterns. The building is typical of the kind of house that could be found in Kristinehamn from the middle of the 19th Century. As a boy, Gustaf Fröding had the end room in the attic, facing west.
Bernt Stenberg guides groups of max 12 people.
Bookings must be made in advance on +46 (0)550 14403. The tour takes approx. 1 hour and includes a visit to the graveyard and the exhibition “The Fröding Family in Kristinehamn".
The family grave lies to the right of the church.
You can visit it yourself, of course, without a guide.
Ticket information:
20 SEK/person
Bernt Stenberg +46 (0)550 144 03
Route:
5 Nya Kyrkogatan
