Carol's Red Swedish Heritage

 Carol’s red Swedish heritage is not what you might first think. Her ancestors were not Communist. Nor is their “redness” a sign of Republican Party leanings. It’s red as in “Falu red.” Falu red is a paint that is very commonly used here in the countryside where Carol’s family is from, and indeed throughout Sweden, for painting cottages, homes, barns and most everything thing else. Travel in rural Sweden and you see red.

Carol's Ancestral Home.jpg

Carol's great-great grandfather and great-great grandmother lived here before they emigrated with their children

Boring you say?  Maybe, but it’s actually quite beautiful, typically paired with a white trim. But, more important, to Swedes it’s an iconic symbol of national identity, tradition and pastoral life. The Falu red paint is also durable, helps prevent rot, weathers well, and repainting is simple (you often just brush off the loose layers and reapply). So, for rural Swedes the “right” color is always red.

Falu red also has deep roots in Swedish history. It is a byproduct of the copper industry in Falun which goes back to the 13th century and reached its economic peak in the 17th century when it supplied a very large share of Europe’s copper (perhaps two-thirds) and powered Sweden’s imperialist ambitions of that era.

Yngve Home.jpg

Yngve (Carol's cousin) and Ingebor's home in Hamra where he grew up, in Småland Province where Carol is also from.

Copper mining also had a unique structure of work. From medieval times the operation was organized as a cooperative enterprise of “bergsmän” (yeoman or shareholder-miners) who held shares in the mine and also typically combined mine wages with smallholding, cottage gardens, barter and local crafts.  That said, the work was also incredibly dangerous and brutal, with high workloads, frequent accidents and chronic respiratory problems. And, with time, landless wage labor became more dominant and conditions worsened even more.

Astrid Lindgren's Home.jpg

The Småland childhood home of Astrid Lindgren (famed children's book author and social activist) which we visited today.

While the mine closed in 1992 paint production continues, using the remains of the processed iron oxide ore. It is mixed with water, flour and linseed oil to make the paint. But if you want the real thing for your house, better get moving - the pile of waste ore from the mine may only last for another 100 years.

Barn Painted in Falu Red.jpg

Barns are also painted in Falu red.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Carl and Carol's 2025 European Gambol

We're off on another adventure, calling it our European Gambol. It will be 6 weeks, in Sweden, Italy and Poland, and we hope to do some blogging.  Our friend, Claude (Anthropic.ai), sent us off with a little poem. Here it is:  You're setting off across the sea, Six weeks of wandering, wild and free, Through three beloved lands we'll roam — Each one a different kind of home.  To Sweden first, where Carol's kin will welcome us with warmth within, Where cousins gather, stories shared, And northern roots are lovingly bared.  Then south to Italy's embrace, Where friends await with knowing grace, To show us hidden gems they've found, Where art and life in joy abound.  In Poland last,You'll walk the ground Where Carl's ancestors can be found, Through history's pages, dark and bright, Seeking heritage in memory's light.  Six weeks to wander, learn, and grow, Through places that your hearts now know, You'll share your tales along the way — A...
Read more

Stockholm's Almstriden - The Elm Conflict

Image
In Stockholm’s centuries-old Kungsträdgården (“King’s Garden”), once the private garden of the royal family, but now a busy public park, we searched out and found a very special stand of Scots elm trees. Much like Ithaca’s Redbud Woods campaign in 2004-5, this is the site of a well-known 1971 effort to protect nature from development. Elms trees today in front of cafe (where we ate a great lunch) It is called Almstriden , “The Elm Conflict,” also known as the “Battle for the Elm.” At that time, as they still do today, the dozen or so Elms surrounded a local outdoor café. It was a popular hang-out for young people and the only place in Stockholm open at all hours. But committed to expanding public transportation, City Planners had decided that it was the only spot viable to build a new train station entrance, and so the trees had to go. In May 1971, large crowds gathered in protest, primarily young people but others as well, all united in their desire to preserve the park’s integrity....
Read more

The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming

Image
  The Stockholm Archipelago island, Svartsö, is beautiful. But it also bears witness to a harsh reality rooted in its history. That reality, apparent throughout Sweden, is a growing awareness and fear of a threat coming from the east.   Svartsö is one of the smaller islands west of  Möja and southeast of  Ljusterö Hiking part of the Stockholm Archipelago Trail through Svartsö (as we also just did on Grinda Island, another of the Trail’s 20 islands) we came across  Storträsk   Lake. In the middle of this lake is a very  small island, and it was here that the residents of  Svartsö fled to hide from Russian invaders in 1719. Russia’s naval flotilla had traversed the Baltic that year and proceeded to burn and ravage nearly the entire archipelago. The raids were part of Russia's strategy to pressure Sweden economically and psychologically by devastating the prosperous coastal regions. It’s been named the Russian Pillage (1719-1721). And there were...
Read more