Sweden's youngest city, walking tour of Säffle
Welcome! Today we're going for a walk in Säffle. To be honest, before visiting I mostly knew Säffle as a city mentioned in a Swedish skit from the 1970s. The skit "Spik i foten" mentions Säffle as a less the impressive travel destination. Unfortunately there's no way I'd be able do the skit justice by trying to re-tell it here in text.
I was hoping I'd find some version of it here on youtube (preferably with subtitles) that I could share. But for some reason the only version I found on here had the last part, where Säffle is mentioned, removed. But enough about the skit, now we're about to arrive at "Stortorget" (the main square). "Stortorget" had been used as a town square since some time around 1875. Here we have the sculpture Tintomara made by the artist Liss Eriksson in 1979. Next up is a sign about how the main square has changed over the years.
The building in the top left image is the old pharmacy built in 1903, it burned down in 1966, while it was being demolished. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of the old buildings around the square remaining. But at least there's this one, "Viktorinska huset" (the Viktorin house) built in 1899. The name of the building comes from the merchant who had it built. One of the oldest shops in Säffle, "Holgers Konditori" (Holger's patisserie), has been active in the building since 1933.
But even before that, ever since 1902, there has been different patisseries located there. In the information sign we're about to see there's some information on trade at the main square. And this sign includes an image of the inside of the old patisserie.
Säffle is the youngest city in Sweden, it is the last city to receive city privileges, which it did in 1951. Though, as you might have imagined, people had been living here long before Säffle gained their city privileges. There has been findings showing that people have lived in the area since the (Nordic) iron age. We'll be walking past an old burial mound later that is an example of that. This is "Silvenska villan", named after Ernst Hugo Teodor Silvén who had it built 1915-1916.
The house in front of us was built in 1907 or 1911 (different sources claim different things). I think the architect was Alfred Nilsson, but the information I've found on the building is very limited. It was sold at the beginning of 2024 and it seems that the price payed was 1700000 SEK (around 150000 USD).
Back to the history of Säffle. Säffle in the early days started out as a marketplace. The earliest know written mention of Säffle dates all the way back to 1455, at that time written as Saefigla. But back then Saefigla was the name of an estate, located about 1 km (0.6 miles) south of the city center. For a while, the marketplace went by the name of "Knussedh" or "Knusesund".
It was after the construction of Säffle canal, in the 1830s, that Säffle really started to grow. In 1882 Säffle became a so called "köping" which was a form of market town with less privileges than a city. And as mentioned previously, in 1951 it became the last city to receive city privileges. In 1971, Sweden abolished city privileges as part of a reform in the administration of cities and municipalities. Meaning that Säffle will forever remain the last city in Sweden to receive city privileges (unless they are re-introduced). The sign we just saw mentioned a big fishing event that used to happen in spring, when the fish travelled up the river.
With the largest picture on the sign showing the event at around the year 1900. The sign also had a photo from the old mill built in 1858, sadly the mill was demolished in 1953. This place we're currently in seems to simply be called "lusthuset" (the gazebo) or "grottan" (the cave). It belongs to the previously mentioned "Silvenska villan" And here can read a bit more about the "SIlvenska Villan", it seems the architect was Arvid Bjerke.
We can also read a little about Gustaf Silvén, who founded a shipping business in Säffle. Gustaf Silvén was the father of Hugo Silvén, who built"Silvenska villan" after taking over his fathers business. One of the ships belonging to the Silvén business was the "Olof Trätalja" (we will get back to that name later). The "Olof Trätalja" ship was a steam boat built in 1879 and it's still in use today. It not just the oldest active ship in Sweden, it's one of the oldest commercially active freight ships in the world.
In 1953 the steam engine was replaced with a diesel engine, so it's no longer running on steam. Olof Trätalja that the boat was named after was an old king of the Yngling dynasty. Though it seems most historians agree that Olof Trätalja was a mythological person, rather than a historical one.
The Yngling dynasty were said to have been the decendants of the norse god Yngvi-Freyr. The burial mound I mentioned earlier, that we wil see later, is called "Olof Trätäljas hög" (Olof Trätäljas mound). But since he's most likely a fictional king, it's unlikely that he is actually buried there. There's also the fact that in the earliest known mention of that name dates back to the 1770s. In 1683 the burial mound was instead referred to as "Knutsbacken" (the Knuts hill). But as mentioned earlier, we will arrive at that burial mound a bit later.
The building currently on our left has a history dating back to the 1820s, though originally it only had one floor. It was originally built as a millers residence, giving it the name "mjölnarstugan" (the millers cottage). Now we're crossing the Säffle canal, construction of the canal started in 1835 and it was completed in 1837. The person behind the construction of the Säffle Canal was Baltzar von Platen.
If you've seen my video from Motala, you might recognize the name Baltzar von Platen as the creator of Göta Canal. Säffle Canal connected Sweden's largest lake Vänern with the lake Glafsfjorden. The canal spurred the growth of not only Säffle but also Arvika, a town at the northern side of Glafsfjorden. This place we're at right now is called "Kanaltorget" (The canal square). Here we can see a few photos of how the square looked in the early 20th century. The two lower images showed the canal bridge from the 1950s. In 1961 a new, wider, canal bridge was built.
Here is the town hall of Säffle, it was designed by Nils Einar Eriksson. The inauguration of the town hall was on the 20th November in 1954. And for now I've run out of things to say, I'll be back soon when we reach another area with things to talk about.
The building on our right side was built 1917-1918 and at that time it was the main office of Billerud. Billerud is a company that was established in 1883 here in Säffle for the production of sulfite pulp The company still exists but they have since then moved out of this building. Now it's used as office space by Askås, a company that develops e-commerce solutions.
Here is the Säffle railroad station. I think it was built in the 1870s. Usually the history of railroad stations is among the easiest information to find when I visit different places. But for some reason I've barely managed to find any information on this station when searching online.
The building on our left side was built 1901, but sadly that's about all the information I have on it. That information comes from a list of old buildings the Säffle municipality wants to protect. And as so often is the case, I only stumbled onto that list now, after I had completed my walk. It makes me want to revisit Säffle for a second walk, since it made me realize I missed some interesting places. According to the same list of old buildings, the building coming up on our left was built in 1885. And it seems it used to house a bed manufacturer.
This building was built in 1898 and used to house "Centralhotellet" (the central hotel). Since 1927, the building has been used by the Odd Fellow ordern. This information sig tells us that we've arrived at Säffle Kyrka (The Säffle church) The church was built 1963-1965 and it was designed by the architect Gunnar Bornö. There is a detached bell tower with three church bells that was built in 1985.
This building is the former "Västra skolan" (western school) built in 1899 and designed by Andreas and Adolf Collin. It seems it was also called Trätäljaskolan (The Trätälja school), referencing the previously mentioned Olof Trätälja. Now it's home to a youth center called "Ungdomens hus" (the house of youth).
Here we have to old Säffle water tower, built in 1914 and designed by Ivar Tengbom. The text "Konst" on the tower translates to art, hinting at the towers current usage as an art gallery. And here we finally have the old "Olof Trätälja" burial mound.
Since it's higly unlikely that Olof Trätälja is actually buried here, it's unknown who the mound was made for. It's estimated to have been created some time around 600-1050 A.D. Here we have the Säffle methodist church, built in 1880 and designed by Johannes Wiel. At first the building did not have a tower, the tower was added in 1916. The sign on the industri building on our right side says 1899, so I guess that is when it was built.
Unfortunately I have not been able to find out anything else about the building. Here is the south inlet to Säffle Canal. The large photo on this sign shows how the area look around the year 1900. The two smaller photos shows people fishing, which was an important source of food at the time.
This is the only lock in the Säffle canal. That building is "Kanalvillan" (the canal house), it was built in the 1840s. Kanalvillan was built both as an office for the canal company as well as a residence for the companys director. On this sign we have some more old photos of the canal area, though the sign doesn't mention the exact age of them. Only the photo in the lower left, from a fishing contest, mentions that it was taken in 1956. It seems the fishing contests were a popular event in the 1950s due to the contest having amazing prizes.
In 1956, the year the photo was taken, the first prize was a car. This memorial stone was placed here in 1912, on the 75 year anniversary of the opening of the Säffle Canal. Here is another sign with some old photos, the largest photo is from around the year 1900.
The house in the middle of the photo dates back to the 17th century. That house was, sadly, demolished in 1906 to make room for a new bridge. The top right image on the sign was from 1910 when they did some work on the canal.
I saw this sign and approached it hoping for some interesting historical facts or photos. Sadly, it was only an information sign for people wanting to fish in the river. This building is "Stenmagasinet" (the stone warehouse) It was built around 1785 as a water mill. In 1821 they installed a steam engine and added a floor to the building. The mill was never successful and after the canal was built the building was used as a warehouse.
After the building was renovated in the 1990s it has been used as a restaurant. Here we have another sign with some old photos, it seems the photo on the lower left is the oldest photo of Säffle. This sign also mentions that "Stenmagasinet" is the oldest building in Säffle. This sign mentions the Säffle Zoo, it's a collection of animal sculptures made of metal net by the artist Eka Acosta. The sign also asks you how many you can find, so, how many did you spot during the walk? I have to admit I did not spot a single one while I was walking around the town. And what's worse, I completely forgot to look for them while adding these subtitles.
So even now, the only ones I know of are the ones we will have in front of us when we end the walk. And now we're approaching the end of this walk, I hope you've enjoyed it! Thank you for watching!
2024-11-30 16:22
