Page 157 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sweden

EASTERN GÖ T ALAND  155

Museum. Local history comes Nässjö is just over 20 km
under the spotlight at (12 miles). Nässjö owes its
Jönköpings Läns Museum. existence to the coming of the
The museum also has a railway in the 1860s. At that
display of work by the local time the village had 57 inhabi-
artist John Bauer, as well as tants; today it has nearly 30,000
contemporary art. and the railway companies
Statens Järnvägar and Banverket
Environs are still the main employers.
Just outside Jönköping, Sights in Nässjö include
Hakarps Kyrka is famous for Järnvägs-museum (the Railway
its paintings by Edvard Orm. Museum) and Hembygds parken
Taberg, south of Jönköping, is with its woodlands and
known as “the Alps of Småland” collection of 18th- and 19th-
and is 343 m (1,125 ft) above century buildings.
sea level. The countryside is The twin steeples of Växjö’s 12th-century
stunning, with extensive views E Järnvägsmuseum cathedral
over Lake Vättern. Sights include Brogatan 10, Nässjö. Tel 0380-132 00.
a mine and an industrial museum Open 11am–3pm Wed, Fri & Sun; 12th century, but has been
and there are hiking trails and Jun–Aug: 11am–3pm Tue–Sun. & remodelled over the centuries.
overnight accommodation. It contains an altarpiece in
glass and wood made in 2002
E Tändsticksmuseet q Växjö by the glass artist Bertil Vallien.
Tändsticksgränd 27. Tel 036-10 55 43. Smålands Museum, with
Open daily (Sep–May: Tue–Sat). Småland. Road 23/25/27/30. Sveriges Glasmuseum (Glass
* 87,000. £ @ k n Residenset,
Closed public hols & eves of public Museum), depicts the history of
hols. & 8 = Stortorget, 0470-73 32 80. ∑ vaxjo.se the county of Kronoberg and the
E Jönköpings Läns Museum A bishopric as early as the 12th development of the glassworks.
Dag Hammarskjölds Plats 2. Tel 036-30 century, Växjö was granted its Next to it is Utvandrarnas Hus,
18 00. Open Tue–Sun. & 8 - = town charter by King Magnus which focuses on the mass
Erikson in 1342. For some time emigration in the 19th century.
the town lay on the border with
0 Eksjö Denmark and it was from here E Smålands Museum
that Nils Dacke led his peasant Södra Järnvägsgatan 2. Tel 0470-70
Småland. Road 32/40. * 16,000. 42 00. Open 10am–5pm Tue–Fri,
£ @ n Norra Storgatan 29b, revolt against the King of 11am–4pm Sat & Sun. Closed public
0381-361 70. _ Guard-mounting Sweden in the 16th century. holidays. & 8 - = 7
Parade (summer), Ränneslättsloppet Devastating fires, the most
Motocross Race (end Sep), Christmas recent in 1843, destroyed the E Utvandrarnas Hus
Market (Dec). ∑ visiteksjo.se town, which has since been Vilhelm Mobergs Gata 4. Tel 0470-70 42
rebuilt. The cathedral dates 00. Open 10am–5pm Tue–Fri, 11am–
The small town of Eksjö, in the originally from the end of the 4pm Sat & Sun. & 8 - = 7
highlands of southern Sweden,
is the country’s most genuine Emigration to America
wooden town. This was border
country until the 17th century Disillusioned by poverty, religious intolerance and political
and Eksjö was burned down by discontent, many Swedes in the late 1860s dreamed of a better life in
its own people in conjunction North America. Famine in Sweden, combined with the end of the
with a Danish retreat. In the Civil War in the fast expanding USA, prompted around 100,000
1560s Erik XIV drew up a new Swedes to emigrate in 1868–71, the majority from southern Sweden,
town plan for Eksjö, which particularly the barren lands of Småland. Another major wave
largely remains today. Gamla followed in the 1880s when
Stan (the Old Town) escaped 350,000 people left Sweden.
the fire and its buildings remain Nobel Prize-winner
intact and have been Vilhelm Moberg’s epic
trilogy The Emigrants
sympathetically renovated.
describes the tough life
Swedish emigrants faced
Environs in their new land.
About 13 km (8 miles) east of Emigration to the
Eksjö, the Skurugata nature USA tailed off with the
reserve encompasses an Depression of the 1930s,
impressive canyon in porphyritic but by then 1.2 million
rock, 800 m (2,625 ft) long and Swedes had already left Emigrants on the Way to Gothen burg, Geskel
35 m (115 ft) deep. From Eksjö their homeland. Saloman (1821–1902)
to the neighbouring town of
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp285–6 and pp296–7

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