In April 1846, Augusta’s friend Lotten writes to Augusta about a ball she and Erica Degermann (Lotten’s spelling) has been invited to. Erika was one of Augusta’s friends in Stockholm. The picture is slowly developing of the group of friends Augusta had during her teenage years in Stockholm. They were wealthy but not necessarily belonging to the noble class. Their parents invested in them so […]
It’s already August, but what a fun summer Kerstin and I have had. First, we visited places where our great-great-grandmother, Augusta Söderholm, had played as a kid or visited as a young woman, then we spent a night on a steam-engine ship, and then we traveled by both steam ships and steam trains. Back in Stockholm, we visited the city archives to find out more […]
I am reading Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, dated 15 April 1846. It is full of gossip about who is engaged to whom, who came to visit, and who talked about whom. There are so many names mentioned – who were they? “Do you know, I find Augusta Sjöstedt just as boring now as when she sat in school with open mouth and read German […]
Augusta writes a letter to her friend Charlotta (“Lotten”). Lotten lives in Stockholm and Augusta has returned home to Loddby from Stockholm. Loddby, 24 January 1847 …How many times I’m with you in mind, how many, many times I wish I had you here in my rooms, how many afternoons when the sun is setting and I sit alone in the corner of my […]
“Rowed over to Loddby and Augusta came back with me to Krusenhof. In the evening, Tante and August came over.” 31 May, 1848 Erik Hjort was 16 years old when he wrote those lines in his diary. Augusta lived at Loddby and Erik and his siblings, Aurore, Nanna, and Axel lived across a small bay at Krusenhof. I can see Erik and Augusta in the […]
At this time last year, Kerstin and I hatched the idea of making the same trip through Germany that our great-great-grandmother Augusta had made in 1847, and which she described in her diary. We thought it would be an interesting vacation trip. Then we realized that we needed to find out more about Augusta and her life in Sweden in the mid-1800s. We also wanted […]
Having left Stockholm, we were now cruising on Lake Mälaren and taking a little detour to view Drottningholm, the UNESCO world heritage site and home of the royal family. From there, we passed the island of Ekerö where Augusta spent a memorable Saturday in June, 1851 with three famous Swedish politicians and leaders: Gustaf Lallerstedt, A. Oscar Wallenberg, and August Sohlman. “The Saturday after my […]
Two weeks ago, Kerstin and I visited the city museum in Norrköping. One special exhibition just happened to feature historical buildings threatened to be demolished. And when we walked in, we happened upon a seminar about conserving Sweden’s cultural heritage. Both the exhibition and the talk included Krusenhof, the estate where Augusta’s best friends and neighbors had lived. Sadly, the Krusenhof mansion, orangery, pavilion, and […]
“The country side is so wonderful at this time of the year.” Augusta described her country surroundings in the spring – the blue sky, the song of the larch, the warmth of the sun – and Kerstin and I decided that after a winter of research, we should do an outing to Augusta’s home. Augusta lived at Loddby, an estate located just outside Norrköping. Her brother-in-law, […]
Loddby, 2 September 1850 This week we have been at Krusenhof and said goodbye to Eric. Our trips to this, my second childhood home, have begun again ever since my friends at Krusenhof [the family Hjort] have once more gathered in their home. How the road is dear to me and how well I know every single rock and every bush; they are all my […]