The theatre was a magical place. It was a world like no other. Letty loved the times she was allowed to come with her father to the theatre. Later in life, when she reflected on her happy childhood, there was one memory that stood out. It would have been in 1839 because she remembered that she was almost 12 years old. Her father, the director […]
Imagine a canvas that is over 4 miles (or 6.4 km) long! In the mid-1800s, a few artists painted landscapes on such long canvases. Of course, if you wanted to do an accurate painting of the Mississippi River for example – or at least 1,000 miles of it – you probably needed a few miles of canvas. Panoramas depicting landscapes and famous battles were already […]
I was actually going to write about Augusta’s first love. Then I got curious about all the young men who were interested in her. In 1845, Augusta was 18 and her admirers, who had just started their military careers, were in their late 20s. Augusta and her best friend Lotten Westman met them at balls, theatres, and concerts. After Augusta left Stockholm, Lotten wrote letters […]
In July of 1847, Augusta and her mother visited the opera in Berlin. Berlin, 3 July 1847 After we had left Kroll’s garden, we went to the Opera where we saw the best arranged ballet I have ever seen, and where we had the opportunity to admire Madame Taglioni’s enchanting pas. So what ballet did they see, and who was Madame Taglioni? After a lot […]
Diaries are different. They are kept to document memories in real time. They are not like letters. Letters are written to let someone know what you have experienced. Diaries are for yourself; letters are for other people. When I read Augusta’s diary, I am sometimes surprised at what she doesn’t describe or discuss. On 10 March 1851, she went to the Royal Theatre (housed in […]
Since Saturday evening I am here in Stockholm, our Swedish Paris, the dance-hungry’s Eldorado. Our journey here was miserable; unfavorable road conditions for the sleigh and grey, chilly weather. We ate bad food and slept miserably in cold, unpleasant lodgings, chatted with drunk coachmen, drank mulled wine, and finally arrived frozen and exhausted to our nice and beautiful Stockholm where we took in at Hotel […]
“In February 1850, I returned to Stockholm in the company of Mother and Lejdenfrost. I was forbidden to dance, and when I did not spend my evenings with Ekström or the Bohemans, which was often the case, one could be sure to find me at some concert at de la Croix Salon or in a lodge at the Grand Opera House. In the spring, […]
“I spent the winter and summer of 1848 at home in deepest solitude, sometime interrupted by a visit from and to Krusenhof. In January 1849 I traveled, accompanied by Hanna Schubert, to Stockholm where we stayed with baroness Ribbing. Naturally, we had a good deal of amusement: balls, theater performances, and concerts followed in pleasurable succession. Lessons in singing for Mr. Dannström and dutiful visits in return for the previous […]
Augusta celebrated New Year’s Eve 1851 with her friends. She was 24 years old and life was still good: Today we were invited to Bååthens1. There were 10 other guests from Norrköping, and of the most boring kind. Luckily there was a tiny Mrs Lundmark from Malmö who was particularly talkative, just like the hostess, and as Gustaf2 and I made up the 3rd and […]