Ett år sedan vi avreste på vår tidsresa tillbaka till 1847

 

28 september 2017 avreste Sara och jag med tåg från Stockholms central. Det var första dagen på en två veckors resa till Tyskland och en tidsresa tillbaka till 1847.

Det var då Augusta Söderholm, vår farmors mormor, gjorde sin första och enda utlandsresa.  Augusta var 19 år och började på avresedagen skriva dagbok. Det var den dagboken som inspirerade oss att göra vår resa och vi använde den som vår reseguide. Det blev en helt fantastisk, vacker och intressant resa där vi 170 år senare reste i hennes fotspår, klädda på samma sätt och så gott det gick gjorde och såg samma saker. Augusta och hennes mamma tillhörde den första generationen turister.

Vår resa hade vi förberett under ett år både med research av livet på 1840/50-talet och sömnad av en hel resegarderob. Vi hade på försommaren även gjort en testresa, fyra dagar på Göta Kanal enligt dagbokens beskrivning från 1850.

Under två höstveckor skulle vi försöka hinna med samma resa som Augusta gjorde på två månader. Besök på slott och muséer, operabesök, vandring i bergen och inte minst hennes första tågresa från Schwarzenbeck ( I Sverige fanns ännu ingen järnväg)

För oss blev Augustaresorna (även Göta kanalresan) inte enbart nöjesresor, utan starten till ett fördjupat intresse för vår egen historia under 1800-talet. Vi fortsätter vår research och våra ”Augustautflykter”  för att lära mer om denna tid och de människor som satte fotspåren vi följer.

Och vi fortsätter med att blogga om våra upptäckter, Sara på engelska och Kerstin på svenska. Tack för att du följer vår resa!

The Wild Strawberry Patch at Händelö

When Augusta and her mother visited spas in the summer, they referred to their visits as summer séjours. So this year, Kerstin and I decided on a summer séjour where we would visit places with connections to Augusta. It would be a four-day trip, by car, dressed as in the 1840s.

Day 1. Händelö

Hendelö
Händelö

On 26 June, we get in the car – happy that we don’t have hoop skirts. The two layers of petticoats and all the four yards of cloth in the skirts still fill all the space in the front seats. We are really excited to take off on our summer séjour! Every time we travel in Augusta’s footsteps, we meet interesting people and have a lot of fun.

Our first stop is Händelö.

“Did you read about Händelö in Augusta’s diary?” Kerstin asks.

”Yes, I did. ”

But I have to admit that it had not seemed too important when I read it. What I do remember, however, is a seminar we attended in Norrköping last year. It was a talk about historical buildings threatened to be demolished. One of those was Krusenhof, the estate where Augusta’s best friends and neighbors had lived. Another one was an estate close to Norrköping – Händelö. But what was the connection to Augusta?

Augusta’s Diary, Loddby, 1850

“Nothing out of the ordinary has happened here except for the fact that we on the 13th of August traveled to Hendelö where we spent a rather pleasant afternoon in the company of the Theodors.”

Kerstin has done her research and explains as we continue our drive south on the E4.

“The Theodors was the family of Frans Theodor Osbeck. He was the husband of Augusta’s cousin’s daughter, Albertine Schubert.“

“Yes, I remember their engagement.”

”And Theodor’s dad’s sister, Sofia Charlotta, was married to Ernst Fredrik Munck who was renting Händelö,” she continues. “Can you look up who the owner was?”

I search for the history of Händelö on my iPhone. There are several links because there is an interest in saving this estate from further neglect and from the threat of demolition.

“It was owned by the minister of foreign affairs, Baron Gustaf Adolf Stjerneld at Lindö,“ I read. ”There is also more recent history about the place being used as a drug rehabilitation center.”

It is not hard to find Händelö. There is a sign, and we exit. Then we take a turn into what would have been the road up to the estate. I can imagine Augusta and her family in the carriage driving up the same road.

A bouquet of wildflowers
Picking a bouquet of wildflowers

Suddenly we get to where the road is overgrown and we can only guess where it must have continued under the tall trees. We park in the grass and get out. The grass is tall and interspersed with a rainbow of wildflowers – bluebells, red clover, yellow St. John’s wort, and lady’s bedstraw. But all I can think about are the presence of ticks. I do have a well-founded fear of ticks. And here I am in a long dress, 2 petticoats, silk stockings, and fabric shoes. Ticks would have no problem latching on to all this sweeping fabric.

Kerstin, on the other hand, has no fear of ticks. She is busy getting her Nikon camera ready.

“Can you walk slowly towards the house,” she asks.

I look at the sea of tall grass. What can I do? I am just going to take the risk today. I will check all the fabric folds for little hitchhikers once we are back at the car.

Kerstin inspecting the mansion
Kerstin inspecting the mansion

Händelö looks like a painting. A beautiful two-story, yellow mansion under as deep blue summer sky with puffy white clouds. Flanking the mansion are some very tall trees. There must have been a courtyard in front, or at least a circular gravel road where carriages would have pulled up. We walk slowly towards this abandoned mansion; the only sounds are the rustling of our dresses and the chirping of birds.

The Wild Strawberry Patch

Kerstin sees it first.

“Look!” she exclaims, “the strawberries!”

I turn to where she is pointing. On this side of the courtyard, the short grass is dotted with wild strawberries. I have never, ever seen such an abundance of wild strawberries.

The wild strawberry patch
The wild strawberry patch

Wild strawberries (in Swedish, smultron) are nothing like domesticated ones. Wild strawberries are small, with a distinct flavor far superior to that of the domesticated ones. A smultronställe is a patch of wild strawberries, but it conveys something special – a hidden, wonderful place that one stumbles upon in surprise. When I try Google Translate, it suggests that smultronställe could be translated as a hideaway or a favorite spot – close enough, I suppose.

Anyway, we have literally found a smultronställe and now we are both on our knees picking as many strawberries as we can, and threading them onto straws of grass like we used to do as kids. The picture is almost surreal. Here we are, all alone, in our 1840s dresses, in front of a stately, yellow mansion, picking and eating strawberries on what would once have been the courtyard.

I wish Augusta could have seen us! I also wish that we could have been with Augusta on that pleasant afternoon in August in the company of the Theodors.

Den hederlige Olle och hans onda ben

Vem var den hederlige Olle? Han återkommer i brev efter brev från Augustas mamma Anna. Denne Olle hade problem med sitt ben. Anna skriver i sitt brev hösten 1852:

”Tack för ditt bref. Jag ser deraf att den hederlige Olle är så förbi i sitt ben, du skall få se att det bli hans död. Den hederliga mäniskan är nog för god att gå här och traska i gruset.”

Jag letar bland alla namn i dagboken, men ingen Olle eller Olof finns nämnd där.

Så förlovar sig Augusta och Adolf och mamma Anna skriver i december 1852:

Så snart Adolfs utnämning stått i tidningarna borde du skrifva nogra ord till vår hederlige Olle och berätta honom att du gifter dig och att han är den förste av dina karlvänner som du derom underrättar. Jag tycker det är en skyldig artighet emot den hederlige vänskapsfulle Olle. Det finns verkligen en Mamsell Vallenberg en hans släkting som har varit och troligt än är hos honom. Tänk huru illa ni bedömde den rare Olle. Bed honom i tankarna om förlåtelse.

Det är här jag får en idé om vem det skulle vara. Mamsell Vallenberg skulle vara släkting till honom. Kan det vara André Oscar Wallenberg? Skulle han alltså kallats ”Olle”?  Och vad var det för orätt Augusta gjort honom?

André Oscar Wallenberg var affärsbekant med Augustas svåger och välgörare Gustaf Lejdenfrost. Det var André  Oscar som placerade Gustafs pengar. Han var bra på sånt, långt innan han grundade den bank som så småningom skulle bli SE-banken. I dagboken dyker han upp då och då.  Men Augusta kallar honom Oscar och faktiskt benämner även Augusta honom som ”hederlig”.

Dagboken 28 nov 1850:

Oscar Wallenberg lyste här och försvann helt hastigt. Han var denna gång ”sig sjelf” mer än någonsin, riddaren sans facons och sans compliments. Lika orginelt trygg och rätt fram, lika tvärsäker och retsamt tranquil, men också lika hederlig och förståndig som vanligt.

Jag är ändå inte alls säker på att ”Olle” som traskar runt i gruset är Wallenberg, som Augusta skrivit om i dagboken. Jag bestämmer mig för att än en gång låna boken av Göran B Nilsson om Wallenberg på biblioteket. Jag läste boken för över ett år sedan, men nu vet vi så mycket mer om Augusta och hennes vänner, så en repetition kan vara på sin plats.

I Göran B Nilssons biografi ”Odysseernas år” finns ett par brev mellan Oscar och Augusta citerade. Han ber han henne om råd. Hon var tio år yngre, men tydligen uppskattade han hennes klokskap. Och det var inget annat än en vänskapsrelation.

Jag läser om Oscars liv under 1850-talet.  Så fastnar min blick på en mening.

”Intensiteten i den mångfacetterande verksamhet som A O Wallenberg utvecklade under åren 1850-53 är desto mer imponerande, som han under ett års tid drogs med en efterhängsen sjukdom. De akuta besvären började med att han i maj 1852 snubblade på Järntorget( ”knäfallet för Riksbanken”), och den svåra värken i hans knän och ben gav inte med sig förrän sommaren 1853 efter åtskilliga huskurer , läkarkonsultationer och en badsejour i Marstrand.”

Ont i benen! Det stämmer ju så bra med att mamma Anna nämner Olles dåliga ben i december 1852.

Jag läser om Oscars kärleksrelation till sin hushållerska Mina, som han efter flera år och barn senare kommer att gifta sig med. Det här var inte acceptabelt i 1850-talets Sverige, att bo ihop utan att vara gifta, och dessutom med sin hushållerska. Kan det vara detta Augusta uttryckt sitt ogillande om. Och mamma Anna försöker släta över som om det faktiskt finns en mamsell Wallenberg. Vi vet inte, men mamma Anna är klart förtjust och imponerad av Wallenberg och hans hederlighet. För visst kan ”Olle” även vara ett smeknamn för Oscar?

Oscar Wallenberg var den person som ordnade så Augustas bror August fick resa till Sydafrika 1850 för att kurera sin hälsa. Så nog var han en omtänksam kille.

I Göran B Nilssons bok nämns också att A O Wallenberg försökt övertala Lejdenfrost att skicka Augusta till Madeira för att kurera sin Tuberkulos. Men Lejdenfrost ansett det vara för dyrt. Någon kurortsresa till Sydtyskland blev det inte heller, trots att affärskontakten Rehder i Lübeck erbjudit att hans dotter kunde följa med Augusta.

Men hon kanske inte ville, hon kanske hellre ville vara hos Adolf och kanske väntade de sitt första och enda barn.

 

(Bild 1: Uno Troili: Bankdirektör A.O. Wallenberg, 1816-86. Nationalmuseum NMGrh 1940

Bild 2: Plakett på fasaden till Wallenbergska gården, flyttad till Gamla Linköping. Här föddes André Oscar Wallenberg)

Mathilde Biel, Elise Biel, and Josefine Stenbock

The Edgren’s census record for 1844. Girls boarding with Mrs. Edgren includes Augusta.

Augusta attended Mrs. Edgren’s school in Stockholm from the fall of 1841 through the spring of 1844. She boarded with the Edgren family together with 4 other boarders or ”pensioners”: Adèle Peyron,  Mathilde Biel, Elise Biel, and Josefine Stenbock. The school closed in the summer of 1844 but the following school year, Mlle Andriette Frigel had taken over at least some of the students and Adèle, Mathilde, and Elise were now boarding with Mlle Frigel.

Mlle Frigel's census record for 1845.
Mlle Frigel’s census record for 1845. Adèle, Mathilde, and Elise are now boarding with Mlle Frigel.

Adèle’s life story was chronicled in a previous blog. Who were the other girls, the sisters Biel and Josefine Stenbock?

Mathilde and Elise Biel

Mathilda (Mathilde) Carolina Sofia and Emilia Elisabeth (Elise) were sisters. Mathilde was born in 1830 and Elise in 1832. They also had an older brother, Fredrik August, born in 1829, and a younger brother, Carl Axel Hugo, born in 1833. Their father was German-born Christian Friedrich Biel and their mother was Augusta Mathilda Hasselström.

Christian Friedrich Biel and his business partner, Johan Albert Kantzow, started in 1808 the company Kantzow & Biel, one of the largest export and import firms in Stockholm. The company was also a major exporter of iron to the US. In 1824, Kantzow and Biel petitioned the US Congress regarding import duties levied on their iron shipment:

 

Journal of the House of Representatives of The United States, Being the Second Session of the Eighteenth Congress, Begun and Held at The City of Washington, December 6, 1824, and in the Forty-Ninth Year o the Independence of the United States.
Journal of the House of Representatives of The United States, Being the Second Session of the Eighteenth Congress, Begun and Held at The City of Washington, December 6, 1824, and in the Forty-Ninth Year o the Independence of the United States.

 

When Christian Friedrich died in 1839, Kantzow continued running the company.

So why did Mathilde and Elise’s mother decide that the girls should board with Mrs. Edgren and then with Mlle Frigel when she and the children lived in Stockholm? Being a widow with 4 young children who needed schooling might have been difficult. And as the family could afford it, it might just have been more convenient to have the girls live with their teacher.

It is also possible that she was not in good health. She died in 1847, at the age of 44. The cause of death was listed in church records as “wasting” (Swedish: tärande).

So what happened to Mathilde and Elise later in life?

Mathilde Biel

Björneborg
Björneborg

Mathilde, or Matilda, married Olof Nordenfelt in 1852. Olof was born in 1826 at Björneborg in the province of Värmland. When his father died, he inherited the estate and its ironworks. He became chamberlain at the royal court in 1860 and a member of parliament in 1867. They had 9 children and many grandchildren. Mathilde died in 1888 at the age of 57.

Elise Biel

Svanå
Svanå

Elise, or Elisabet, married Victor Edman in 1850. Victor was born in 1813 in Stockholm and this was his second marriage. His first wife died following the birth of their second son. Between 1856 and 1870, the family lived at Svanå in the province of Västmanland. Victor was the majority shareholder and manager of the Svanå ironworks. Today, Svanå is a conference center and

Emilia Elisabeth (Elise) Edman, born Biel. Photograph by Robert Roesler. Privately owned.
Emilia Elisabeth (Elise) Edman, born Biel. Photograph by Robert Roesler. Privately owned.

wedding venue.

In 1870, the family moved to Stockholm. They bought a house in the same block as where Elise and her sister had lived with Mrs. Edgren! The house was just around the corner from Mrs. Edgren’s school. They also rented a small farm, Edeby on the island Lovön.

In 1875, Elise and Victor celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Victor surprised Elise with a gold bracelet consisting of seven linked medallions, each containing a photograph. The photographs were portraits of Victor, in the middle, and his six children – two from his first marriage and four from his marriage with Elise. In 2017, the bracelet was gifted to the Nordic Museum in Stockholm by Victor’s great-great-grandson and namesake.

Elise also had her portrait taken by Robert Roesler who in 1877 opened his photography studio on Drottninggatan 29 C in Stockholm.

Elise died in 1907 at the age of 75.

Josefine Stenbock.

Torsjö
Torsjö

Josefine belonged to a very old, noble family in Sweden. Her full name was Baroness Josefina Albertina Charlotta Fredrika Lovisa Stenbock. Her name appears in documents as Josefina, Josefine, Josephine, and Josephina – spelling variations were very common in the 1800s. She was 6 years younger than Augusta, born 7 May 1833 at Torsjö estate in Skåne. Her father, Count Magnus Albert Carl Gustaf Arvid Stenbock, was a chamberlain at the royal court and had also been an adjutant to the crown prince. Her mother was Countess Jeannette Margareta Hamilton. Josefine had an older brother and three younger siblings. Her youngest sister Sophia was born in 1843. According to genealogy websites, all of them were born in Skåne. It thus made sense that Josefine was sent to a boarding school in Stockholm.

In 1857, Josefine married Chamberlain, Count Jacob Fredric Theodor Uggla. With the marriage, she became a countess. They had two children, Margareta Charlotta Johanna Fredrika born in 1858 and Carl Otto Knut Teodor born in 1859. Sadly, her husband died in 1864 at the age of 34 and interestingly, he died in Dax, a small town in south-west France. Dax was famous for its hot springs and was the first established spa in France. Did he have tuberculosis? Did Josefina travel with him?

Josefine’s son, Carl Otto, emigrated to America and took the last name of his maternal grandmother – Hamilton. He became a captain in the US army and participated in the Spanish-American War. He married, had 6 children, and died in 1933. According to genealogy sites, he was also an artist (painter).

Josefine also did not live long. She died in 1881 at the age of 48 in Copenhagen. 

My illustration of how I imagined the three girls looked when reading in Mrs. Edgren’s class.