Två år sedan vi reste i Europa i Augustas fotspår

För två år sedan avreste vi från Stockholms central mot Tyskland. Det blev en helt fantastisk resa, lite som en dröm som man sedan inte riktigt kan fatta att den faktiskt var sann.

Vår Europaresa 2017 blev starten till något nytt i våra liv. Det blev ett systerprojekt där vi, efter att ha bott på varsin kontinent i 40 år, började jobba tillsammans.

I Augusta-projektet lägger vi nu all vår energi. Det är en förmån att få forska i kvinnors historia i mitten av 1800-talet. Och lika roligt är det att dela med sig av de fynd och historier vi hittar. För varje namn i Augustas dagbok visar sig ha sin egen historia, om man gräver lite i arkiv och tidningar. Sömmerskan, hushållerskan, pigan, fattighusföreståndaren, änkor och grannar, alla börjar nu få liv i vår forskning. Så förutom Augustas intressanta liv med resor, baler och sidenklänningar, blir det nu även de ”vanliga” kvinnorna som intresserar oss. Vilket innebär enkla klänningar, förkläden och sjaletter.

Vi hoppas att ni vill fortsätta följa oss på vår historieresa under mitten av 1800-talet!

Vi plockade ut några bilder som vi inte brukar visa och gjorde ett litet bildspel. Det är bilder där vi ser lite tokiga ut och där hatten hamnar på sned och där vi inte ser så prydliga ut. Vi bjuder på det!

 

 

The Innocence and the Amaranth

It all started with a promise to a charming captain in the summer of 1850.

Our captain’s name was Krüger. He was a very polite and charming young cavalier who fulfilled all the duties of a host on his steamboat. He entertained me quite pleasantly during the trip, a trip which is also one of the most beautiful and comfortable one can undertake, and before we parted ways in Söderköping, we agreed to dance the first waltz on the first Innocence in the month of January. Let’s see if that happens or not. (Augusta’s diary from the Göta Canal)

What was the Innocence?

The Order of the Innocence and The Order of the Amaranth

The Order of the Innocence is a Swedish secret order that started in 1765. It supports charities while creating “innocent amusement” for its members. During its Day of Solemnity, new members are inducted. The Innocence Ball – or simply, The Innocence – is an exclusive and elegant ball which at Augusta’s time was held each January at the Stockholm Bourse. The order also arranged other balls during the year, and that is probably why Augusta mentioned it as the “first” Innocence.

There is also another secret order that similarly organizes an exclusive ball – The Order of the Amaranth (Stora Amarantherorden). It was created by the Swedish Queen Kristina in 1653 and then reinstituted in 1760. The grand ball, The Amaranth, was at Augusta’s time also held in January but at De la Croix’s salon.

Presently, The Innocence and The Amaranth are held in alternating years at Grand Hotel Stockholm.

A family that could “bring out into society those who lived with them

Not everyone could become a member of the orders – you needed contacts among the aristocracy and/or the wealthy merchants. What if you did not belong to the aristocracy or came from a wealthy family, what would you do? For a girl, this was the place to be seen if you wanted to marry well.

Augusta’s mother had made sure that Augusta was to board with a family that could “bring out into society those who lived with them”.  So in the fall of 1844, Augusta moved in with a noble family headed by the widow, Countess Jaquette Ribbing af Zernava (born Sparre af Rossvik). Augusta was 17 years old and ready to be a debutante.

Did Augusta attend The Innocence and The Amaranth?

Augusta didn’t keep a diary until 1847. There are letters from her friend Lotten, but not until 1845 when Augusta had already left Stockholm. And then there are a few letters from Augusta’s mother to Augusta in 1844 and 1845 – none of which mention any balls.

But then there are archives!

I find out that The Order of the Innocence’s archive is kept at the Royal Library and that the archive of The Order of the Amaranth is kept at Sweden’s National Archives. Both places are in Stockholm and the archives are not so secret anymore!

Membership books for The Order of the Innocence and The Order of the Amaranth

The Innocence Ball

Kerstin and I hit the Royal Library first. We get help from the experts in the hand-script department. After lunch, they have found the boxes of Innocence records and we start to untie strings and open the boxes with bound books.

On 7 December 1844, The Order of the Innocence had its meeting at the Bourse, to induct new members. A letter indicating the names of those who had been called to the meeting is included in the archive, as is a book of members, sorted by date of initiation.

Kerstin and I go through the list of names, and there it is – Demoiselle Emelie Augusta Söderholm has been called to the meeting. Now we search for her name in the book of members and, again, we find her signature and member number 4718. Her friends, Ophalia and Augusta Sjöstedt, sign below her and get numbers 4719 and 4720.

Augusta’s signature.
The Order of the Innocence, 1844.

So she became a member of The Order of Innocence in December 1844 and would attend her first Innocence Ball on 11 January 1845.

The Innocence Ball, 11 January 1845. Drawing by Fritz von Dardel.
Yes, Augusta was there!

The Amaranth Ball

The next day, we visit the National Archives. Again, boxes held together with strings are carted to our reserved desk in the very quiet reading room. Wearing white cotton gloves, we untie the strings and look at the bound records and envelopes.

There is a book of members listed alphabetically and there are letters describing each meeting or ball. As Augusta’s first Innocence Ball was in January of 1845, we assume her first Amaranth, if she was inducted, would also be that month.

We check the protocols for 1845, and there it is! In the protocol dated 6 January 1845, the date of the Amaranth Ball, Augusta is listed as a new member. We then find her name in the book listing the members.

Augusta’s membership in The Order of the Amaranth, 1845 (bottom line)

So yes, she did attend the Amaranth Ball on the 6 January 1845.

The Amaranth Ball, 6 January 1845. Painting by Fritz von Dardel. Kunt Bergenstråhle is the young lieutenant in the middle.
The Amaranth Ball, 6 January 1845. Painting by Fritz von Dardel.
Yes, Augusta was there too!

And what did she think about the balls?

Six years later, in 1851, Augusta attends a ball at The Bourse and reminisce on her feelings when she was 17.

Stockholm,16 March 1851

Last Friday, I accompanied the Theodors to a dance soirée at The Bourse. It was pretty animated and, in the words of the Ribbings, it was “la crème de la socialite” who from the gallery looked down on the dancing youth – a colorful crowd of blue, white, red, and yellow ball gowns with matching flower garlands under which one often saw a beautiful face.

Men of la beau monde, with and without uniforms, swarmed around in the richly illuminated, beautiful hall where joy seemed to be the evening’s heavenly patron. It was thus, as it is called in Stockholm, “a beautiful ball”, but God knows that I did feel a sense of regret when recalling memories from six years ago and saw myself – with a completely different feeling of joy – flying around the hall in a lively Strauss waltz. At that time, in a moment of happiness, I forgot everything around me. In this moment, on the contrary, I felt both hot and tired. At that time, I was close to despair when the final notes of the last dance died away. At this time, I was quite pleased when I finally sat in the covered sleigh on my way home.

After having found Augusta in both these archives, you just have to wonder – where else has Augusta left footprints that we are not aware of?

De vackra bronsskulpturerna från Prag – krigsbytet från 1648

Jag har tidigare skrivit om Augustas vistelse i Prag 1847 då hon bland annat besökte Wallensteins palats och dess vackra park.
Wi besökte först den så kallade ”lilla sidan”, den del af staden svenskarna fordom innehade och der Wallensteins hus är beläget. Slottskapellet är mycket vackert, och bönstolarna som begagnades af Hertigen och hans gemål, finnas der ännu. För öfrigt lära rummen och trädgården vara alldeles i samma skick som under den store Hertigens tid.
Den trädgård och de skulpturer som Augusta såg 1847, vet vi idag inte hur de såg ut, men de var inte desamma som man idag kan beundra, om än som kopior.
Neptunusfontänen, det enda originalet som finns i kvar i Drottningholmsparken
De ursprungliga skulpturerna och fontänerna gjordes på 1620-talet av Adriaen de Vries, en av 1600-talets främsta skulptörer. Han var holländare men hade gått i lära i Florens och hamnade till sist som kejserlig hovskulptör i Prag. Men skulpturerna i Wallensteins trädgård fick inte stå där särskilt länge. När 30-åriga kriget vara slut 1648 monterade svenska soldater ner parkens alla statyer och fontäner och transporterade dem hem till Sverige som en del av det krigsbyte man tog efter freden.
På 1680-talet hamnade skulpturerna i parken på Drottningholm. Men efter att ha stått ute i väder och vind i flera hundra år, räddade man de fantastiska skulpturerna från att bli mer skadade. Istället gjöt man i slutet av 1990-talet kopior, som idag står ute i parken.  Även Wallensteins trädgård i Prag har kopior av originalen. De gjöts i Stockholm och sattes upp i Prag redan 1914.

Museum de Vries

Originalen på Drottningholm utgör världens största samling av de Vries skulpturer. De ställdes alltså upp på 1990-talet i det ombyggda Dragonstallet på Malmen, på högra sidan av Drottningsholmsvägen. Där hade man inrett det gamla stallet till en vacker stor sal i vitt och grått, grå kalksten från Gotland och gråmålade podier där de gråglänsande skulpturerna tittar ut över publiken. Det är verkligen ett vackert museum. Det enda problemet är att de har öppet endast en dag om året.

 

De Vriesmuséet i Dragonstallet på Drottningholm
Vi hade bestämt oss för att vara där den dagen, 8 september, de Vriesdagen. I Söndags var det alltså dags att få se alla de magnifika originalskulpturerna i brons. Det var verkligen värt besöket. Vilket hantverk och vilken känsla! Alla dessa vackra figurer med spelande muskler i färd med att utföra något hjältedåd.
Augusta fick ju tyvärr inte se de Vries skulpturer i  Prag, men dess historia hade hon tydligen ingen aning om, att svenskarna 200 år tidigare plundrat parken på dess skulpturer och fontäner. Förmodligen hade de några andra fontäner där som sattes upp som substitut fram till 1914. Inte verkar Augusta varit vid Drottningholm heller, som på hennes tid stod tomt och förföll tillsammans med de vackra Vriesskulptuterna.
Wallensteins park idag med kopior av de ursprungliga de Vriesskulpturerna.

Museum de Vries på Drottningholm

Wallensteins trädgård, Wikipedia

Elisabeth Schwan at Stjernsund

The view from Stjernsund's Castle
The view from Stjernsund’s Castle

Look, do you think these are Elisabeth Schwan’s? I ask Kerstin.

On a small round table, some beautiful antique fans are displayed under glass.

Kerstin and I are visiting Stjernsund’s Castle where Augusta’s friend, Elisabeth, lived after she and her husband bought the beautiful castle from the royal family in 1860. I wrote about her earlier this year (The Girl in the Yellow Ball Gown: Elisabeth Schwan).

Stjernsunds Castle in the 1850s
Stjernsunds Castle in the 1850s

We are on a guided tour of the castle, eagerly looking for traces of Elisabeth. Much of the inventory would have belonged to Elisabeth’s and Knut’s daughter-in-law, who lived in the castle until her death in 1951. But maybe there would be a few things left from Elisabeth?

And now it looks like I have found something that could have been hers. Our wonderful tour guide, Pernilla, confirms that this is indeed Elisabeth’s. Another similar table has some old letters addressed to Elisabeth. Elisabeth also brought all her copper pots and pans with her when they moved to Stjernsund – all hanging nicely in the kitchen, sorted according to size.

Using the language of Augusta’s time, Stjernsund is handsomely situated on a promontory above the still, blue waters of lake Alsen. Here, Elisabeth and Knut raised 5 sons, born between 1851 and 1861.

I wonder if she kept a diary? Did she miss the social life in Stockholm? Did her friends from Stockholm come and visit her?

The Amaranth Ball, 6 January 1845. Painting by Fritz von Dardel. Kunt Bergenstråhle is the young lieutenant in the middle.
The Amaranth Ball, 6 January 1845. Painting by Fritz von Dardel. Elisabeth Schwan is the girl in the yellow ballgown. She was 17 years old.

While Elisabeth was busy with her family, her husband made Stjernsund famous for its cattle. Knut Cassel was interested in animal breeding and through selection of superior breeding stock, the herd at Stjernsund came to be the most influential genetic stock for what is now the Swedish Red-and-White Breed of dairy cattle (SRB).

Kerstin and I visit the exhibition in the Dairy. There are two photographs on the wall, one of Elisabeth and Knut with their 3 oldest sons (Fredrik b. 1851, Carl b. 1853, and Knut August b. 1855) and another one of Knut later in life. As their 4th son, Albert, was born in August of 1857, and Elisabeth is having a 2-year-old Knut August on her lap, the picture must have been taken around 1856-1857, prior to the family moving to Stjernsund. Elisabeth would have been in her late 20s in the picture and possibly pregnant with Albert.

Elisabeth Cassel, born Schwan, and her family around 1856-57.
Elisabeth Cassel, born Schwan, and her family around 1856-57. Photo at Stjernsund’s Castle.

Finally, while doing the genealogy research on Knut Cassel, I discover that he and Augusta were 4th degree cousins (through Augusta’s father’s ancestry).

Knut Cassel
Knut Cassel. Photo at Stjernsund’s Castle.

As Kerstin and I always do on our ”Augusta journeys”, we dressed appropriately for a visit in the early 1850s. Our new friend and Stjernsund’s guide, Pernilla Gäverth, captured our visit in the following pictures.


About SRB cattle (in Swedish): http://www.scanred.se/hist02sv.html