Free Museums to visit in Stockholm (Part 1) – Swedish History Museum and Nobel Museum

30 May 2017

For a visitor to Stockholm, one of the best things to do on days with bad weather would be to visit one or two of the many excellent museums located in town.

Many of these museums offer free entry! Some impose entrance fees on most days but are free to enter at specific day and time only. For example, the Nobel Museum has free admission on Tuesdays,  5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet) has free entry on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. except June to August.

On this rainy day, we decided to visit the Swedish History Museum (Historiska Museet) in the afternoon. We took the subway to the Karlaplan Station and walked the short distance to the museum in light rain.

Like most museums in Stockholm, there is free lockers to deposit our backpacks containing our wet raingear at the Swedish History Museum.

There are free daily guided tours, conducted in English and Swedish, but we missed them.

The Swedish History Museum is one of the biggest museums in Sweden. In particular, I wanted to see one of the world’s largest Viking exhibits.

Runic stone exhibits at the Swedish History Museum.

The Viking age from AD 800 to AD 1050 is a short one, compared to the length of Swedish history. We already had a sneak peek of this period in Swedish history during our visit to Sigtuna, Sweden’s first town where we learned about the runic stones and saw some ruins of medieval churches.  Here, more runic stones could be seen.

There were also displays of the Norse mythology and their belief in life and beyond.

One of the many petroglyphs (picture stones) and scenes of legends associated with the pictures etched on the stones.  

One could spend many hours reading the information (in English and Swedish) next to the displays.

What really fascinated me was the 1:30 scale model representing the Viking age town Birka, in the Björkö island. I had contemplated making a boat trip to visit the island located in the middle of lake Mälaren in Stockholm when planning my itinerary. I was glad I did not make the trip. I think there is more to see and learn about Birka at this exhibit than at Björkö island. I may be wrong.

Model of Birka in AD800.  Photo of Björkö island in the back. 

The model shows how the town probably looked like in AD800.  There is the main street, running parallel to the shore, and 40 buildings separated by fencing and complete with watch towers. Some Viking boats were moored at the pier.

A good way to end the visit was to have something to eat and drink at the fantastic cafe before heading out to the Nobel Museum that has free admission on Tuesdays,  5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Else, the entry fee is 120 SEK per adult.

The Nobel Museum is located at Stortorget, a small public square in the middle of Gamla Stan. It was still raining slightly when we arrived and the museum was pretty crowded on this Tuesday evening. The Nobel Museum offers daily guided tours in English every day but we chose to wander around freely by ourselves.

The Nobel Museum would allow visitors to learn more about the Nobel Prize, its founder Alfred Nobel, as well as the Nobel Laureates and their creative endeavours. Being an engineer by training, I found some familiar names like Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Heisenberg, Röntgen, Marie Curie but struggled to remember the Physics I learnt in school so many years ago.

There were displays of a range of experiments from throughout Nobel history for us to read and in some cases even try our hands on. On this day, the museum was too crowded for me to spend time on these displays.

Instead, I learnt about the life of Alfred Nobel (1833–1896). He is the person who experimented with nitro-glycerine and invented the dynamite although his brother and some others died in explosions during the process. He made a fortune with his invention and also other works.  

On display in the museum are excerpts of his famous and controversial will. Alfred Nobel wrote in his will that physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace would each year receive a part of the revenues of his fortune. It was not surprisingly that his family opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize. Also, some of the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had requested in his will!

The Nobel Prize was finally started 5 years later in 1901 and since then, prizes had been given to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind."

Noble Prize Medal in the form of a gold coin.

Another Noble Prize Medal in the form of a gold coin.

The Nobel prize ceremonies take place annually in the Stockholm City Hall, Sweden (with the exception of the peace prize, which is held in Oslo, Norway). Each recipient, or laureate, receives a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of money that has been decided by the Nobel Foundation.

Overall, we had an interesting day at both the Swedish History Museum and Nobel Museum. 

Continue Reading »

Free Museums to visit in Stockholm (Part 2) – Swedish Army Museum (Armémuseum)

31 May 2017

The Swedish Army Museum (Armémuseum) is one of the best museum I visited in Stockholm. And this museum is FREE!

Located in the midst of the posh Östermalm district of Stockholm at Riddargatan 13, it is within walking distance from the Ostermalmtorg subway station (Sibyllegatan exit).

When we arrived at the museum, the friendly staff on the entrance floor greeted us warmly and handed us a small information booklet of the museum and recommended that we take the lift to the 3rd floor and work our way down. That way, we get to experience Sweden's history of war and peace from the 16th century to the present day in chronological order.

Stepping out of the lift at the 3rd floor, we heard the noise of a group of chimps fighting.

This display actually tried to explain that war is natural and killing is in our blood. Even our close relatives, the chimps, kills their rivals to expand their territory. Men had been killing each other since 13,000 years ago and we are getting better at it over time.

There are interesting exhibits, with labels and signage in both English and Swedish. The life size dioramas show living conditions of the soldiers, their families and the general population during wartime and peacetime delivered information in an interesting and sometimes gruesome way.

One of the life size dioramas show living conditions of the soldiers and their families.

Although Sweden was not directly involved in the 2 major World Wars, there were many conflicts with the neighbours Denmark, Poland, Finland and Russia in their earlier history. Russian, Polish and Danish banners, and other trophies captured in war, were on display in a special room. 

A cuirass with a bullet dent on it. A sign of quality during those times.

I saw an interesting cuirass (a piece of armour consisting of breastplate and backplate fastened together) with a bullet dent on it. Worn by heavy cavalry during 1620 to 1650, the breastplate had to be bullet proof and so a test shot is always made at the finished armour to ensure its quality. In those days, don’t buy cuirass without a dent on it.

For the avid photographer, there are many photo opportunities with life-size and miniature figures of soldiers of past centuries, as well as scenes of the major battles of Swedish forces. There are dioramas of soldiers fighting in the woods, cavalry charge, cannon crew or freezing to death in winter.

Life size charging cavalry model at the top floor of the Swedish Army Museum (Armémuseum).

Try staring down the barrel of a gun held by this 16th Century infantry man. 

I loved the miniature armies set out on a large table!

The drummers at the front are the bravest. Imagine going into the battlefield without a weapon.

Close-up of the militiamen.

It was very interesting to learn how military disciplines were enforced during those times. Besides the usual imprisonment, lashings, there were some very creative punishments that include “riding the wooden horse”.

There was a mock up for visitor to try. Painful! I did not last more than a few seconds before I gave up. Imagine having to sit on it for a lengthy period of time.

The second floor of the museum deals with the 20th century and the two world wars.

There is a special area called the Raoul Wallenberg room. This is a mini-exhibition about Raoul Wallenberg, the man who saved tens of thousands of people from the Nazis.

WW2 history buff would enjoy seeing some of displays and photographs.

Uniforms worn by British paratrooper (left), German soldier (middle) and Russian soldier (right) during Second World War.

 

The enigma cipher machine used by the Germans during WW2. Unknown to them, the Allies managed to crack the code during the war and able to decipher all their coded messages.

The last section on the second floor showcases the technical development of weaponry.

I was on the lookout for the exhibit of the RBS 70 laser guided anti-aircraft missile. This was a weapon system that I was trained on during my days in the military service and it was with mixed feelings that I found it in the museum. Shows how old I am!

RBS 70 Laser guided Surface to Air (SAM) missile.

We tried handling the various rifles used across history ranging from the muskets to the modern semi-automatic rifle that is accurate to a range of 300m. There were also old army uniforms to try on.

Also seen were Swedish developed hardware such as the tracked all-terrain vehicle and the Ugglan (owl) drone or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle).

Ugglan (owl) drone.

Glass case displaying modern machineguns.

The ground floor of the museum hosts the temporary exhibitions. They were the War Games and photos from World War 1.

The War Games section (on display 24 Feb 2017 to 7 Jan 2018) was quite informative. We saw card games, board games like Risk and also various forms of chess from all over the world.

Chaturanga – Indian chess game that can be played by 2 to 4 players.

Shogi – Japanese strategy game. Predates the chess and related to the Chaturanga and Chinese Xiangqi.

Hnefatafl, a Scandinavia game depicting a chieftain and his bodyguards.

There are a few armoured vehicles, including one that showcase Sweden’s participation with the UN’s Peacekeeping forces outside the museum.

Swedish Army Museum (Armémuseum) with an armoured car in United Nations peace keeping livery in the foreground. 

Across the road from the museum, we took a photo of an impressive red brick building.

Royal Stables in the foreground.

This building is the Royal Stables, supplying the Royal Court with horse carriages and car transport.

I must say that the Army Museum exceeded my expectations. Even my wife enjoyed the 2 hours we spend in our visit. A must see when visiting Stockholm or the Östermalm area.

Continue Reading »

Free Museums to visit in Stockholm (Part 3) - Natural History Museum in Stockholm

1 June 2017

I have been to a several museums of natural history during my travels, so a visit to the Natural History Museum (Naturhistoriska riksmuseet) in Stockholm was not high in my list of things to do.

However, since it was near to University of Stockholm, we dropped by for a few hours and I had no regrets! This museum is nice in its own ways, as I would describe in this post.

The museum is located within walking distance from the Universitetet subway station. While visiting this museum, we took the opportunity to also check out the Tunnelbana subway art at the Stadion, Tekniska Högskolan and Universitetet stations.

The museum is housed inside an impressive building. Exhibitions are admission free. Tickets to Cosmonova (Imax Theatre) are 80-110 SEK for adults, 35-50 SEK for children and young people.

The main entrance is on the Ground level with interesting sections such as the Human Journey (showing the evolution of man), Fossils and Evolution (Dinosaurs), Polar Regions and Diversity of Life.

Coming face to face with a prehistoric bird in the Fossils and Evolution (Dinosaurs) section.

I find the display of various species of butterflies on a large wall rather nice and creative.

Display of various species of butterflies on a large wall.

We could compare and contrast different characteristics and beauty of the butterflies. Butterflies are some of the most beautiful insects in the world although as a gardener, I dreaded their caterpillars.

Butterfly with transparent wings. With the “eyes” on the wings, what does it mimic?

Butterfly that mimic an owl!

We walked through the open jaws of a mock baleen whale at the Polar Regions. This section showcases animal and plant life in the extreme climate of the Antarctic and Artic.

This museum also does a great job in showcasing the stuffed animals in their natural surroundings and action poses. It brought the “life” back into these animals. 

Jon Snow’s direwolf from the Game of Thrones?

It also created good photo opportunities for photographers, except for the ceiling and spot lights.

The Upper Level of the museum featured sections such as Life in Water (Sweden’s waterlife), Swedish Nature, Treasures from the Earth’s Interior and The Human Animal.

Like most natural history museums, there are exhibits on minerals in the “Treasures from the Earth’s Interior” section which I don’t find interesting. It would be challenging to make rocks look interesting, so the museum cannot be faulted. 

What was really interesting and unique are the exhibits on Swedish Nature. I particularly like the wolf exhibit showing a pack of wolves and various behaviours of the individuals in the pack as you walked round the circular exhibit.

We could see behaviours like play, aggression, submission, communication or howling and friendliness.

A wolf with a smile like a friendly dog.

Once again, we could see the stuffed animals in their natural surroundings and action poses.

Realistic display of a fox hunting in the snowy landscape.

There is a very realistic display of a fox hunting. A fox could hear its prey hiding in burrows under the snow and uses its body weight and paws to bash through the snow to get its meal. Same technique used by the polar bears to catch seal pups in dens under the Artic ice.

The only moose I saw in Sweden was not in the nature reserve but in the museum.

My wife and I enjoyed the interactive displays in the The Human Animal section where we discover which ways humans are like animals and how we differ. For instance, a dog has 220 million smell cells, while a human has around 5 million. So, don’t complain about a smelly dog again. The dog would find humans smelled 40 times worst!

There were also tests on speed, reaction time, and balancing. We did the fun sound tests where we had to identify sounds, determine the direction of a sound and try to hear different frequencies. I must say that we humans are poor in hearing too. We failed miserably!

As nature lovers, we enjoyed our 2.5 hours visit to the Natural History Museum (Naturhistoriska riksmuseet) in Stockholm.  Quite educational for both adults and children.

Continue Reading »

Stockholm in Winter – Trip overview and places visited

My son was successful in his application for International Student Exchange Program with a university in Stockholm. This meant that he would be staying in Stockholm for 6 months from January 2017 to May 2017.  I thought it would be a good opportunity for me and my wife to go with him, partly to help him settle down in the new environment and also partly for us to revisit a city we had lived in for six month, some 30 years ago.

Co-incidentally, my nephew was also successful in his application in the similar program with another university in Stockholm. His parent and sister, knowing that we were planning a trip to Stockholm, also decided to join us. Our travelling group just got bigger and bigger when another niece pleaded with us to let her join.

The students made arrangement for their longer term accommodations separately while the family members, 5 of us in total, managed to book an apartment in the hip Södermalm area through Airbnb. That nicely furnished apartment was our home away from home for the next 10 days.

Since this visit to Stockholm was in January, the coldest time of year in the middle of winter, we did not really plan any fancy excursions. Just a free and easy stay in the city where we would decide the day before, or in the morning, what would be our plan for the day!

There were days where we would just laze around, go for a fika, run some errands to help the boys settled down before their university term starts, or go visit some city sights or museums. These were some of the places visited:

• Gamla Stan (the Old City)
• Riddarholmen
• Skeppsholmen
• Drottninggatan
• Östermalm area
• Vasa Museum

• ABBA Museum

• Kungsträdgården
• IKEA

• Monteliusvägen

• Skinnarviksberget

• Södermalm area

Continue Reading »