Posted on 11/03/2006 3:41:29 PM PST by WesternCulture
On the 6th of November, Sweden – and Gothenburg in particular – remembers perhaps its most famous and successful King: Gustav II Adolf, who reigned from 1611 until his death in 1632.
Monday will be the 374th anniversary of his death (aged just 37) on the battlefield in Lützen in Germany during the Thirty Years War. He is the only Swedish King to have been honoured with the title “The Great” (“Den Stora”) and the anniversary of his death is an official Swedish flag day.
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Gustav II Adolf is widely regarded as having laid down much of the apparatus of the modern Swedish state, including the postal service and newspapers as well as founding universities and building key transport links. He was also a much admired strategic general, apparently one of Napolean Bonaparte’s heroes, and led many successful campaigns as part of the anti-Hapsburg alliance.
On the day of his death, he was riding an unfamiliar horse and struggling with his vision – partly because of the mist and smoke from the gunpowder, but also because he needed glasses and could not wear them in battle. During the battle, he and a handful of loyal followers rode deep into the enemy’s midst and became separated from the rest of their troops.
After sustaining a shot to the arm, Gustav II Adolf fell from his horse and was found by a group of Croatian cavalrymen. They tried to take him prisoner but were unable to lift him, so instead they shot him in the head and ran a sword through his breast.
News of his death took a month to reach Stockholm. After his body was returned to the capital, his widow retained his body (and, for a while, just his heart) for over a year. The remains, including the heart, are now kept in Stockholm’s Riddarholmskyrkan, and his armour can be seen at the Livrustkammaren in the Royal Palace.
During his reign Gustav II Adolf founded a number of towns, among them the modern Gothenburg, and he is particularly celebrated in Sweden’s second city. There had been previous attempts to build a strategic settlement in the area, but these had resulted only in losing it to the Danes and watching it go up in smoke.
Legend has it that in 1621 Gustav II Adolf stood on the hill which now looks down over Ullevi and pointed below him, saying, “Där skall staden ligga” (“There shall the city lie”). These words have since become an important part of Gothenburg’s history – the resulting city, built largely by Dutch workers appointed by the King, remained Swedish and grew increasingly important over the following centuries.
Gothenburg leaders began discussing the idea of a monument to commemorate their founder as early as 1832, but efforts to honour the King proved almost as complex and troubled as his life had been. By 1845 the city had raised enough money to commission a statue of Gustav II Adolf, which was built in Italy but only completed two years later than expected. Finally ready to be shipped to Sweden, the monument suffered another setback when the ship carrying it to Gothenburg sank off the coast of Heligoland.
Although the statue was recovered and offered for sale to Gothenburg, the price demanded by the islanders was too high and another statue was commissioned. It was not installed until 1854, when it was placed in Stora Torget (now renamed Gustav Adolfs Torg). The statue depicts the King pointing towards the city and is now one of Gothenburg’s most famous landmarks.
In today’s Gothenburg, most residents remember their heroic founder by eating him in cake form. In the 1880s, a bakery located at what is now the Dubliners pub on the corner of Östrahamngatan and Kungsgatan, created a special form of cake which came to be known as Gustav Adolfsbakelse. The cakes depicted a silhouette of the king, now usually rendered in chocolate or marzipan, and the tradition for Gothenburg bakeries to sell these on the 6th of November continues today.
Correction:
I wrote "like a certain 19th century Austrian", while I intended to write "like a certain 20th century Austrian".
Well, he was born 1889, so perhaps this doesn't matter.
I forgive the Austrians.
Mozart is in my heart.
Yes, survival of Protestantism, and survival of Catholicism. Presumably that was what God wanted to happen, although I don't like to second-guess providence. But it was a very bloody thirty years, to end up right where they started.
I'm not knocking Gustavus Adolphus. But I have read fairly extensively about the Thirty Years War, and it was not a happy affair, especially in the German states. Much of it deteriorated into armed bands who went looting and raping and burning all over the countryside, with no particular commitment to the causes that began the war.
Of course, nothing ever remains the same in history, and no doubt there were good as well as bad effects.
"Good evening WC. Welcome to FR.
For full disclosure we, my wife (the First lady), and I are Catholic. So I guess some of us are still around. ;^)
Having said that, the Volvo engineers working on the Penta project in Tampa are some pretty cool guys, even though half of them are atheist. No matter, they developed a revolutionary boat engine that's awesome. Methinks maybe, just maybe Europe will be able to compete with the U.S. in the future...
...then again, not if Europe becomes EUrabia...
5.56mm"
For the sake of competition:
- The EU is a larger economy than the US
- US GDP growth is presently slower than that of the EU
- The EU educates more engineers than the US
- The productivity as measured by GDP/working hour of the leading European countries is greater than that of the US
- The richest countries of the world are European ones
Buy a sombrero on the corner shop and furthermore;
Cope.
And Henry Miller once said that "A family should lose itself once every three generations." But Henry's motivation probably had more to do with socialism and dislike of inherited wealth.
"My daughter has a genetic condition that was being researched by the University of Gothenburg. We had family histories that assisted with their research. Sometimes its good to know where you come from, provided you don't live more in their world than your own.
Le plus ca change, Le plus ca remain the same. (Just "un peu" French. Been a while, more likely to use Spanish in Kansas."
Henry Miller was in fact a good person in the true, regretfully, somewhat naive sense of the word.
The same in fact goes for one-half of a person like Stalin.
Stalin was a mentally sick man, but rose to the occasion like a hero when the evil of Nazi Germany threatened to conquer the whole of Russia.
If Hitler would have won WWII, there'd be no America today.
What am I trying to say?
This:
Don't confuse Socialism/Communism with its spokesmen. Some of them aren't aware they're actually intellectuals/patriots/heroes and not red morons.
By the way, Glad to find out University of Gothenburg is helping people.
In fact, I once studied there (Theory of Science, Economical History as well as Corporate Management). Great place!
Cope.
Hmmm, seems like I touched a nerve? That wasn't my intention. I was welcoming you to FR.
So, I guess I'll play...
- The EU is a larger economy than the US
Let's see, how many countries are you including in that statement? Last I checked the EU was projected to have a larger economy by 2010 (with the inclusion of more countries).
- US GDP growth is presently slower than that of the EU
"Presently," is the operative word here. The U.S. over the last seven quarters has had growth far larger than the EU.
And, to think, I was giving the Swedes a compliment in my last post. Go figure.
Anyway, since I've been on this planet, Europe hasn't been able to defend itself from internal or external threats, and the U.S. ends up saving your collective asses each time. Sacrificing our talent, treasure and blood.
Be advised, we might not come a fourth time. You and the rest of your continent may end up with Sharia law, your women in burqas, and dhimmitude status (if you're lucky).
I don't know what bunched your panties, but next time let's be a little more considerate, and friendly.
5.56mm
War is nasty business. I know that there was some region in German in which only something like 900 people survived the war. As I recall, and you can correct me, Richleieu, a Catholic, supported Sweden against other Catholic states.
"Buy a sombrero on the corner shop and furthermore;
Cope.
Hmmm, seems like I touched a nerve? That wasn't my intention. I was welcoming you to FR.
So, I guess I'll play...
- The EU is a larger economy than the US
Let's see, how many countries are you including in that statement? Last I checked the EU was projected to have a larger economy by 2010 (with the inclusion of more countries).
- US GDP growth is presently slower than that of the EU
"Presently," is the operative word here. The U.S. over the last seven quarters has had growth far larger than the EU.
And, to think, I was giving the Swedes a compliment in my last post. Go figure.
Anyway, since I've been on this planet, Europe hasn't been able to defend itself from internal or external threats, and the U.S. ends up saving your collective asses each time. Sacrificing our talent, treasure and blood.
Be advised, we might not come a fourth time. You and the rest of your continent may end up with Sharia law, your women in burqas, and dhimmitude status (if you're lucky).
I don't know what bunched your panties, but next time let's be a little more considerate, and friendly.
5.56mm"
The words "For the sake of competition" means "For the sake of competition", my friend.
Competition is vital.
It's true that US economical growth has been much, much higher than the EU one for years. But that is no longer the case! The economy of the EU is accelerating while The US is facing a slowdown.
It is true that the US GDP/Capita is a larger one than that of most of its european counterparts. But what parts of Europe are Americans wishing to compete with? Southern Italy or Scandinavia? The US is poorer than Scandinavia and that is because the industrial base of the US is less productive.
Learn how to work.
On the other hand, Catholicism doesn't suite viking/north germanic approaches to life and
You are correct. Richelieu was a consummate machiavellian. Indeed, the Catholic French kings have a long history of what you might call fighting on the wrong side. They supported the Protestants because they wanted to weaken their chief European rival, the Holy Roman Emperor.
More egregiously, a number of French kings allied with the Sultan of Turkey, for the same reason, because they wanted to weaken the Empire, and in the case of Louis XI, to suck the former Duchy of Burgundy into France.
But while French Catholic kings supported Protestants abroad, at the same time they persecuted the Huguenots in France. And Richelieu conducted the expulsion of England from Calais.
Well, there you go again. I don't know why you chose to insult me or my countrymen. It matters not at the moment. I will remember your moniker.
I'll leave this thread and you on a positive note. Have a great day/evening.
5.56mm
"War is nasty business. I know that there was some region in German in which only something like 900 people survived the war. As I recall, and you can correct me, Richleieu, a Catholic, supported Sweden against other Catholic states."
France was under the threat of becoming encircled by Habsburg regimes (and their allies) and therefore She allied Herself with Sweden which was aiming to control Northern Germany as well as The Baltic Sea.
"On the other hand, Catholicism doesn't suite viking/north germanic approaches to life and
"Learn how to work.
Well, there you go again. I don't know why you chose to insult me or my countrymen. It matters not at the moment. I will remember your moniker.
I'll leave this thread and you on a positive note. Have a great day/evening.
5.56mm"
I hope you're not being serious.
I believe in competition and honest competition was all I was up to.
I called you "friend", didn't I?
Have a good day/morning.
Hmm, I thought Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Who died on a Cross to be a Sacrifice in our place saves humans from an eternity in Hell, when accepted.
Actually, these pics are great.
Tina isn't the most beautiful swedish woman around, but she is one swedish woman!
She did a series for US Public Broadcasting called "New Scandinavian Cooking." It's part a tour of Sweden, its history and culture, and Scandinavian cooking. She cooks outside in different places.
I just happen to catch it one day and I just fell in love with her. She has an infectious personality. The entire series was excellent. I've been to Norway and I'm thinking I need to go to Sweden next ;)
From that series Sweden looks sparsely populated. Is that the case? Norway seemed the same way to me but I didn't get far out of Oslo (I was there on business).
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