Augusta’s friend, Lotten Westman, was an orphan. She and her younger sister Clara lived with a Mademoiselle Hellberg in Stockholm. The house was located at the intersection of two streets: Klara Norra Kyrkogata and Mäster Samuelsgatan. What did the house look like? Would there be any paintings or drawings of the house? Or a photograph – even if it was taken years later? Stockholm has […]
Augusta’s friend Lotten and her little cousin Minna in St. Barths
Did Augusta know anything about the Caribbean island, St. Barths? Saint Barthélemy, or St. Barths, was a Swedish colony between 1784 and 1878. Augusta’s friend Lotten would have had good reasons to know about the island… I am still reading the letters from Charlotte “Lottten” Westman to Augusta. Augusta and Lotten had been friends in Stockholm while attending private girl’s schools in 1842-1845. When Augusta moved […]
A Visit to Löfstad Castle
A while ago, I wrote about exploring Händelö, the first stop on Kerstin’s and my 4-day summer séjour. What other places did we visit? Day1. Löfstad Castle Our second stop, after Händelö, is Löfstad Castle. This castle, built in the 1600s, has been privately owned until it was bequeathed by the last owner, Emilie Piper (1857-1926), to the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) and Östergötland’s Museum. […]
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 On 26 June, we get in the car – happy that we […]
Hotel Norrköping in Stockholm
12 March 1851 “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 […]
