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Carlotta - the museum database

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1A candle burns by the sculpture of the Virgin Mary. A woman is kneeling, facing the Virgin. She who herself had given birth, who had seen her own son die - surely she must understand what it is like to lose a child? The women's fingers move the beads of the rosary. A prayer for each bead: "Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tectum ..." (Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee). - Virgin Mary. (GM 300)
1A city caharter outlines how a city should be governed and what rights and duties its residents have. Gothenburg received its first city charter from the Swedish king in 1607. At that time the city was located on Hisingen island. When Gotheburg was rebuilt, south of the Göta River, the city was given a new charter. It is dated 4 June 1621. That date is considered to be Gothenburg's birthday. "WE, GUSTAV ADOLF...King of the Swedes, Goths and Wends," - so begins the city charter from 1621. The excerpts states that King Gustav Adolf wants to rebuild the city at the mouth of Göta River, which his father and predecessor, King Karl IX (Charles IX), had ordered to built. - IMAGES: THE FIRST GOTHENBURG on Hisingen, drawing from about 1607. (The Military Archives of Sweden) GOTHENBURG at the and of the 1700s, with high stone walls. (The Military Archives of Sweden) GOTHENBURG in the 1670s, after the defensive system of embankments has been completed. (The Military Archives of Sweden) A PLAN of the layout of Gothenburg, from the 1630s. (The Military Archives of Sweden) A PLAN from 1636 of what Gothenburg would look like. (The Military Archives of Sweden) A DUTCH CANAL CITY. City plan from 1590 by Simon Stevin. (Simon Stevin, Materiæ politicæ) THE FIRST PLAN of Gothenburg. May be an advertisment from about 1619. (The Military Archives of Sweden)
1A flint knapper? Once this stone might have worked as a stool. Piles of flint waste lay littered around it. Is this were the knapper sat and practiced tool making? Left were all the knapped pieces. A flint axe was found nearby. The artifacts tell us that the flint knapper might have been a rookie.
1A gallery grave When people became farmers they stayed in the same place year after year. Close by their dwelling places graves were built of large blocks of stone. They are known as dolmens, passage graves and gallery graves. Gallery graves are the most common. Inside one gallery grave where much interesting material was found were four standing stones which had perhaps supported the dead person's bier. A bronze pair of tweezers and small clay balls of much later date tell that the grave has been used several times.
1A gold coin, called a ducat. made in the Netherlands in 1648. (GSMS:100001:9)
1A grave with iron A thousand years ago most people were cremated on a pyre along with personal items and their household animals. In these two graves the dog has accompanied his master to the grave, but in other respects the graves differ. The one is filled with articles of iron: iron sections from a shield, a knife, an arrowhead and hundreds of rivets and nails from a boat which was burnt with the dead person. There was also a clay disc. In the other grave there were only pottery shards and a glass bead. Why were they given such different items to take with them? Who were they?
1All cities have their myths. These are told over and over, and become part of the city's history. But how true are they really? Do you recognise these stories about Gothenburg? - GOTHENBURG WAS BUILT IN A SWAMP - It has become part of Gothenburgers' self-image that the city was built on a hopeless swamp and that canals were necessary to get rid of the water. But when archaeologists dig underneath building foundations from the 1600s they do not find swamp but rather meadow-land. The canals were not ditches but were dug so that ships could sail into and out from Gothenburg. - IMAGE. Farmers from Lorentzo Magalotti's record of his travels in Sweden, Notizie di Svezia, 1674. (Uppsala University Library)
1AMERICA TRUNK - Trunks that have been in the USA, like this one, were called America trunks. This one was owned by Hilda Lindström, one of hundreds of thousands of Swedes who emigrated there. ---------- Good-bye Gothenburg! Hilda Lindström from Kalmar was 32 when she bought a ticket on Swedish American Line’s ship Drottningholm and travelled to New York via the Port of Gothenburg. The year was 1920 and she had previously tried her luck as a housemaid in Uppsala. What was it she didn’t find there? What was she dreaming of when she walked around Gothenburg heading for the ship that would take her across the Atlantic? More freedom, perhaps. Or better pay? Between 1850 and 1930, 1.2 million Swedes emigrated to America. The first group were poor farmers attracted by cheap land. About the year 1900 a new group followed: young single people, mostly women, hoping for better jobs and fairer pay than at home. From 1915 the journey became easier, when the emigrants could take Swedish American Line’s ships directly from Gothenburg. In the 1920s emigration lessened. In 1929 the USA experienced an economic crisis and emigration ceased completely. Many emigrants came home. Hilda Lindström returned to Gothenburg in 1957 and lived here until she died. Her nephew inherited the trunk she had bought in the USA.
1AMPHORA - The amphora (vase) is a souvenir from the Gothenburg Tercentennial Jubilee Exposition in 1923. The Gothenburg Museum of Art and the Liseberg amusement park were built then. -------- An anniversary to remember »Wonderful! Powerful! Large domes, arches, halls, obelisks, plantings and more. It was like wandering through a fairytale land.« Twenty-year-old Gulli Engström was not sparing with words in her diary after her visit to the Gothenburg Tercentennial Jubilee Exposition in 1923. But it was in fact an impressive 300th anniversary celebration. The exposition grounds stretched to the south of Götaplatsen. Swedish industry’s latest products were displayed at the Export site. The Sports site was located at the newly dug waterlily pond, Näckrosdammen. Perhaps the biggest sensation was Liseberg amusement park with its roller coaster, dance floor and restaurants. From Liseberg visitors could go by cable car to Minnesfältet (Field of Memories) and see a large exhibition about culture and history. In the centre was the splendid Minneshallen (Hall of Remembrance). The exhibition received 4.2 million visits in 160 days. The Gothenburg Museum of Art, Slottsskogsvallen stadium and the Gothenburg Museum of Natural History are parts of the exposition that still stand today. That summer, Elin and Joan Dahlström had travelled from Dalsland to the big city. From among hundreds of souvenirs, they chose a small ceramic
1An axe that was used for woodworking. (GMM:1750)
1A new car, a chicken to cook or tickets to the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg? What prize most tempted the person who bought this ticket on 3 September 1994? Perhaps watching the Gothenburg dance band Arvingarna play was reward enough? Bingolotto was launched in 1989 in the local TV channel Kållevisionen. The host was the handball judge and journalist Leif “Loket” Olsson. The producer was a former table tennis player. Broadcasting bingo live on TV, and with dance bands, was totally new. The desire to bring in money to sports clubs was greater than the knowledge of how to produce TV. But the format succeeded. In 1992 Bingolotto moved to prime time on the new channel TV4. On one record evening, “Uppesittarkvällen”, 23 December 1995, three million people watched and 6.5 million tickets were sold. During the 1990s financial crisis, Bingolotto played an important role. As unemployment rose, the dream of the million-kronor prize every Saturday lived on. Sports clubs sold tickets to replace their lost income. Over the years Bingolotto has brought in 16 billion kronor to Sweden’s clubs.
1Animals, plants, monsters and patterns - the world of the 1600s was filled with images. Sometimes they were just decorations. Sometimes they portrayed classical myths or Bible stories. Sometimes they were aymbolic. On the powder horn, which was used to store gunpowder in, we see the first humans, Adam and Eve, as they are described in the Bible. Around them are both real animal and fabulous beasts. On the upper half of the horn are animals that the Bible permits humans to eat. On the lower half are examples of "unclean" animals such as pigs, hares and birds of prey. - PLATE FRAGMENTS from the 1600s with pictures of animals. The first plate has a picture of a unicorn. The fragment was found where the Enhörningen (Unicorn) chemist's shop was located at Södra Hamngatan 13. (G:1977:1:6, G:1977:1:8, GM:17669, GSMS:120006:235:1) POWDER HORN from the 1600s. (GM:388) DRINKING TANKARD made of curly birch wood with images of animals. (GM:10989) LINEN TEXTILE from 1644, embroided with silk images of flowers and small animals. (GM:595) ----------
1A shoemaker's advertising sign. (GM:46)
1A summer dwelling site More than 6,000 years ago this dwelling site, with four houses on it, was on an island in the sea. A group of people lived here. The tools they've left behind tell what they did in various places. Two of the houses contained no objects, and it may be that they slept there.
1At the age of seven, children were considered old enough to start working. Britta Matsdotter was only a child herself when she was hired to take care of Anders Gustavsson's baby, who was still in the cradle. She worked there as a maidservant for seven years. She later accused Anders of having paid her almost nothing during that time. There were countless differences between beggars' children on the streeets and the children of the rich merchants. Some of them had time to play. In the grounds underneath Gothenburg, toys sometimes turn up, such as spinning tops, ocarina in the form of an cucko that has lost its head, a bone flute or a gaming dice. - SPINNING TOPS from the 1600s, found in Gothenburg. (G:1976:1:2, GM:15884) OCARINA, a simple ceramic birdshaped wind instrument. It has lost its head. (G:1976:1:3) GAMING DICE from the 1600s. (G:2)
1At the end of the 1600s Gothenburg's merchants and administrators showed off their wealth via their homes. The rooms had to be filled with beautiful objects, imported paintings, wall paintings - and beds. The bed was a display object. People who could afford it had a large and splendid bed in every room, with beautiful bedspreads, pillow and bed curtains. - BED from the 1600s. (GM:3426) BRASS BED WARMER. It was filled wit glowing coals and placed in a bed for a while before bedtime. (GM:3448) ----------
1At the end of the 1600s the state, the Church and the educational system were closely linked. The Swedish Church Law from 1686 stated what people in Sweden were to believe. The first official hymnbook from 1695 listed which songs were to be sung in the churches. Both books were important for the future priests at Gothenburg's upper secondary school. The school also had a printing works. The first bookprinter there was called Amund Nilsson Grefwe. The books printed there were also religious, such as this one from 1669, whose Swedish title reads approximately: " A Christian explanation of the great prophet Isaiah, written in the form of sermons, and prepared for printing at the request of many". - THE FIRST SWEDISH HYMNBOOK from 1695. With the addition "Een sommarwisa" or "Den blomstertid nu kommer". (GM:14070) THE BOOK OF AMUND GREFWE'S PRINTING HOUSE IN GOTHENBURG "Christeligh förklaring öwfer then store propheten Esaiam; vthi wissa predijkningar författat, och effter mångas åstundan til trycket förfärdigat; Then tridie Deelen" (A Christian explanation of the great prophet Isaiah, written in the form of sermons, and prepared for printing at the request of many. Part three). (GM:41221) THE SWEDISH CHURCH LAW from 1686 sets out the relationship between Church and the state in Sweden. (GMA:14133) FLUTE made of bone found in Gothenburg. (G:1975:1:1) THE BOOK "En Christens Gyllende Clenodium, Eller Siäle Skatt" (A Christian's Golden Jewel, Or Soul's Treasure) printed by Johann George Eberdt in Stockholm, 1689. Bok cover of silver. Decorated in filigree technique with very fine silver threads and small balls fixed in a frame. (GM:7863)
1A winter hut This is a model of a hut from almost 8,000 years ago. Today there's nothing but a hollow in the ground and a few holes where supporting poles once stood. The hollow was covered in birch bark and filled with earth mixed with coal. There were thousands of small flint flakes here too, along with the burnt shells of hazelnuts and a few tools. This hut lay by an inlet where fishing was good in winter.