Vasa Museum houses an ancient ship, Vasa. After 333 years lying at the bottom of Stockholm bay before it was salvaged, Vasa is now the world’s only preserved 17th century ship and the museum is the most visited museum in Scandavania. It is one of the highlight of my trip to Stockholm.
The City Hall as seen on the first day when the weather was good.
I planned to visit City Hall on the second day. Unfortunately, it was raining whole morning. The City Hall is the workplace for the city’s politicians and civil servants and it is also here where the City Council have their meetings.
The City Hall was built between 1911 – 1923 to the design of Ragnar Ostberg. It came to be his most famous building.
On the location where the City Hall was built, there was earlier a mill, the famous Eldkvarven, which was ravaged by fire in 1878.
Inspired by the palaces of Renaissance, Ragnar Ostberg had the City Hall built around two piazzas, the Civic Court and the Blue Hall. The Blue Hall and the mosaic clad Golden Hall are most known for being the annual host of the Nobel Prize Banquet.
My son tasting the rain, haha.
People waiting to enter the City Hall. The visit will takes 35 minutes. As time was limited, I didn’t visit the interior of City Hall.
From the City Hall, you can get a good view of the Old Town.
Next, I headed to the Vasa Museum. There are 3 ways to reach Vasa Museum.
1) Take metro to Karlaplan station. From there a 10 minute walk or bus 67 to bus stop Nordiska museet/Vasamuseet.
2) Walk from the Central Station. Approximate time: 30 minutes.
3) The easiest way to get to the museum is by tram. Take metro to Kungsträdgården station, then take tram number 7 towards Waldemarsudde. This is the way I chose.
Seen on photo above is the tram station nearby Kungsträdgården.
The tram stops right in front of the Nordic Museum.
The Nordic Museum has exhibitions that include Nordic light, folk art, fashion, interiors and traditions. It is free to visit if you have a Stockholm Pass.
Vasa Museum is located behind the Nordic Museum.
The exterior of Vasa Museum. From Vasa’s salvage in 1961 until 1988, Vasa’s temporary home was at the Wasavarvet Museum before Vasa Museum was constructed.
Entrance to the Vasa Museum. Ticket price is 130 SEK (adult) and 100 SEK (students). Children and young people up to 18 years can enter for free.
Opening Hours:
1 June - 31 August: Daily 8.30-18
1 September - 31 May: Daily 10-17, (Wednesdays 10-20)
All excited to finally see the ancient ship. More than 95% of the ship is original.
The 69 meter long warship, Vasa sank on its maiden voyage in Stockholm in 1628. It was under water for 333 years before it was salvaged in 1961. Many parts of the ship came loose and were buried in the mud and clay of the harbour bottom.
The Vasa ship was built on the orders of the King of Sweden during a war with Poland-Lithuania (1621-1629). The ship didn’t see any action of the war as it capsized and sunk after only travelling for 1300m.
Vasa and the model which depicts the ship as it was when newly built with all ten sails set beside it. The model is scaled at 1:10. It is 6.93m long and 4.75m high. The hull is made of Japanese oak, the sails are sewn of canvas, and the ropes are made of flax and hemp.
The model was built by the Maritime Museum between 1985 and 1990 but remained unpainted, waiting for the results of a research project on the painting of the Vasa that began in 1990.
It was a complex and technical effort over several years to raise an intact 17th century warship from the bottom of the sea. The first tentative lift was in 1959, and breaking the surface was in 1961. The ship was emptied of water by three enormous pumps.
The gun port openings with their lion masks on Vasa.
On the island of Beckholmen, a large conservation laboratory was built in 1962. There, one of the world’s largest conservation projects took place. Thousand of objects were stored in tanks of water until they could be conserved.
In a dark, cold room without oxygen, Vasa could be preserved forever. But in an environment with light, oxygen, heat and moisture, all materials break down. Conservation only delays aging and prevents new damage. No one knows how long Vasa will survive. So visit it while you can.
The elaborate carvings and sculptures of Vasa. They are now a stained dark brown colour from their time at the bottom of the sea and from conservation. But research shows that Vasa was an explosion of colours.
This is how it should look like in colours.
Clothing and armour were painted in clear, lifelike colour.
Gustav II Adolf had ambitions for a great empire. Therefore Vasa’s sculptures were made to demonstrate a powerful nation with strong political and military resources.
There are ten different exhibitions around the ship to tell life on board the ship.
Savaging the Vasa exhibition. This exhibition relates the stages in the salvage of the Vasa, from its discovery by Anders Franzen in 1956 to its resurfacing in 1961.
The model as seen from below.
The Vasa long boat is 12 meters long and was rowed or sailed. It was mainly used for communication with other ships or the shore. It could also be used for towing or warping the ship.
Description of the long boat in different languages.
The Preserve Vasa exhibition relates to the story of Vasa’s conservation and the present measures to preserve the ship for future.
Vasa is conserved for 17 years through spraying with PEG (polyethylene glycol) to replaces the water in the cells of the wood, preventing it from shrinking and cracking. However, as a result, the iron originally concentrated in specific areas in the wood spread over the entire ship. Together with other chemicals, iron can initiate processes that break down the wood of Vasa.
In 2000, the climate control system was unable to maintain consistent temperature and humidity and it caused iron and sulphur sitting in Vasa’s wood to transport to the surface. This compound formed harmful deposits on the surface of the ship. Therefore, a stable climate in the ship hall is the most important measure being taken to preserve Vasa.
Those who died when the Vasa sank are anonymous. But more than half of them survived as skeletal remains. And these skeletons are displayed here at the Face to Face exhibition.
The Stockholm Shipyard exhibition depicts the shipyard in 1627. Altogether, 350 to 400 people worked for the shipyard at that time.
In the Vasa’s Women exhibition, the researcher’s works reveal the roles and living conditions of women during the early part of 17th century.
The souvenir shop in Vasa Museum.
Fancy buying a mini Vasa? You can, at the souvenir shop.
Vasa Museum is really an eye opener and it is definitely a must-see in Stockholm.
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