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Kalmar Nyckel The Swedish Colonial Society Swedish Folktales Mimbly
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Swedish Press is the world’s leading magazine on all good things Swedish. An authority on design, business, culture and travel since 1929, Swedish Press delivers insightful news and commentary in a visually striking format. With a nod to the past, and a peek to the future, Swedish Press is your go-to source for updates and inspiration from Sweden. SWEDISH PRESS (ISSN 0839-2323) is published ten times per year (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July/Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan) by Swedish Press Inc, 862 Peace Portal Drive, Suite #101, Blaine WA 98230 for $45 per year. Periodical postage paid at Blaine, WA 98230-9998 (No. USPS 005544). US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Swedish Press, PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 OFFICE: 9040 Shaughnessy Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 6E5 Canada US MAILING ADDRESS: PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 WEBSITE www.swedishpress.com E-MAIL info@swedishpress.com TEL +1 360 450 5858 TOLL FREE +1 866 882 0088 PUBLISHER Claes Fredriksson Claes@swedishpress.com EDITOR Peter Berlin Peter@swedishpress.com ART DIRECTOR Joan Law Joan@swedishpress.com
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4 Letters to the Editor 5 From the Editor’s Desk Swedish Headlines 6 Headline News 7 Swedes in the News 8 Landskapsnyheterna Business 9 Business News 10 Company File: Mimbly 11
Heritage An Insider’s Look at Swedish Culture: Får svenskar tycka synd om sig själva i Corona-tider?
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Heritage 18 Colonial Swedes and Their Descendants Lifestyle 20 Top Sju 21 Book: Two Excellent Summer Reads or Gifts Hemma Hos 22 Design: The Colorful Imagination of Children’s Book Illustrator Anna Lindsten Road to 2045 23 What Arrhenius, Bolin and Thunberg have in common
ADVISORY COMMITTEE Björn Bayley, Peter Ladner, Brian Antonson, Christer Garell, Anders & Hamida Neumuller
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Swedish Press
Oil painting of Kalmar Nyckel by Jacob Hägg (1839-1931), 1922.
Feature 12 New Sweden, the Empire’s First Colony Interview 14 Samuel Heed, Esq., Senior Historian and Director of Education at the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation – Kalmar Nyckel: A Tall Ship With A Broad Reach Global Swedes 16 The Rev. Dr. Kim-Eric Williams – Honorary Governor, Archivist
Swedish Press Connects 24 ASTRA –Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America 25 SVIV – Svenskar i Världen 26 SACC-NY – Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, New York In the Loop 28 Calendar and Events 29 Ads and Info 30 Sista Ordet Senior Care during the Pandemic 31 Pressbyrån
Cover image: Today’s replica Kalmar Nyckel. Photo: Jon Caspar, KNF Volunteer
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Letters to the Editor
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Enjoy reading Swedish Press? Email us your pictures along with your name and comments to info@swedishpress.com and we’ll be happy to publish them. Hi Swedish Press, I’m renewing my subscription! Don’t want to miss any issues. Thanks for keeping the magazine going. I love the Swedish articles, too. I grew up in Göteborg, Sweden, moved to Texas at the age of 19 to attend University of Texas and compete in diving (simhopp). I married and stayed in Austin for 14 years. Then we lived in Victoria, Canada for 6 years
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(where I found Swedish Press)! Beautiful place. I have lived in Hawaii now for 20 years, where my husband and I coach diving at the University of Hawaii. We have had Swedish divers here on our “Rainbow” team and several Canadians, Australians, Norwegians, Chinese, Dutch, and of course Americans. Our Swedish guy Max and Dutch diver Daphne both qualified for the NCAA Championships in March. But the season was cut short due to the coronavirus. The world is slowing down for a while. I’m feeling peaceful. Vi ser framåt och lever i nuet. Take good care and thanks again for keeping me updated on Sweden. Varma hälsningar, Anita Rossing Honolulu, HI Dear Joan, I just subscribed to the Swedish Press and love the magazine. I have Swedish roots and am interested in finding out more about my ancestry. My hope is to locate my great grandfather, Gustav August Kindblad, who was born in Stockholm, Sweden on August 4, 1849 and died in California on March 13, 1929. He was a baker by trade. He married Marie Johnson in Strømsø, Buskerud, Norway on October 30, 1870. Apparently, she died and he immigrated to the
US around 1881. My great grandmother, whom he married in 1885 in the US, was named Frieda Keppel Koeppen. They lived in San Francisco, California where he worked as a baker and had 5 children. The records we find show that his father was named Karl Johan (August?) Kindblad, born in 1808 and died Jan 2, 1889, in Sweden. No record of his mother was found. My husband and I traveled to Sweden in 2003 to try to find any record of his passage to America with no luck. We were told that he possibly was a stowaway, and therefore no recorded entry of his journey. We did find him in the US census records of 1900, 1910 and 1920. We also checked out Ellis Island and found no record of him entering there. If anyone has any information about Gustav or his father, Karl, I would love to hear from you. This search has been going on for years, so any information would be helpful. Thank you so much. Nina Kindblad Hayward, California ninakindblad@sbcglobal.net Hi Peter The new issue looks awesome, love the cover and the concept of diaspora! Thank you again for all your support. I would like to be able to share the article on social media by including links
to the magazine and on my website as an extract (with links). Is that acceptable? Patricia Sandberg, Author Surrey, British Columbia Editor’s comment: Hi Patricia, I am glad that you enjoyed our diaspora theme. Please feel free to share your article on social media. Hej och tack för Swedish Press. När den kommer i brevlådan blir det kaffe paus på Svenska kyrkan i Torontos kansli. Alltid lika spännande att se vad som finns med denna gången. Ofta är det ju något från ens egen trakt i Sverige, min är Västergötland, Borås. Men lika roligt att läsa om Lappland eller Skåne. Tack igen för en informativ, snygg och modern tidning. Allt gott Elisabeth Claesson Svenska kyrkan i Toronto For me, Swedish Press is a vital and much valued publication. Marlin R. Mattson, M.D. New York, New York Enligt den legend jag hört, eller läst, var det Birger Jarl som under ett korståg till Finland hade en vision där han såg ett gult kors mot den blå himlen. Det blev inspirationen till den svenska flaggan. Det hände 1238 eller 39. Hälsningar, Torborg Lundell Professor UCSB, i pension
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from the Editor’s Desk
New Sweden in America We need your support!
Swedish Press strives to create a high quality magazine for you, but the costs are considerable and ever-increasing. Please consider making a generous donation to help keep your publication, and Swedish heritage, alive. You’ll find a form on page 2 as well as page 29. Tack!
Whether your Swedish is fluent or rusty, we hone your language skills by publishing some articles in Swedish. But never despair: you will find English translations online thanks to our valiant team of volunteer translators. Simply go to http://biolson. atspace.cc/swemail/ and you will find translations of all Swedish articles going as far back as to August 2007.
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id you know that Swedes began emigrating to America as far back as 1637? After five harrowing months onboard the ships Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip, a few dozen hardy men set up a colony on the banks of what today is known as Delaware River. They named the colony Nya Sverige. Over the next 17 years Sweden sent twelve more ships to sustain the colony whose population grew to a few hundred souls before they were assimilated into the adjacent Dutch colony New Netherland. Read all about their fate in the two articles by Leif Lundquist (pp 12 and 18), as well as in our exclusive interviews with Samuel Heed of the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation (page 14) and Kim-Eric Williams of the Swedish Colonial Society (page 16). Still on the subject of emigration, I draw your attention to Cecilia Borglin’s article on “reverse emigration” (page 25). She describes the dilemma facing any expat Swede who has married a non-EU citizen while living abroad and wants to resettle in Sweden. Of course, there is much more in this issue of Swedish Press for you to enjoy. For example, have a look at Kristi Robinson’s article about the Swedish illustrator Anna Lindsten (page 22); also Jakob Lagercrantz’ piece about three Swedish pioneers in the field of global sustainability (page 23); and Merete Leonhardt-Lupa’s report on Swedish language training at the University of Colorado (page 24). COVID-19 remains high on everybody’s agenda. We offer some updates and insights about the situation in Sweden and America under Swedish Headlines (page 6). Yvonne Gossner writes about the difficulties she faces in her job of promoting Swedish culture in the pandemic environment (page 11). Read Sofie Kinnefors’ thoughtinspiring article under Sista Ordet about caring for isolated elderly people at the end of their lives (page 30). This is perhaps a good time to reflect on parallels between the coronavirus and Swedish emigration. A recent article in the Swedish online magazine The Local describes how the massive exodus between 1830 and 1930 left the country reeling. Initially it had the effect of pitting the conservatives and the liberals against each other in what was left of Sweden. The conservatives saw the emigrants as being unpatriotic, greedy, lazy and immoral, while the liberals defended them as the backbone of the New World and a model for Sweden’s future. Faced with an unprecedented crisis, the two sides put aside their differences and came up with a formula which we still know as Social Democracy. The formula worked miracles, because not only did emigration slow down but, over time, many Swedish emigrants returned to the old country. The nation had become more tolerant, more compassionate, and eventually much wealthier. Turning to the present, perhaps the coronavirus crisis will leave behind a similar legacy not just in Sweden but across our entire planet – less taking things for granted, less sense of entitlement, less CO2 emissions from frivolous driving and flying, more caring for other people, more peace in the world. On that optimistic note, enjoy the summer to the maximum in the circumstances! Peter Berlin Editor Peter@Swedishpress.com July 2020
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Corona, skulduggery and murder Who is Anders Tegnell?
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By Peter Berlin nders Tegnell is the State Epidemiologist of Sweden and the chief architect of Sweden’s laid-back approach to COVID-19. In the minds of many Swedes, he is the equivalent of Anthony Fauci in the U.S. or Theresa Tam in Canada, and he enjoys widespread popularity. That said, foreign critics have pounced on Sweden because of its chosen path for tackling the coronavirus. It has been suggested that people have been allowed to suffer and die in order to keep the economy afloat. During a June 3 interview on Swedish Hope for the best, plan for the worst
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he Chinese were the first to build a field hospital in record time to accommodate an expected influx of coronavirus patients. Some other countries followed the Chinese example, including Sweden. The field hospital in Älvsjö south of Stockholm was readied in only one week with assistance from the Armed Forces and National Board of Health and Welfare. Now, after two months without a single patient, the hospital will be dismantled. Stockholm healthcare director Björn Eriksson said at a press conference on June 4: “We saw [the hospital] as an insurance policy, something we hoped we wouldn’t have to use but available if needed.” He added that valuable experience has been gained in how to build similar hospitals quickly if required during future pandemics.
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Swedish Ambassador in trouble
n an unprecedented move, the Swedish Foreign Office is taking
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Anders Tegnell. Photo: Folkhälsomyndigheten
Television SVT, Tegnell was asked if he had any regrets. He replied that the strategic decisions he took during the early part of the pandemic seemed justified, given the limited knowledge about the nature of the coronavirus that existed at the time. Now that the virus is better understood, and with
Sweden’s former Ambassador to China to court. Anna Lindstedt is accused of having exceeded her mandate by carrying out private negotiations with Chinese agents in Stockholm without keeping the Foreign Office informed. The negotiations were aimed at securing the release of a Swedish citizen of Chinese origin, Gui Minhai, from a Chinese prison. In exchange, the Swedish government and Minhai’s daughter were to refrain from future criticism of the Chinese State. The full story is complex and dramatic, worthy of a future spy novel and movie. Olof Palme murder mystery resolved?
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n a much anticipated press conference on June 10, a Swedish prosecutor put an end to 34 years of police investigations into the 1986 murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme in central Stockholm. Palme and his wife were returning home on foot from an evening at the movies when a stranger shot him point blank in the back. In the 34
the benefit of hindsight, he admitted that some things could have been done differently, especially concerning the protection of the elderly from the coronavirus. Foreign news media were quick to report on the interview. The New York Times, The Guardian, Die Zeit and La Stampa all noted that Tegnell had offered some self-criticism – an unusual phenomenon in the fierce, finger-pointing debate taking place elsewhere. By assuming responsibility for Sweden’s unorthodox pandemic strategy, he may be taking a great professional and personal risk, depending on the final outcome. As the saying goes: “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.”
Olof Palme. Photo: Sipa/REX
years since the murder, some 10,000 individuals have been interrogated and 134 have admitted to committing the crime, perhaps to collect remuneration from exclusive interviews with the news media. None of the 134 were ever found guilty in court. The prosecutor has now concluded that the murderer was an insurance company employee named Stig Engström who died in 2000. The prosecutor was sharply critical of the conduct of the murder investigations over the years by the police which cost the taxpayers several tens of millions of dollars.
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Swedes in the News
Victoria Days and Swedish Literature Princess Concert
Crown Princess Victoria. Photo: Linda Broström The Royal Court, Sweden
When Crown Princess Victoria turns 43 on July 14, traditional celebrations take place during “Victoriadagarna” (Victoria Days) on the Swedish island of Öland. During July 10 – 15 visitors are encouraged to take part in physical activity, a healthy lifestyle and raising funds for the Crown Princess Victoria Fund. The Fund supports young people suffering from handicaps or chronic illnesses. While the Victoria Days 2020 will be adapted to avoid larger crowds, its arrangers are hoping to invite as many people as possible to family activities, lectures and exhibitions. A televised concert, featuring skilled musicians/ performers, takes place on the Crown Princess’ birthday at Borgholms Slott. Unfortunately, in this pandemic year it is not possible for the public to buy tickets for the concert. Instead, catch the 40-year-old tradition on SVT1 on July 14 at 9 pm Swedish time.
Björklund to Italy Former Swedish Liberal Party leader Jan Björklund, born in Skene, Västergötland in 1962, is taking on the role as Sweden’s Ambassador to Italy on September 1. Björklund has been a member of the Swedish Riksdag since 2006. He served as the Liberal Party leader between
Jan Björklund. Photo: Nilsson Nils Petter/Aftonbladet
2007 and 2019, and as Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2014. Björklund has also served as Minister for Education. On Twitter, the former party leader wrote that he was honored by his new assignment and looks forward to representing Sweden in the fascinating country of Italy.
Marianne Rundström. Photo: Sara Mac Key
Voices) Rundström gives voice to people over the age of 60 by addressing topics that enrich human beings at a mature age. Throughout the series, exciting guests are invited to talk about the possibilities that come with age, as well as topics such as culture, design, food and well-being. Mogna Röster is available on computer and mobile phone.
Book by Mede
Author’s Award
Petra Mede. Photo: Fredrik Stromberg
Rundström’s Podcast Swedish journalist and former Morgonsoffan TV host Marianne Rundström, 69, is back with a podcast for people over the age of 60. Rundström resigned from Swedish Television SVT in 2017, after almost 22 years at the station, to keep growing and developing. In Mogna Röster (Mature
polyglotta älskarna from 2016 was awarded Svenska Dagbladets litteraturpris (Svenska Dagbladet Literature Prize) and Augustpriset (The August Prize) for best fiction book. The prestigious Piratenpriset has been awarded annually since 1989 to artists who work in the spirit of Swedish author Fritiof Nilsson Piraten. Previous award winners include Hans Alfredson, Viveca Lärn and Gösta Ekman.
Lina Wolff . Photo: Christine Olsson/TT
Swedish writer Lina Wolff, who was born in Skåne in 1973, has been awarded 150,000 SEK as the winner of this year’s Piratenpriset. Wolff debuted in 2009 with the short story collection Många människor dör som du. Her third book De
Skam och högmod i Sävedalen by Swedish comedian, actor and TV host Petra Mede will be released by Norstedts publishing house on August 20. In the 200page-long biography Mede describes her upbringing, reminiscing about her life in the seventies and eighties in Sävedalen outside of Gothenburg, as well as the present. Fans will recognize Mede’s signature quick and drastic humor in Skam och högmod i Sävedalen – her debut as an author.
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[Landskapsnyheterna] BLEKINGE Goda nyheter för alla som gillar att semestra i Blekinge! I och med att Corona-restriktionerna för resor inom Sverige hävs är det nu fritt fram för besök i det vackra landskapet. Beslutet glädjer Blekinges turistföretag. – Vi har väntat på besked och det här är positivt. Nu får fler möjlighet att besöka oss, sa Håkan Andersson, VD på Visit Blekinge. Trots att restriktionerna hävs är det viktigt att följa riktlinjerna. – Jag hoppas att vi klarar av att hantera den här friheten på ett så bra sätt som möjligt, både som individer och verksamheter så att vi inte får ytterligare spridning, sa Håkan. Besöksnäringen i Blekinge har fått sig en törn. – Det är mycket oro. Vi kommer att se ett ordentligt hack i kurvan vad gäller besöksnäringens utveckling, men vi får hoppas att vi kan studsa tillbaka hyfsat snabbt, sa Håkan.
Tjärö, Blekinge. Foto: Visit Blekinge
STOCKHOLMS KOMMUN Stockholms första förpackningsfria butik har öppnat i Bagarmossen. För butiksägaren Ingrid Daal är det viktigt med hållbarhet. – Jag vill ha ett hållbart samhälle, sa hon. Att Ingrids no-waste-butik ligger i Bagarmossen är praktiskt och passar bra in med omgivningens miljötänk. – Många i Bagarmossen tänker hållbart, sa Ingrid. Varorna i hennes butik förvaras och säljs utan engångsförpackningar tillverkade i t.ex. plast. Ris, pasta, havregryn, kaffebönor och kryddor går att köpa i lösvikt, men
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kunden måste själv ta med en behållare för att bära hem sina varor. Flytande tvål finns till försäljning i dunkar och oljor i kannor. Tittar man in i no-waste-butiken utan något att bära hem varorna i får man planera ett nytt besök. – Ja, det är lite svårt att få in en ny vana, man får fundera på vad man måste ha med sig när man går ut, sa Ingrid. HÄLSINGLAND Söderhamns kommun vill inspirera sina invånare till att odla mer och har därför avsatt en summa på 200 000 kronor som invånare med gröna fingrar kan söka medel från. I Corona-tider har många mer tid till intressen som att odla. – Under den här tiden när många är hemma har man sett en boom när det gäller hemmabyggen. Och jag tror odling kommer att få ett uppsving. Jag tror det här är bra för människor som är hemma och kanske inte har så mycket att göra. Man samlas tillsammans och odlar, sa Marjo Myllykoski (M), ordförande i kultur- och samhällsservicenämnden i Söderhamns kommun. Som kandidat till odlingsbidraget måste man ingå i en förening eller ett studieförbund i Söderhamns kommun. Kandidater kan belönas med ett stöd på upp till 25 000 kronor per odlingsprojekt, och bidraget kan användas till t.ex. inköp av utrustning eller markberedning. Med odlingsprojektet hoppas Söderhamns kommun att odlingsintresserade i framtiden överväger arbeten inom jordbruksindustrin eller skogsindustrin.
Birgit Öhlund och Alice Lind. Foto: Susanne Holmberg/Sveriges Radio.
LAPPLAND NORRBOTTEN
VÄSTERBOTTEN
JÄMTLAND
HÄRJEDALEN
ÅNGERMANLAND
MEDELPAD HÄLSINGLAND
DALARNA GÄSTRIKLAND VÄSTMANLAND VÄRMLAND
UPPLAND
SÖDERMANNÄRKE LAND
DALSLAND ÖSTERGÖTLAND BOHUSLAND VÄSTERGöteborg GÖTLAND SMÅLAND HALLAND SKÅNE
Stockholm
GOTLAND ÖLAND
BLEKINGE
Malmö
NORRBOTTEN I Corona-tider vill många hjälpa sina medmänniskor. Alice Lind och Birgit Öhlund, två musikaliska systrar från Luleå, bestämde sig för att sprida glädje genom att leverera sångogram till musiksugna Luleåbor. – Vi är inte sjukvårdskunniga, så vi bidrar med sång, sa Birgit Öhlund. På systrarnas Facebooksida ”Sången är din” kan man beställa gratis underhållning i form av sång. Systrarna bjuder sedan på skönsång i mån av tid. Nyligen fick Mjölkuddens trygghetsbonde och dess isolerade inneboende i Luleå till sin glädje lyssna till de båda systrarnas sång. Summary in English: Blekinge happily welcomes tourists back after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. A no-waste boutique opens in Bagarmossen, Stockholm. Söderhamns kommun offers inhabitants a chance to apply for financial aid to grow crops. Two sisters in Luleå sing for isolated seniors to brighten their day.
[Business] News The perils of relaxing too much Sweden objects to rule change t is estimated that civil aviation contributes 2 percent of all global CO2 emissions. Because air travel had been steadily on the rise up until the advent of COVID19, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) suggested in 2016 that airlines should become “carbon neutral” from 2021 onwards, using the emissions in 2020 as the baseline reference. The agreement was called Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or Corsia for short. Adherence to Corsia rules would be voluntary up until 2026, and mandatory from then onwards.
The carbon offset might be achieved by using more efficient aircraft and fuels derived from non-fossil sources. As of January 2018, some 70 countries representing more than 85% of international aviation activity have agreed to participate. Unfortunately, the use of the emissions in 2020 as the Corsia baseline reference has become a huge problem for the airline industry. Because air travel has been reduced to a trickle due to COVID-19, the 2020 emissions will be much lower than originally anticipated, and the industry will struggle to meet the Corsia goal. ICAO has therefore come under pressure from the industry to make the Corsia targets less ambitious. The EU has agreed to go along with the proposed
rule change, with only one dissenting voice: Sweden. “We must not relax our ambitions regarding climate matters in any part of the transport sector, and that goes for aviation as well,” says Sweden’s Minister for Infrastructure, Tomas Eneroth. A formal decision on the Corsia rule change will be taken by the ICAO Council later in June. With the EU having expressed support, the change will almost certainly be approved.
Noli me tangere
The tune is changing
for their summer holidays. Swedish Railways (SJ) and the bus company Flixbus predicted that some routes would quickly sell out for certain dates. The ferry line Destination Gotland also saw a major increase in ticket sales. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is going even further by offering flights to Mediterranean holiday destinations. However, there is a problem of availability. The Public Health Agency still insists on social distancing, meaning that every other seat must be left empty. Moreover, the transportation companies are having difficulties ramping up their previously curtailed services to keep pace with the sudden increase in demand. It remains to be seen whether this instability between supply and demand will level out over time, or indeed whether the relaxation of travel restrictions will lead to a pandemic second wave followed by a lockdown.
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By Peter Berlin
(That is Latin for “don’t touch me.”) n June 13 the Swedish government lifted the corona-related restrictions on domestic travel, as long as the other guidelines are adhered to – notably social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, and washing hands frequently. This means that Swedes may travel freely within their country this summer without having to give special reasons. However, because the number of corona cases remains far higher in Sweden than elsewhere in Scandinavia, Norway and Denmark are reluctant to admit vacationing Swedes into their countries. They are also discouraging their own citizens to visit Sweden. Negotiations are under way between the three governments to see if and when these restrictive policies can be relaxed. The Netherlands has also expressed reservations about welcoming Swedish tourists.
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he main theme of the April 2020 issue of Swedish Press was devoted to the island of Gotland and its many tourist attractions. As the coronavirus began to spread through Sweden, Gotland remained relatively unscathed, and the local authorities suddenly discouraged mainland Swedes from visiting the island lest its limited hospital resources be overstretched. Predictably, Gotland’s small businesses have suffered badly, and many would have faced bankruptcy unless the flow of mainland visitors was allowed to resume. The decision by the Swedish government to lift domestic travel restrictions has therefore been broadly welcomed.
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Supply at odds with demand
he planned easing of domestic travel restrictions has prompted thousands of people to book tickets
Photo: Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation
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Company File
Groundwater Depletion, Ocean Pollution And Your Washing Machine By Peter Berlin
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id you know that each time you wash your clothes, your washing machine uses 60 litres, or more, of fresh, drinking-quality water? And this at a time when drinking water is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity around the world. As the world population keeps growing, so does our water usage resulting in ever lower groundwater levels. NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission provides continuous insights into the extent of global groundwater depletion. Having an accurate measurement of groundwater levels is essential for accurately forecasting water availability in the near future. Millions of people depend on the supply of groundwater. Its loss is serious, and researchers say the loss is almost entirely due to human activity. What is more, the synthetic fabrics in your clothes produce microplastics – tiny plastic fibres – during the wash which make their way through the drains to the world’s oceans. These harmful microplastics are consumed by fish which, in turn, end up on our dinner plates. Most people would agree that this situation is unsustainable and unacceptable.
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A pair of washing machines with the Mimbox attached at the right. Source: Mimbly AB.
Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic that pollute the environment. They are not a specific kind of plastic, but any type of plastic fragment that is less than 5 mm in length. They enter natural ecosystems from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, and industrial processes. Enter the Swedish company Mimbly AB which strives to address both the fresh water and microplastic problems. In 2017 a group of students at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden asked themselves a simple question: Do we really need to use drinking water for our laundry? The answer was “no”, prompting the development of a device they called the Mimbox. The device is attached to one or more washing machines and purifies the “grey” water from the washing process. Instead of draining and refilling all the water during each stage of the washing process, the clean water from the Mimbox is fed back into the washing cycle, while the remainder is expelled through the Mimbox drain. At the same time the Mimbox
captures microplastics in a filter. The Mimbox can lower the water consumption by up to 90 percent and reduce the energy consumption by 30 percent while effectively capturing microplastics, all this without compromising the quality of the wash. What was once a student project stands to change the way we use water. Today, the Mimbox is a reality, providing an alternative to unsustainable laundry habits. Mimbox acts as a controller for the water going in and out. It analyses the water, filters it and recycles it. Prototypes of the Mimbox are currently being tested in real settings. Meanwhile, new prototypes are being developed for a bigger pilot test. Numerous prestigious awards speak to Mimbly’s potential and success. The most recent award was the SKAPA Prize established in memory of Alfred Nobel with the aim of supporting inventors. Another highlight for Mimbly last year was when the company won the Startup World Cup Europe. Mimbly exemplifies how important it is for start-ups to be nurtured in the early stages. Gritty changemakers who consistently perform against all odds can often find the elusive key to success. Mimbly alone won’t save our civilization, but every little bit helps. See also www.mimbly.se.
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An Insider’s Look at Swedish Culture Får svenskar tycka synd om sig själva i Coronatider? Av Yvonne Gossner
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tt som Swedish influ encer marknadsföra Sverige under Coronas framfart har, för att uttrycka mig milt, varit min hittills brantaste uppförsbacke som entre prenör. Då behövde jag varken ställa in ett bröllop eller student skiva. Samtidigt ser omvärlden med en bekymrad min hur Pippi Långstrumps Sverige hanterar denna epidemi. Under den här perioden har jag haft mycket tid att reflektera samtidigt som just det har stressat mig som allra mest: Var fanns min identitet utan ekorrhjulet och friheten? Helt plötsligt blev mailboxen full av inställda föreläsningar och events, samtidigt som inga nya planer kunde göras. Om man mot förmodan deltog i en mindre tillställning, fick man inte lägga ut den på sociala medier – det var strängt förbjudet oss svenskar emellan. Att hjälpa äldre grannar att handla kändes som en liten tröst i eländet när jag istället hade dåligt samvete för att jag borde hjälpa till inom sjukvården, isynnerhet när sjukvårdspersonalen i Sverige gick på knäna utan att ha blivit testade för Corona. Att jag just detta “Corona-år” skulle erhålla en EU-utbildning i Bryssel och dessutom få två stipendia till Tyskland, där jag fick bjuda med mig gymnasieelever från utsatta områden i Malmö, kändes som sämsta timingen någonsin då allt fick ställas in. Det kändes tungt
att trösta de redan bleka ungdomarna som hade sin gymnasieutbildning bakom sin datorskärm i flera månader framåt, och när våra pengar till Tyskland hade gått förlorade p.g.a. att resebolaget gått i konkurs. Upp med hakan, för varför skulle vi svenskar beklagar oss? Vi har ju trots allt fått regelbunden information varje dag av våra myndigheter genom Anders Tegnell (Sveriges statsepidemiolog). Vi har kunnat röra oss fritt under ansvar även om den svenska traditionen med besök av påskkärringar förbjöds. Oss emellan så har vi svenskar ändå beklagat oss, då saknaden av våra gamla föräldrar har varit stor och den vanligaste frågan numera är “Har du blivit permitterad?” Att ens sätta sig in i våra isolerade medmänniskors lott runt om i världen har nästan gjort för ont för oss svenskar. Likaså alla liv som Corona har tagit och anhöriga som ej har kunnat ta farväl. Tillbaks till min fråga – får vi lov att beklagar oss i Sverige över Corona? Jag tycker faktiskt vi ska få lov att göra det. Sverige har fått mycket uppmärksamhet och kritik för hanteringen av Corona, och det kommer att ta lång tid innan vi vet vilken strategi som har fungerat bäst. Det sägs att de allra mest
kritiska rösterna över Sverige är från utlandssvenskarna själva, och ska jag vara ärlig så förstår jag dem. Om det är någon gång man skulle vilja bo i Sverige så var det väl ändå nu, när vi som nästan enda nation fick lov att röra oss fritt då naturen var som allra vackrast. Vi svenskar har dock fått stå till svars för hur vårt land har agerat, och också blivit bestraffade genom att ej välkomnas överallt. Det alla svenskar ändå är eniga om är att vi är trygga med att leva i ett land som inte följer strömmen utan våga tänka utanför boxen. Det är precis som med Pippi Långstrump och Greta Thunberg: ett friskhetstecken! Summary in English: The author describes how the advent of the corona-virus has meant an uphill struggle in her quest to promote Swedish culture. Offered stipends to take courses abroad were withdrawn, as were planned lectures and other engagements. But given the unique freedom of movement that Swedes have enjoyed throughout, do they have a right to complain? The author thinks so in view of the often ill-informed criticism from abroad of Sweden’s chosen path. Most Swedes are proud of their country’s courage to think outside the box rather than mindlessly adopting strategies chosen by other countries.
Footnote: Yvonne Gossner är en f.d universitetsadjunkt och Swedish influencer, numera ägare av Learn Swedish Culture AB. www.learnswedishculture.com
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or about a century, roughly 1610-1710, Sweden was one of the Great European Powers. At the peak Sweden’s borders included practically everything around the Baltic Sea, and the nation had alliances with a number of other countries exerting influence far south into Europe. For over thirty years large Swedish armies roamed around Europe fighting for the Protestant cause, but it was also a period of economic as well as cultural progress. There were Swedish universities in Åbo in Finland, Greifswald in Pomerania, Tartu in Estonia and there was talk about having a second Swedish capital in Riga in Latvia. It was an era when Europe dominated most of the world. Countries such as England and The Netherlands had colonies around the world as did France, Germany, and Spain. In the middle of all this, a disgruntled Dutchman in a small colony in North America fell out with the owners, the Dutch West India Company (WIC), and left his position as Governor. His name was Pieter Minuit, the year was 1632 and the name of that colony was New Netherland centered on the island of Manahatta at the mouth of the North (now Hudson) River.
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New Sweden, the Empire’s First Colony By Leif Lundquist
This map shows how the area that would one day become Delaware changed hands over time, being settled first as part of New Sweden, then as part of Dutch New Netherland, and finally coming under English control in 1664. Although Delaware’s present-day boundaries are shown for reference, these were not established until the mid-18th century. Map by National Geographic Society
Sweden and Holland generally had an excellent relationship, and a lot of trade went on between the two countries. The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus and his council encouraged Dutch traders, entrepreneurs, and specialists to come to Sweden and participate in the economic development. With the
King’s blessing a Dutch enclave of businessmen was established in Gothenburg, Sweden’s main harbor on the west coast. International trade was the realm of a few large companies, privately owned but with royal privileges granting them monopolies for markets and products. Of course, the heads of
state, government ministers, high ranking administrators, influential nobility, and private investors were all part of the same group of people. The state was dependent on private money and the investors were dependent on the state, so they worked hand-inhand for the benefit of all concerned. But there was competition between different national companies and key persons moved from one to the other for all usual reasons: money, rivalry, personal gain, power struggles, etc. The story about New Sweden must start somewhere, and we begin with Willem Usselinx, one of the founders of the WIC. He knew King Gustavus Adolphus, who was very interested in developing Swedish trade and influence in the world. Usselinx had become dissatisfied with his income from the WIC, and he suggested to the king that Sweden should establish a similar venture. Convinced, the king gave Usselinx permission to form Södre Companiet the South Company for trade with Asia, Africa, America and Magellanica (the as yet undiscovered southern continent). Nothing much became of the South Company, but a seed had been sown, the idea that Sweden should become a colonial power. Enter Samuel Blommaert, another person who
wanted out from WIC; also Peter Spiring , a Dutchman working for the Swedish government, and Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, the king’s closest advisor and one of Sweden’s richest men. Blommaert brought in Pieter Minuit, and Minuit prepared a memorie – today we would call it a business plan — which Spiring brought to Sweden in the summer of 1636 and showed to Oxenstierna. In January 1637 Blommaert, Spiring, and Minuit met in The Hague to finish an agreement about the New Sweden venture. Half of the capital, 12,000 florins would be invested by a Dutch consortium led by Blommaert and Minuit. In Sweden three men named Oxenstierna (High Lord Chancellor Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, his brother High Lord Justiciar Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, and their cousin High Lord Treasurer Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna) together with Count Peter Spierinck Silfvercrona and Sweden’s Chief Admiral Clas Fleming stood for the other half. Despite many people being involved Blommaert managed to keep the plans secret. The Dutch in the WIC and in New Netherland would be completely taken by surprise. In November 1637 two ships, Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip, left Gothenburg bound for the South River. Pieter Minuit was the
Swedish settlers, under Peter Minuit, land at Paradise Point along Delaware Bay. The settlers arrive onshore and start to explore the land in groups, or sit to wait as more settlers arrive; two ships lay anchored in the distance.
expedition leader. By March 1638 they had crossed the Atlantic and navigated up the South River and into one of its tributaries, where they found a suitable landing place, a large rock at a fork in the river (now Christina Park in Wilmington, DE). The first order of business was to scout the area for any other Europeans. They didn’t find any and Minuit decided that they were free to negotiate with the Lenâpes, many of whom had gathered around the ships. He acquired the right to settle in the area, and the agreement was signed onboard Kalmar Nyckel on April 8, 1638 by the Lenâpe Chiefs Mattahorn, Mitatsemint, Eru Packen, Mahome and Chiton. The area was named Nya Sverige. They built a small fort named Christine Skans, and Minuit appointed Lieutenant Måns Kling as its commander. The two river branches at the fork were named Christineström (now Christina River) and Brännvinskilen (now Brandywine Creek).
In June, Minuit boarded Kalmar Nyckel to go back to Europe and report. He left Måns Kling with 23 soldiers and a long list of instructions. None of them knew that the New Sweden project was about to suffer its first serious setback. Peter Minuit died when an unexpected storm hit them at the Leeward Islands. Kalmar Nyckel itself weathered the storm and arrived in Amsterdam in October 1638. The investors were shaken but stuck to their plan and by 1641 the colonist population was about 150. Problems kept piling up. The company had yet to turn a profit and the Dutch government was putting pressure on investors to get out. New Sweden was also hostage of the relationships between the Netherlands, England and Sweden, and issues closer to home were more important. The Dutch investors finally withdrew and the New Sweden Company was dissolved. But the venture wasn’t dead yet. In 1641 Clas
Fleming took charge of the project, and more land was acquired (the closest modern term is “leased”) from the Lenâpes. The project was still alive and looked good. A very significant step was taken in 1642 when the Swedish government appointed Johan Björnsson Printz as New Sweden’s new governor. For ten years he worked energetically, diligently, and with authority to move the project forward. It was an uphill struggle. New Sweden was still not a profitable venture. Clas Fleming died in 1644, the same year Queen Christina ascended to the throne. Axel Oxenstierna was not getting any younger. Christina was beginning to impose her own will more and more, and she was not very interested in the far away outpost. The vital supply line between Sweden and New Sweden was thin to begin with; during the 17 year life of the colony only twelve expeditions were sent to the colony and some ships were lost at sea. By 1653, Johan Printz gave up. He returned to Sweden, and the final curtain for the first Swedish colony was about to be lowered. It would take another two years before the Swedes turned New Sweden over to New Netherland. In 1664 the Dutch in turn succumbed to the English and New Sweden became a part of the next chapter in American colonial history.
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Kalmar Nyckel: A Tall Ship With A Broad Reach Interviewed by Peter Berlin
Samuel W. Heed is Senior Historian and Director of Education at the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation. As a leader of the nonprofit educational foundation, Heed is responsible for presenting the history of the Kalmar Nyckel, (“Key of Kalmar”), a re-creation of the ship that carried Swedish colonists to Delaware and New Sweden. Heed was the writer, director and executive producer of the 2017 documentary film Kalmar Nyckel: The Forgotten Journey which was nominated for an Emmy Award. In the following he takes us back to the heady days of 17th-century trans-Atlantic travel, and then fast forward to his present role within the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation.
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am taught American and European history for 20 years at a prep school on the Mainline outside Philadelphia, and practised law for 5 years before that. When he reached 50, he decided that there were a lot of other things he might want to do. “It’s hard to leave something that you love,” he explained. “I loved the classroom but wanted to try something else. I started looking around for various non-profit educational jobs. Lo and behold, there was a tall ship called Kalmar Nyckel in my region with an organization – the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation – that wanted to turn the ship into an educational platform. They had been sailing it for 10 years but didn’t really have a clearly defined mission until about the time when I was hired. So for me it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop the program from the ground up. Having a tall ship is a pretty nifty way to grab people’s attention!” The original Kalmar Nyckel ship was a Dutch “pinnace,” a particular kind of ship built in the 1620s and 1630s. It was a small capital vessel or naval warship of 300 tons, usually 100 – 130 feet long. The Dutch built
Oil painting of Kalmar Nyckel by Jacob Hägg (1839-1931), 1922.
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thousands of them, mostly in Amsterdam. Sam elaborates: “The Dutch sold the ship to the Swedish Skeppskompaniet (Ship Company), formed by King Gustav II Adolph using tax revenue from various towns. They purchased 18 ships to augment the Navy which had lost a number of vessels mainly in the Baltic, some in battle but mostly through storms. Kalmar Nyckel was paid for by the city of Kalmar and partly by Jönköping; hence the name.” The Kalmar Nyckel served as an auxiliary Navy vessel for 22 years in the Swedish Navy. It usually carried 12 six-pounder guns and a crew of about 55. It formed part of King Gustav’s invasion fleet in Peenemünde in Northern Germany at the start of the Thirty Year’s War. Sam: “The Swedish Admiralty then picked Kalmar Nyckel when they needed a ship for launching the colony New Sweden in 1637. It was selected to be the flagship of Peter Minuit on the voyage of 1637 – 1638 to what would become the colony of New Sweden in Delaware Valley. An extraordinary ship – and that is why we built a replica of Kalmar Nyckel.” We asked about the ultimate fate of the original Kalmar Nyckel. “When I arrived at Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, we did not know what happened to the ship. We knew that it went back to Europe after its fourth voyage to New Sweden. It served with distinction in the Torstenson War against Denmark in 1645. At the end of its career in 1647 – 1648 it performed ambassadorial missions for what was to become the Peace of Westphalia. “Ambassadorial” meant carrying or escorting Swedish ambassadors to the venue of negotiations. In 1651, Queen Christina signed the decommissioning document, and
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the ship was sold to a Dutch merchant in Stockholm by the name of Cornelius Roelofsen. That’s where the documentary trail ended when I arrived.” But the story does not end there. “I then had a Dutch intern – a translation scholar and a history expert who needed to do an internship in an English-speaking country. Because he could read Dutch – and indeed 17th century Dutch – we were able to uncover voluminous Dutch documentation. Roelofsen was a Dutch businessman, probably an expatriate living in Stockholm. He was in a position to buy Kalmar Nyckel which had now become naval surplus. Roelofsen renamed it Kalmar Sleutel, sailed it down to Amsterdam, had it gunned-up and re-equipped. He then leased it to the Dutch Admiralty, because the Dutch were about to go to war with the English in what became the first Anglo-Dutch War 1652 – 1654 over trade and fishingrights. Kalmar Sleutel and 15 other Dutch ships were sent out to escort a Dutch herring fleet off the East Coast of Scotland. There it was attacked by an English fleet of 66 ships under Admiral Blake. On July 22, 1652, Kalmar Sleutel was sunk by the English.” On the subject of the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, Sam explained: “We are a maritime educational organization centered around the Kalmar Nyckel replica. Our mission is to keep the cultural and maritime heritage of Delaware and Delaware Valley alive, recalling that the Swedes were the first to land here. We fly the Swedish flag at the top of the main mast. So we represent maritime heritage, Delaware heritage and Swedish heritage. We are educational in every way and make field trip programs for elementary and middle school students. Kalmar Nyckel is a sailing ship. In a typical
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year she sails from mid-April to early November. In the summer she travels down to Virginia and then hits a couple of spots on the way back up. Later in the summer we always go to New England, and sometimes we head up the Hudson River. The ship sails about 2500 nautical miles every year. We engage with the public wherever we go, and we have become a SwedishAmerican cultural icon. “Besides our field trip and classroom programs for school students, we also have a sailing training program. If you are over 18, or over 14 with a guardian, you can become part of our volunteer sailing crew. Another program is for members of the general public who come out for day sails. We put them to work, too. We also have a scale model inside our new Copeland Maritime Center where you can have sail training.” The Kalmar Nyckel replica came about thanks to a consortium of local Wilmington, Delaware and Delaware Valley supporters, some of whom were of colonial Swedish heritage. Another
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key element was local business and civic leaders who decided it would be great to have an iconic floating flagship to symbolize the culture of early Delaware in and about Wilmington. “It took about two years from 1995 to 1997 to build her,“ Sam explained. “It was launched in September of 1997 from our shipyard which is 200 yards downstream from The Rocks and Fort Christina where the original ship first landed.” Sam was in charge of making a documentary film titled Kalmar Nyckel: The Forgotten Journey. “Anyone interested in history has a hankering to try a film project. If you can get it on television, it gives the project credibility, and of course it creates a much broader appeal. I have been writing a lot about Kalmar Nyckel during my 12½ years here. I knew that if I could get the documentary on TV, it would broadcast our story and make it much more memorable and reach a far greater audience. So that was the goal. It has been a big hit in Sweden; SVT did a really nice job with it. It has also been successful in Delaware Valley, but we haven’t yet been able to show it nationally, for some reason. I would be happy to bring the movie to wherever there is a critical mass of Swedes and make a presentation.”
Sam Heed (center left in white shirt); left to right: KNF Volunteer Andrew Hanna as Captain Van der Water; Sam; KNF Volunteer Steven Valihura as Peter Minuit; Producer Ben Fetterman, Glass Entertainment Group, during the filming of “Kalmar Nyckel: The Forgotten Journey”
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Global
The Swedish Colonial Society – The Rev. Dr. Kim-Eric Williams – Honorary Governor, Archivist
Rev. Dr. Kim-Eric Williams. Courtesy: SCS
Dr Kim-Eric Williams is a leading American expert in deciphering and translating 17th and 18th Century Swedish script into modern English. As an historian of early America, he has published four books and over 35 articles and essays. His vast experience includes living abroad, both in first and third world countries. He served 26 years as a parish pastor active in fund raising, community building, planning, organizing, and public speaking. In the following he describes the activities of the Swedish Colonial Society (SCS) and his role within it. Please tell us about your background. I grew up in Chester County in Pennsylvania. One of my Swedish ancestors came to this area in 1641. I had always been interested in history but never got around to
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investigating this particular ancestor. I have lived in different places, and in 1996 I moved back to my original home town in Pennsylvania. My mother said: “Well, you know, we have Swedish ancestors,” and I said: “Really? Maybe I should look into that.” I heard about the Swedish Colonial Society. When I joined, I learned that they had a program of Forefather membership, and that you got a Forefather certificate if you could prove that you were the descendant of one of the New Sweden colonizers. I did a bit of genealogy research and discovered that I had at least three Swedish forefathers on my mother’s side. That got me interested in examining my Swedish background more closely. Tell us about the Swedish Colonial Society, its mission and its structure. It is the oldest Swedish organization in the United States. In 1909, twentyfour academics got together, many of whom were interested in genealogy. They were also interested in the history of New Sweden which had been completely forgotten, because people in Pennsylvania always began with William Penn. So the academics felt that this needed to be corrected. The Society has changed a lot over the years. In the beginning it consisted only of men. Now that has all changed. Instead of being just about Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley, we are now an international
organization with members in Sweden, Finland and other places. At least 85 – 90 percent of our members do not live in the New Sweden area; they live all over the United States. Many have done their genealogy research and want to know more about New Sweden. So we have changed from being a local society to being an international organization. We have about 800 members. Our Council of 25 delegates meets seven times a year. Our very active web presence has been developed over the past 20 years – see www.colonialswedes.net. We have a sister website in Sweden with its own publication record, and they are thinking of putting together a book right now. Leif Lundquist is the Swedish webmaster [see Lundquist’s articles on pp 12 and 18]. Why were all Swedish colonies relatively short-lived? Sweden was way over-extended. Its “greed” exceeded its reach. The country certainly didn’t have a surplus of people. In Germany, The Netherlands and England you had excess people who didn’t have enough land and not enough work. In some places, like England, religious persecution was rife. There were really no reasons for Swedes to leave their country in the 17th
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Putting Sweden on the Map Abroad
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A Historical Cornerstone in America
century. In fact, the government had a terrible time getting anyone to leave. How do you think the image of Sweden is changing and developing in North America? It is changing a lot. We remember the stupid things that Dwight Eisenhower said about Sweden in 1960 [at a political rally, Eisenhower described Sweden as a country with high rates of alcoholism, suicide, and divorce, as well as lacking ambition]. People believed that stuff for a long time. The next thing was “Sweden the Middle Way,” which was a little more positive. The rightists in America of course always hated Sweden, while the leftists loved Sweden – which probably puts me in the leftist camp. But, paradoxically, with the advent of COVID-19, the rightists now suddenly love Sweden because the economy wasn’t shut down. What aspects of Swedish culture and life are you personally most passionate about promoting? I would say the Swedes’ concern for nature and the environment. Just the fact that the Swedes were able to build that incredible tunnel in the bedrock around Stockholm is phenomenal, and all that to keep the traffic out of the city.
Then there is the Allemansrätten (Freedom to Roam) which is the right mental attitude. The Earth is not to be plundered for one person’s riches; it is to be shared. All Western people should learn from that example. A lot of Sweden’s successes is because the country is small. It has a small, highly educated population and a lot of natural resources. Not every country has that. Are there any current or upcoming projects or events that you would like to highlight? I can tell you three or four things. The Swedish farmstead reconstruction at Governor Printz Park in Tinicum Township is a major project we are undertaking. A 9-volume project called “Colonial Records of Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania” has taken 25 years to accomplish and should be in print this coming October. When our genealogist Peter Craig died 10 years ago, we inherited his library in Washington DC. We now have it in electronic form, so
Naturalization certificate of the pastor of Gloria Dei, Andreas Rudman, signed by Willliam Penn in the year 1700. Courtesy SCS
that it will find wider use by scholars. It is the largest collection of New Sweden genealogy in the world. We also have a number of museum items which we have acquired over the years, but we never had a museum. One of the items was a life-size picture of Governor Printz. The King of Sweden’s painter went to Bottnaryd where he copied the original and gave it to the Society when it was formed in 1909. It was the first time that anyone in America had seen what this 400 lbs soldier from the Thirty Year’s War looked like. We also have the naturalization certificate of the pastor of Gloria Dei, Andreas Rudman, signed by Willliam Penn in the year 1700 when he was in Philadelphia. We have a model of an AmericaSweden monument that Carl Milles wanted to erect. He designed a 9-foot plaster monolith with all sorts of sculptures and ideas. We have been storing all these museum pieces at the Lutheran Seminary. Soon we will be taking them all out of storage and move them to a building right near Governor Printz Park. It is a historic building built in 1801 called The Lazaretto which was once the original quarantine station for the City of Philadelphia. The Tinicum Township has restored this big brick building as their county offices, and we will be putting all our museum items there so that the public will have access to see them. Interviewed by Peter Berlin
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Colonial Swedes and Their Descendants By Leif Lundquist
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sk almost anybody about Swedish emigration to America and they will start to talk about the huge migration during the 19th century. Many native Swedish families have relatives who left Sweden during that time and their ancestral family tree sprouted roots that grew in North American soil. But these people were not the first Swedish emigrants to the continent. If the newcomers went to the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, chances were that they would have met Americans who could trace their Swedish ancestry to long before the revolutionary war, to colonial times and New Sweden. The descendants of the colonial Swedes are by now around twelfth generation Americans. That means there are millions of Americans who can trace their ancestry back to New Sweden. The nexus for this population segment is Wilmington in the State of Delaware, where a dedicated core of people, members of the Swedish Colonial Society (SCS), lovingly and carefully work to keep the history of Swedish colony alive, tracing family
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Portrait of Johan Printz. Top left: Sketch of Johan Printz and the Sailor.
lines, and restoring and maintaining historical places. Going back to the original colonists you find many stories worth telling, stories which could fill several books, and I can only provide a few snapshots. SCS historians and genealogists have documented the colonial history and traced many families dating back to the early settlers. It began with the publication of “The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware” by Amandus Johnson. He had worked for more than five years on his two volume book when it was published in 1911 by SCS, two years after the founding of the society of which he was the Secretary. His collected account, based on archive research in Europe and America, was the first truly comprehensive history of New Sweden.
Amandus Johnson was not related to the Swedish colonists, he came to Minnesota as a three year old with his family during the 19th century emigration, when about 20% of the Swedish population left their native country for good. Johnson’s family came from the province of Småland, which had been hard hit by crop failures. Things must have gone well for the family in Minnesota, and Amandus was able to go to college, eventually earning a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He was fascinated by all things Swedish and much of his research and writing was about New Sweden. The SCS genealogist par excellence was Peter Craig, a lawyer who discovered that he had Swedish ancestors and wanted to know more about them. He found that he was a twelfth generation descendant of settlers Peter Jochimson and Ella Stille. Jochimson was a soldier who arrived on the fifth New Sweden expedition in 1643 and he was the progenitor of the Yocum family. Ella was the daughter of Olof Stille and had arrived with her family on the fourth expedition in 1641. Peter Craig practiced law in Washington D.C. but after long career he retired early and concentrated on genealogy research. In the process he translated handwritten New Sweden church documents from 17th century Swedish to English. He travelled to search archives in Sweden and
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America. He studied early census records and many other documents, bit by bit extending the knowledge about the colonists, their lives, their families. The result of his effort was many books, most of which were published by SCS. When he died, his family donated all of this research material to SCS. Under the current SCS historian, Kim-Eric Williams, SCS has archived, indexed and digitized all of this into “The Peter S. Craig Collection”, a huge task by itself. Who were the early settlers? I can’t tell all the stories, but here are a few. To begin with most of them didn’t want to go. “India” was very far away. Sailors knew that you could sail across the Atlanctic ocean and actually come back home even if the trip took many months. But the company wanted young farmers, preferably with families, and for such people there was very little attraction in going across an ocean they only knew by reputation. Most likely you would die trying and the potential rewards were small. So the government and the company had to resort to sticks and carrots. Soldiers were ordered to go and criminals were offered to trade a prison sentence for becoming a settler. Sometimes this had funny origins and consequences. At a meeting of the King’s Privy Council in April 1641 it was decided that deserting soldiers should hang or be sent to New Sweden. There was also a long discussion about a Carl Olofsson who was sentenced to be hanged, but fell out of the gallows. In the end his life was spared but he was forever banished to the colonies i.e. New Sweden since there was only one. In the 17th century, Swedish family names were generally patronymic. A
Monument designed by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles at Fort Christina Park in Wilmington. Photo: Moonloop Photography LLC/ Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau
child’s last name would be his father’s first name with “son” or “dotter” added respectively for sons and daughters. There were also special soldier names often based on desirable soldier traits, weapons or similar. Not surprisingly, the family names of the early settlers have changed over generations. For example Gunnarson was changed to Rambo, Stålkofta morphed into Stalcup, and Stiddem became Stedman. Peter Gunnarsson and his brother Sven from Hisingen in Gothenburg came on the second expedition in 1639. They had been hired as farmhands with five year contracts but when the five years were up in 1644, they became farmers in what is now Chester and Philadelphia. Governor Risingh appointed Peter as an advisor. In 1655 the Dutch took over New Sweden and the Governor went back to Sweden. After the defeat, Peter Rambo, Peter Kock and Åke Helm negotiated with the Dutch to make New Sweden a selfgoverning area of New Netherland. The three of them plus Olof Stille formed a magistrate, the Upland Court, which governed New Sweden. This lasted only until 1664 when the English took control but it is claimed
to be the first democratic institution in North America. About twelve generations later, today’s standardbearer for the Rambo colonist family is Herbert Rambo, past governor of SCS. A young boy named Johan Andersson from Strängnäs arrived with the fourth expedition, also with a contract to work for the New Sweden Company for five years. When the five years were over, Governor Printz hired him as a soldier with the last name of Stålkofta (literally “Steel Shirt”, a byrnie, which is a chain mail piece of armor covering the upper body). After the Dutch took over, Johan stayed and his descendants are alive and well. Olof Stille was a tenant farmer who got into trouble in a conflict with his landowner in Roslagen, the coastal area north of Stockholm. He almost landed in jail, but then he shows up in the manifest of the fourth expedition on his way to New Sweden. No story about the people of New Sweden is complete without mentioning Johan Björnsson Printz, the third governor. In the end Sweden may have lost the colony, but the true benefactors of Printz’s hard work were the colonists who stayed. That’s his legacy in New Sweden where his statue in Governor Printz Park on the Delaware River looks out over his former residence.
The statue of Johan Printz at Governor Printz Park, Essington, PA
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[Lifestyle]
Top Sju
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2020
Keeping the recommended social distance won’t be a problem at Oddbird’s “Restaurang Nowhere”. The temporary restaurant, consisting of six tables placed in the fields, forest and by the water in Häringe nature reserve south of Stockholm, opens this summer. The six dining areas, where customers can enjoy their meals, were individually designed by Swedish-Danish interior design duo Anna and Lars Norrman. Chefs Marion Ringborg and Linn Söderström from restaurant Garba in Stockholm created the menus and Oddbird, a producer of wines “liberated” from alcohol, provides the beverages. Reservations can be made on oddbird.com/ nowhere.
Instead of its traditional summer festival, “Stockholm Pride” 2020 is being held online to lift and strengthen LGBTQ rights in Sweden and the world. From July 31 to August 2, Stockholm Pride will conduct a digital festival consisting of live broadcast seminars, entertainment, a digital parade and other activities from around the city. The digital festival, named “Stockholm Pride Summer Stream”, replaces the regular summer festival of 2020.
2 Speaking of dining out, hungry guests of Swedish hamburger chain “Max” can now order cheese sticks made from Swedish västerbotten cheese. The flavorful treats are described as warm, crunchy sticks filled with creamy västerbotten cheese. The cheese sticks are available in Max restaurants this summer and can be ordered as a side dish in either of
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Oddbird’s “Restaurang Nowhere”. Photo: Nicklas Hultman
two sizes: small or large. Of course, you can still count on Max for hamburgers, fries and salads.
76 Research company Kantar Sifo unveiled its new list of Sweden’s most reputable companies. The top five companies with the best reputation amongst Swedes were 5. Coop; 4. Volvo; 3. ICA; 2. IKEA; and in first place Systembolaget – a chain of Swedish liquor stores. According to the new survey 76 percent of households have confidence in Systembolaget.
19 July 19 marks Skånska flaggans dag (the day of the Skåne flag). Created at the end of the 19th century, the Skåne flag is Sweden’s oldest and most widely used provincial flag (landskapsflagga). It is waved to promote tourism, sports and the marketing of products from Skåne. The county has
two flags: a coat of arms (vapenflagga) with a griffon head, and a cross flag (korsflagga). The cross flag is usually associated with the province of Skåne but sometimes symbolizes the entire “Skåneland“ (meaning the Swedish provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland).
30 IKEA’s classic blue bag “Frakta” (part of the Swedish furniture store’s collection for more than 30 years) has met its match! “Storstomma”, a rainbowcolored bag and favorite from last year, is back in store. According to IKEA, the colorful bag is a symbol of people’s equal value. Another great thing about the bag is that surplus of sales goes to UNHCR’s (The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) work for protecting LGBTQ refugees in the world. Storstomma is available in two sizes – the large classic “Frakta” size and a smaller variant.
1930 Gather your friends and family and bring out the crayfish, snaps, dill, västerbotten cheese and Swedish flags! Swedish crayfish parties (kräftskivor), as we know them, formed during the first decades of the 20th century. The word “kräftskiva” was first used in the 1930s. It is believed that Swedish crayfish parties originated from bourgeois “kräftsupar” (aquavit drinks) during the 19th century. Since then, kräftskivor have grown in popularity, and today they are a celebrated Swedish tradition and festivity.
[Lifestyle] Book Two Excellent Summer Reads or Gifts By Peter Berlin
Swedish Folktales and Legends Translated and edited by Lone Thygesen Blecher and George Blecher. University of Minnesota Press 2004. 383 pages. ISBN 978-0-8166-4575-6.
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ave you ever wondered what the difference is between jättar (giants), trolls, tomtar (household spirits), näck (water spirits), marar (nightmare hags), skogsrå (forest spirits), sjörå (lake or sea spirits), bergrå (mountain spirits), and similar Scandinavian purveyors of mischief and guile? By reading “Swedish Folktales and Legends” you will develop a deep understanding of each, even to the point where you might be able to outwit one of them in a face-to-face encounter. In the olden days, Swedes who lived in the countryside spent long periods of time alone in nature pursuing many different tasks: fishing, charcoal-burning, logging and hunting. In that environment, solitary communing with nature became a common habit. In deep, dark forests one could hear trolls creak, rustle and whisper as the wind blew through the trees. The mountain caves were home to wealthy giants whose gold treasures lay there for
the taking by anyone clever enough to strike a deal. If someone went out on a pond in a dinghy and was fooled by the local lake spirit into picking the pretty water lilies, their stalks would hold fast, prompting the boater to pull so hard that the dinghy overturned and he drowned. The 139 folktales and legends in the book have been translated by Lone Thygesen Blecher and George Blecher – prize-winning translators from Swedish and Danish to English. The stories are illustrated with etchings and woodblock prints by famous Swedish artists, including John Bauer, Elsa Beskow, Einar Norelius, and Jenny Nyström. The stories are grouped by subject: Animal Tales; Trolls, Giants, Ghosts, Superstitions, and several other categories of folktales and legends. So what is the difference between a folktale and a legend? In a nutshell, the latter is meant to be believed.
Seven Ways to Trick a Troll By Lise Lunge-Larsen, illustrations by Kari Vick. University of Minnesota Press 2017. 85 pages. ISBN 978-0-8166-9977-3.
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n seven whimsical, entertaining folktales, children discover trolls’ weaknesses, as well as their own strengths. Trolls are huge and ugly and very, very dangerous; but luckily, their brains are no bigger than a walnut, so even small children can trick them – and that’s where these playful folktales come in. For example, trolls hate loud noise, especially the sound of bells. Trolls burst if they get too angry. They turn into stone if exposed to
sunlight, whether direct or reflected. They are easily distracted, cannot swim, and are heavy and clumsy. All this is useful information, but also great fun, and it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of all the tricks children can do to overcome trolls … or other fearsome beings, for that matter. Patience, kindness, courage, and quick thinking: what works against trolls are the best things about being human. Taken from a wide range of historical and international sources, “Seven Ways to Trick a Troll” will delight and entertain imaginations of all ages. Author Lise Lunge-Larsen is of Norwegian origin and the author of seven award-winning children’s books. Karin Vick’s illustrations are priceless, inspired by a visit to the village in Norway where her great-great-greatgrandparents were married all those years ago. “Swedish Folktales and Legends” and “Seven Ways to Trick a Troll” are available from University of Minnesota Press (www.upress. umn.edu) and from Amazon.
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Hemma hos
The Colorful Imagination of Children’s Book Illustrator Anna Lindsten
[Design]
By Kristi Robinson
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eek into Anna Lindsten’s Instagram and you’ll see a place of playfulness and joy. As an illustrator, graphic designer and surface pattern designer, Anna’s creative experience is a colorful array of international projects. She has done illustrations for magazines, fabric and package designs and, more recently, children’s book illustrations. Anna explained that illustrating children’s books was something she had wanted to
do for many years. Once her own children grew too old for picturebooks she continued to buy them for herself, amused by the stories and artistry. The opportunity to illustrate a children’s book came to her after she took an online course. Last year her illustrations became part of a book in the children’s nursery series Barnkammarboken, an anthology of songs and stories. Followed by her next bedtime story, God natt, min nalle, and her
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A map of Anna’s neighbourhood illustrated as a personal project
most recent book, Spetter Spat alles wordt nat, published in Dutch with its English counterpart, Pitter Patter goes the rain. The latter will find its way to shelves this fall. Many things like fashion, art, and even the forest, inspire the happy and bright mood of Anna’s illustrations. Subtle elements from her Swedish culture and upbringing also find their way into her work. She recounts how, as a child, she would help her journalist Mom with the layout for the children’s book section of the newspaper. She often incorporates details from her surroundings like the red barn, typical to the Swedish landscape.
A page from “Pitter Patter goes the rain” – the story of a girl and her dog who go on rainy day adventures
Anna sees the beginning of illustrating a book as the start of a new adventure. Her creative process begins when she reads the manuscript and her head fills with images, conceptualizing how the story could look. These concepts are scribbled down into notes, detailing ideas and color palettes. Anna then jumps into character development, the fun part, starting with the main character. She works out details like who they are, what they do, and what they wear. First she sketches the characters with pen and paper, and then she moves on to the storyboard that she tries to make varied and dynamic to be entertaining for the young reader.
One of Anna’s illustrations from “God Natt min nalle” – a soothing bedtime book.
When asked what is on the horizon, Anna shared she is currently creating illustrations for two more children’s books. She is also working on a fun kid-and-parent-friendly project for Sveriges Radio. You can see more of Anna’s illustrations and projects at instagram.com/ annalindsten/ and on her website at annalindsten.se. All images © Anna Lindsten
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Road to 2045
Road to 2045 What Arrhenius, Bolin and Thunberg have in Common By Jakob Lagercrantz
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here are many Swedes who have had an impact on global sustainability. I have chosen three, letting them be representatives of change. First, we go back some 120 years. Svante Arrhenius had struggled with his doctoral dissertation, probably because he was ahead of his time and his professors didn’t fully grasp what he was suggesting. He was interested in many different areas of research and saw innovative ways to combine science. In 1896 he wrote an article in a British magazine where he predicted a gradual warming of 5 – 6 degrees over the next 3000 years. He could show that human industrial activity was the reason. Arrhenius must be forgiven for his inaccurate timeline; he based his manual calculations on the world of the industrial revolution – we hadn’t discovered oil at that time. We now know development is faster, but taking this into account, his calculations were correct. In 1903 he became the first Swede to be rewarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. We then move to the late 1970’s. The meteorologist Bert Bohlin had
Svante Arrhenius. Source: Photogravure Meisenbach Riffarth & Co. Leipzig.
Bert Bolin. Photo: Gunnar Lundmark
already in 1975 presented a report to the Swedish Parliament suggesting that we need to curb the use of fossil fuels. He then took part in an American study in the 1980’s that issued a warning of the threat posed by fossil fuels. But he was concerned that there was a lack of international scientific bodies where global environmental issues, like climate, could be discussed. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation options. Bert Bohlin was one of the founders and became the first chairman of the IPCC. His chairmanship covered the important first ten years of the IPCC and oversaw the politically difficult release of the first and second assessment reports of the IPCC in the 1990’s. The key phrase in the 2nd assessment report in 1996 was whether it would be allowed to state that human activity had an impact on climate change. The oil producing countries denied any linkage between human activity and the greenhouse effect. The compromise was the phrase: “The balance of evidence suggests a discernable human influence on global climate.” Diplomatic, careful
words – much more so than Arrhenius exactly 100 years earlier. Over to today: we have Greta Thunberg – climate activist and a descendant of Svante Arrhenius. She is so much more than a “schoolgirl who started a global strike for the climate.” She combines the impatience of her generation with sound scientific arguments and an astute awareness of what needs to be said. Like her predecessors Arrhenius and Bolin, she builds her argument on science and combines it with impatience and strong moral outrage. She and her many thousand allies have managed to quickly join the debate. She has been invited to some of the most prestigious gatherings, and her message has been unwavering. It could be that her initiative, standing on the shoulders of dedicated scientists, will be what is needed to actually achieve a change.
Greta Thunberg. Photo: UNICEF Hellberg
Our fire services give the following advice if we discover a fire: Rädda, varna, larma, släck! Save who you can, warn people around you, sound the alarm and then try to put out the fire. We were warned by Arrhenius; Bohlin sounded the alarm, and Greta is calling for action. It is now up to us. The Swedish 2030-secretariat was formed to support the decarbonization of the transport sector in Sweden. The secretariat is independent from political parties and technical solutions.
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Swedish Press Connects
Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America
The University of Colorado Swedish Language Program By Merete Leonhardt-Lupa
Article prepared for Swedish Press as part of the Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers of America (ASTRA) feature articles on Swedish Programs in American Higher Education.
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t took a microscopic virus less than a week to challenge the way the Swedish language was taught at the University of Colorado (CU). When the Corona pandemic descended in mid-March, CU students were among the first to test out epidemic-age language instruction. Swedish language studies in Colorado may not be what comes first to mind when you think of this sunny Rocky Mountain state, better known for its skiing and hiking outdoor lifestyle. The eight families in Ryssby, who formed the first Swedish settlement east of the Left Hand Canyon in the 1870s, would have been pleased to know that the university under construction would one day be the home of a vibrant Swedish-speaking community. Today, the CU Nordic Program offers Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Swedish. The classes are small enough to create a friendly and welcoming environment, in which even the most self-conscious students can develop a daredevil language learning attitude. Readers who have studied Swedish will agree that in the Swedish language, “what you hear is not what you see”, meaning that the pronunciation of vocabulary is often different from what English native speakers would expect. The easiest way to learn these mysteries of Swedish phonetics is in the classroom, where the keys to comprehension will gradually unlock to both the spoken and written language. This was abruptly challenged during the Corona outbreak. The campus closed mid-semester. Students moved out of their student housing, facing time alone with their computers.
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Yet, they handled the transition to online education remarkably well. It didn’t take long before they were communicating remotely from various cities and time zones across the country. Students were aided by the favorable circumstance that hybrid classes (classes with both in-person and online learning components) have been in place for years at CU. As far back as in 2012, the CU Swedish program partnered with the University of Wisconsin to establish the Swedish Online Project, which offered some of the first academic Swedish online courses in the U.S. Online language learning has evolved from early onedirectional instruction to courses using many types of interactive apps (some even equipped with e-mojis and GIFs) that facilitate learning in all language modes. Improved technology makes real-time online interaction in the full class or in break-out groups easier. For example, in one online class, students compared U.S. and Swedish COVID19 social distancing restrictions while speaking with a guest in Sweden. They learned that their online visitor had not been advised to avoid crowds or to wear a mask, leading to a great discussion on possible cultural differences. University of Colorado will welcome students back to campus in August. Many COVID-19 mitigation measures will be in place with in-person/hybrid and online study options. Faculty is busy planning new learning activities with built-in flexibility. For people who request a language certification for academic or professional purposes, the CU Swedish Language program also offers language proficiency testing to students and members of the public. Program Contact Info: gsll@colorado.edu Website: https://www.colorado.edu/gsll/nordic Photos by University of Colorado. Footnote: Merete Leonhardt-Lupa, M.A. is a native Swedish language instructor with extensive experience in second language acquisition and language pedagogy. She is with the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literature at University of Colorado-Boulder.
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Swedish Press Connects
Welcoming foreign spouses of returning Swedes
Underlätta för medföljande att flytta till Sverige För snart ett år sedan tillsatte den svenska regeringen en parlamentarisk kommitté som fick i uppdrag att utreda den framtida svenska migrationspolitiken. Senast den 15 augusti får tusentals människor besked om hur de berörs, varav utlandssvenskarna boendes i Nordamerika är en grupp.
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nder en tid utomlands som student eller yrkesverksam är det många som möter sin livspartner och väljer att gifta sig och bilda familj. Fram till 2015 kunde dessa svenskar utan större problem återvända till Sverige tillsammans med sin familj. I samband med flyktingvågen införde dock regeringen en tillfällig lag 2016 med syfte att begränsa asylsökandes möjligheter att få uppehållstillstånd. Denna tillfälliga lag sätter krokben för de många svenskar som vill återvända till Sverige. – Den tillfälliga lagen ställer till problem för alla svenska medborgare som bor utanför EU/ESS med en partner från ett land utanför EU/EES. För att familjen ska få flytta till Sverige måste den svenska medborgaren först kunna uppvisa boende och inkomst i Sverige, säger Cecilia Borglin, generalsekreterare på Svenskar i Världen. Så här kan det gå till: En svensk kvinna gifter sig med en kanadensisk man. Vigseln äger rum en vacker midsommardag i Sverige för 25 år sedan. Sedan dess har paret bott i makens hemland och de har fått två söner som båda har dubbla medborgarskap, precis som sin mamma. Den äldste sonen studerar i Sverige och vill fortsätta sitt liv i mammans hemland. Lillebror föredrar pudersnön i Kanada. En dag sätts allt på sin spets; den svenska kvinnans mamma får en alzheimerdiagnos och därför fattar paret det gemensamma beslutet att flytta till Sverige för att vara närmare mamman. På grund av den tillfälliga lagen behöver den svenska kvinnan nu lämna kvar sin make i Kanada eftersom hon först måste hitta en bostad som Migrationsverket bedömer är tillräckligt stor för dem båda. Dessutom måste hon kunna visa att hon har en inkomst som är stor nog att försörja dem båda. Under tiden ansöker maken om uppehållstillstånd från hemmet i Kanada eftersom ansökan och beviljande av uppehållstillstånd måste ske från ett land annat än Sverige.
Detta är en process som kan ta 1–2 år. Om sökande besöker Sverige under tiden ansökan om uppehållstillstånd handläggs kommer handläggningen att stoppas. Först när den sökande åter är i sitt hemland återupptas handläggningen. Processen tär både ekonomiskt och emotionellt, betänk om barnen hade varit i småbarnsåldern. Kan en flytt till sitt hemland verkligen vara värt allt besvär? Kanske kan den gamla modern klara sig utan sin dotter… Dags för nya lösningar Svenskar i Världen har fört diskussioner med sakkunnig till justitie- och migrationsministern, och lämnat över lösningsförslag till kommittén. – I korta drag handlar det om att låta hemvändande svenskar hamna i en egen kö hos Migrationsverket för snabbare handläggning och att småbarnsfamiljer prioriteras, samt att partnern som vill flytta till Sverige ska kunna bo i Sverige tillsammans med sin familj under tiden ärendet behandlas. Dessutom behöver Migrationsverket se över den information som handläggarna förmedlar, då många utlandssvenskar upplever att kunskapen i frågan varierar markant mellan handläggarna, avslutar Cecilia Borglin.
Foto: Migrationsverket
Summary in English: Many Swedes marry and create a family while living abroad. Up until 2015 a returning Swede could bring spouse and children along without much bureaucratic fuss. However, since 2016 if the spouse is a citizen from a non-EU country (e.g. the U.S. or Canada), he or she must now apply for a Swedish residence permit from abroad before being allowed to join the returning Swede. Obtaining the permit can take 1 – 2 years. Meanwhile the returning Swede has to find accommodation in Sweden that the Immigration Authorities deem suitable for the family. SVIV is in a dialog with the Immigration Authorities to streamline the permit approval process, e.g. by speeding it up and allowing the accompanying spouse to live with the family in Sweden while the processing is taking place.
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The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, New York
Findings & Insights from the SACCNY COVID-19 Action Study ‘Never let a good crisis go wasted’ may seem cynical, but history has repeatedly shown this saying to be of meaning and importance, laying the seeds of innovation and progress. Much has been said about the importance of memorializing both reactions and actions taken during the course of disruption such as COVID-19.
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n response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SwedishAmerican Chamber of Commerce in New York (SACCNY) in partnership with Applied Value Group, has undertaken a study to shed light on how Swedish-American businesses are adapting and responding to the disruption brought forth by the pandemic. More than 100 management level executives from corporations representing eighteen sectors responded to the survey. In addition, the study includes 20+ in-depth interviews with management level executives. The primary questions the survey sought to answer and gain insight into include: • Who, how, and why is being impacted? • How long-term, even permanent, are response/actions/ re-structuring anticipated? • What important lessons learned and insights for the future are being gained? • How could negative impact and fall-out have been prevented or better anticipated/planned for? • What positives might come from this? • How can the Swedish-American business community and its actors be helpful to each other? Respondent distribution over industry and sector:
SACCNY sought to obtain answers to these questions by conducting a study of both quantitative and qualitative nature. First, respondents submitted answers to an indepth questionnaire, sent to the entire SACCNY network, followed by in-depth interviews with over 20% of participants. Survey results and interviews have been synthesized and placed into context, broken into eight insights. With this study, SACCNY hopes to contribute to a set of insights and lessons learned for better understanding, preparedness and new best practices.
Insight 1: Decreased transactions & supply chain disruptions
68% report reduced quantity and transaction value. Most hard-hit sectors: Events (100%); Marketing and Advertising (92%); Management Consulting (80%). Several sectors report experiencing supply chain uncertainty. Most hard-hit sectors: Transportation (100%); Retail (58%).
Insight 2: Business implications & corporate resilience
The majority of large businesses expect to operate with minimal disruption in near-term. 61% anticipate operating at pre-pandemic level for 12 months or more without resorting to cost reductions and/or seeking additional liquidity. Many smaller-size companies report experiencing current disruption and uncertainty as negatively affecting not only their individual business, but the start-up sector as a whole. They anticipate broad and lasting impact on businessand societal innovation across sectors. A near half or 48% of smaller-sized companies anticipate remaining viable and operational for no longer than 3 – 6 months under current COVID-19 disruption and related social/market conditions without undertaking reorganization, including cost reductions and/or seeking additional liquidity. 28% of smaller-sized companies are encountering obstacles and complications related to current or planned funding rounds.
Insight 3: Re-imagined business models
Smaller-sized companies are identifying and pursuing new revenue sources to a greater degree than large companies (48% and 26%, respectively). Smaller-sized companies are
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Swedish Press Connects
‘Never let a good crisis go wasted!’
reviewing and reassessing current service- and product offerings as a response to COVID-19 to a greater extent than large companies (42% and 30%, respectively). Companies exploring and pursuing new or revamped revenue sources are sector specific.
Insight 4: Impact on U.S. expansion plans
95% of participating companies remain focused on the U.S. market, albeit to varying degrees: 56% remain undeterred or are expanding their U.S. focus; 44% are pausing or reducing their U.S. expansion. U.S. expansion plans vary by size and sector: Only 4% of large-size Swedish companies are decreasing their U.S. focus; 49% of smaller-size Swedish companies are contracting their efforts on the U.S. market.
Insight 5: From competition to collaboration
55% of reporting companies are working actively to combat and reduce the negative impacts of COVID-19. Life Science sector companies across the board are undertaking rapid transformational strategies to address the pandemic. Numerous businesses across a variety of sectors and industries are shifting focus and strategy toward collaboratively supporting healthcare and similar essential sector organizations and with pro bono initiatives. Several companies currently unable to market existing products or services have shifted to philanthropic endeavors and repurposing excess capacity and resources to help alleviate the ongoing crisis.
Insight 6: Accelerated internal digitalization & changed behaviors
A majority of respondents have taken extraordinary measures to introduce work-from-home procedures in order to prevent further spread of the virus and to protect employees. Many companies anticipate a permanent shift to a more digital infrastructure, where 18% of respondents are downsizing office space and anticipate instituting permanent work-from-home policies. Responding businesses of all sizes and sectors report concern for long-term effects of remote work on company culture and employee motivation, resulting in the introduction of new online communication and interactivity tools and formalizing use of existing technology.
Insight 7: Accelerated internal digitalization & online business
One third (34%) of reporting companies are adjusting marketing and sales strategies. Companies of all sizes report experiencing challenges establishing new customer relationships in the digital context and market. Small to medium-sized businesses report the need for third-party assistance, finding new connections and attracting clientele when confined to digital marketing and sales, in contrast to more established companies which are able to lean on existing partnerships and customer base.
Insight 8: Adapting to the new normal
The current crisis exposes the need for increased agility and comfort with change. A nimbler, more proactive ability to anticipate and act in the face of future global challenges is required. Only 4% of companies report limiting R&D and innovation focus. Rather, most businesses are accelerating or readjusting development and research activity. Respondents are concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis overshadows other global issues and threats – most notably climate change.
Summary remarks
The COVID-19 pandemic was still in its early stages when the survey was conducted, but its effects are felt across the board. In certain cases, the impact is perceived as insurmountable, while in other cases it is seen as a new opportunity, but all agree that “business as usual” will never look the same. SACCNY hopes that this compilation of both anecdotal and surveyed feedback will help heighten insight and understanding for how the early effects and adaptation strategies are affecting the Swedish-American business community. Hopefully, it will serve as a tool to better understand the present, as well as prepare for the future. Early on, Sweden pursued a unique response to COVID-19, adopting a more long-term strategy. There is worldwide interest in the Swedish approach of maintaining a relatively open and functioning business environment, advocating rather than mandating protective behavioral protocols. The strategy has elicited both critique and praise, and it remains to be seen if the tactic will help the economy to “get back on its feet.”
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CHICAGO Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640 Tel: 773-728 8111 | info@samac.org www.swedishamericanmuseum.org The Swedish American Museum is closed to the public until further notice. Visit the Swedish American Museum website for updates. MINNEAPOLIS American Swedish Institute 2600 Park Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55407 Tel: 612-871 4907 | www.asimn.org ASI is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 and in-person programs are cancelled through August 31. PHILADEPHIA American Swedish Historical Museum 1900 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145 | Tel: 215-389 1776 | info@americanswedish.org | www.americanswedish.org The museum is closed to the public until further notice. Please visit www.americanswedish.org for more information. PORTLAND Nordic Northwest Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Rd., Portland, OR 97223 | Tel: 503-977 0275 www.nordicnorthwest.org Nordia House is closed until further notice. SEATTLE Swedish Cultural Center 1920 Dexter Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 Tel: 206-283 1090 | www.swedishclubnw.org info@swedishculturalcenter.org Aug 2 – Sun: Loppis (Flea Market). With or without a Swedish Pancake Breakfast, we hope to invite vendors and members to sell items in our parking lot. If you want a table, email rsvp@swedishclubnw.org. Aug 15 – Sat: Swedish Car Show. Email Gary for information: ramslfp@hotmail.com. Aug 21 – Fri: ABBA Night 2020 Rescheduled! If you had a ticket for the earlier cancelled date, it’s good for the new date. If this date or event no longer works for you, you can request a refund ONLY from June 3 until July 31. If you want to be on the waiting list for those who have 8
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cancelled, email us between those dates. rsvp@swedishclubnw.org. Nordic Museum 2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107 Tel: 206-789 5707 | nordic@nordicmuseum.org www.nordicmuseum.org National Nordic Museum will be closed to the public until further notice. Jun 29 to Jul 10 – 10 am to 5 pm: Bloodworks Northwest at National Nordic Museum begins Monday June 29 through Friday July 10. National Nordic Museum is partnering with Bloodworks Northwest to host a pop-up blood drive for the community. To help keep everyone safe and meet the community’s needs, donors will be required to schedule their appointment online: https://schedule.bloodworksnw.org/DonorPortal/Default.aspx. Potential blood donors are exempt from stay-at-home orders in Washington and Oregon. WASHINGTON, DC Embassy of Sweden 2900 K Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20007 Tel: 202-467 2600 | www.swedenabroad.com ambassaden.washington@gov.se Due to COVID-19, the Embassy is implementing a number of actions to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues and our community. We follow the guidelines and recommendations from local authorities and will gradually open as the District of Columbia Government moves into the different phases of reopening. Phase One (out of three) began on May 29. Therefore, the Embassy is only offering limited consular services at the moment and is closed to visitors. Only very urgent passport and visa applications will be considered. Appointments have to be scheduled via e-mail: ambassaden.washington-visum@gov.se. Phone hours are: Monday-Friday 10 am – 2 pm, 202-467-2600. WISCONSIN Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin Tel: 414-352 7890 | www.sahswi.org Jul 11 to Aug 24 – Scandinavian-American Photographs – National Geographic 18
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Explorer, Erika Skogg, with archival National Geographic prints at the Gerhard Miller Gallery OTTAWA Embassy of Sweden Ottawa 377 Dalhousie Street, Suite 305, Ottawa ON K1N 9NB Tel: 613-241 2277 www.swedishembassy.ca On 16 April the Government decided to extend the temporary entry ban to the EU via Sweden until 15 June. VANCOUVER Scandinavian Community Centre 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC V5B 4P9 Tel: 604-294 2777 | info@scancentre.org www.scancentre.org The Scandinavian Centre is closed for the time being but the office is still open for administration. Please contact by phone 604-294 2777 or e-mail info@scancentre. org. If you wish to come to the Centre, please contact us first. Visit www.scancentre.org. for further updates. WINNIPEG Swedish Cultural Assoc of Manitoba Scandinavian Cultural Centre 764 Erin St, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 2W4 Tel: 204-774 8047 | www.scandinaviancentre.ca/sweden | Registration by email at svenskclub17@gmail.com Although the Scandinavian Centre remains closed at this time due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are offering outdoor activities for our members to bring the fellowship back into our lives while respecting safe distancing practices. Further updates on reopening of the Centre and events can be found at our website www.scandinaviancentre.ca/sweden. July 13 – 8 to 10:30 pm: Swedish Outdoor Movie Night – The Unthinkable. Join friends under the stars as we gather together at a safe distance and watch this interesting story taking place in Sweden. Aug 6 – 8 to 11 pm: Outdoor ABBA Dance Party; Listen to the sounds of ABBA while dancing the night away at our Outdoor Dance Party! Please register at svenskclub 17@gmail.com for more details (and in case of cancellation due to weather). 28
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Swedish Press Classified BC Organizations Scandinavian Business Club Monthly meetings feature business speakers. Guests and new members welcome. Call SBC: 604-484-8238. Visit us at www.sbc-bc.ca Scandinavian Community Centre Scandinavian Community Centre Beautiful setting for weddings, parties, birthdays, meetings and seminars. 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC info@scancentre.org Tel: 604-294-2777 www. scancentre.org Svenska Kulturföreningen Ordförande Ellen Petersson 604-970 8708. Kassör är Linda Olofsson, 604-418 7703 www.swedishculturalsociety.ca. Email: swedishculturalsociety.ca @gmail.com Swedish Canadian Village Beautiful Assisted Living Residence & Senior Subsidized Apartment Buildings Located in Burnaby, BC. Tel: 604-420 1124 Fax# 604-420 1175 www.swedishcanadian.ca
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Swedish Heritage in BC 1812 Duthie Ave. Burnaby BC. Laila Axen Tel: 604-526 7464. Visit us at www. swedishheritageinbc.org. E-mail: swedishheritagebc@gmail.com Sweden House Society President: Rebecca Keckman Vice President: Dorothy Carlson Treasurer: Carole Walkinshaw, Email: swedenhousechair@gmail.com Swedish Club of Victoria Dinners, Events and Meetings, for information contact Annabelle Beresford @ 250-656 9586 or Swedish Club of Victoria Facebook.
dinner. Pancake breakfasts on first Sundays of the month. Rental venue for meeting, parties, etc. www.swedishclubnw.org Classified Advertising Sales Reps wanted Swedish Press is looking for full or part-time advertising sales representatives. E-mail info@swedishpress.com for more information. Swedish Press Classified Ad Rate is as low as 50 cents per word (minimum $10). Send your ad to advertise @swedishpress.com
Washington Organizations Nordic Museum has moved to a beautiful, brand-new building! In Seattle, 2655 N.W. Market St., Ballard; 206-789 5707. Swedish Club 1920 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109; Tel: 206-283 1090. Open Wednesday evenings for supper and games, Friday for lunch and
GRATTIS PÅ FÖDELSEDAGEN July 24 Arram William Gavin, 9 år July 28 Amelia Neugebauer, 15 år Aug 15 Aksel Stano, 4 år Aug 21 Freya Stano, 6 år Aug 26 Annika Lara Gavin, 11 år
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Don’t underestimate the importance of a phone call Senior Care during the Pandemic By Sofie Kinnefors
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ost of you know me as a journalist and staff writer for Swedish Press. What you might not know is that I have also been the co-owner of a San Diego based in-home care agency since 2007 – working with seniors and terminally ill adults. I have always loved to write and tell other people’s stories. I have also always enjoyed caring for other people – not just for their physical body, but for their mind and soul. That is why, even though I earned a degree in journalism, I was attracted to the field of caregiving. On March 19 Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order stating that Californians stay home except for essential activities. In caring for vulnerable clients in their home, the pandemic added challenges to an already demanding situation. The CDC’s (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendation to maintain distance from those at higher risk for the virus is impossible when caring for a person in need of hands-on care from a caregiver or family member. As caregivers we have been taking extra safety measures by constantly washing our hands, wearing masks, gloves and using plenty of sanitizer while working. Another obstacle for all health care workers is having to worry about infecting clients, while also worrying about infecting our immediate families when leaving our clients. Clients who require 24hr care 7 days a week usually have numerous caregivers
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working for them, and therefore the risk of being infected with the virus increases. The biggest difference between hospital care and in-home care is the prohibition on visits. Unlike hospitals, where visits from relatives have not been allowed – a ban that has become a trauma for many – people who receive in-home care can decide for themselves who they want to invite towards the end of their lives. It has been challenging working with people affected by serious illness
while adhering to social distance, but not social isolation. My clients and I have put a lot of emphasis on this and have become creative in making sure they are still taking part in as many everyday activities as possible. Using phones and computers has been wonderful in helping elderly adults feeling purposeful, involved and less lonely during the pandemic. To remain active my clients and I have spoken to family members via mobile-phone video chats, watched online churchand Shabbat services, listened to wonderful free classical concerts and taken part of virtual experiences, such as museum tours. We have also used links to exercise programs, such as Tai chi and chair yoga. This has added excitement and an element of surprise to their life. The burden is heavy on senior adults during a pandemic – they often face greater dangers and a greater sense of anxiety and uncertainty. Every client I have ever worked with says one of their biggest joys is to hear from a family member, friend or neighbor. Don’t underestimate the importance of a phone call to connect and encourage. Photo: Sofie Kinnefors with her client Joan.
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V채lkommen tillbaka n채r tiden 채r r채tt 1920 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle | 206.283.1090 | www.swedishclubnw.org