THE A BBE Y IN YSTA D
P U B LABBEY ISHER THE
P R IThe NTER S AND MEDIEVAL YSTAD Abbey in Ystad – Once the Franciscans’ centre for Klostret i Ystad Tryckfolket AB people to meet. Not only for religious purposes, but also as a conveyor of news in the fields of Ystads Kommun www.tryckfolket.se
architecture, handicrafts, medicine, agriculture, science and humanitarianism. In some ways, we EDITOR
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remain such a centre to this day. AOmslag living museum spreading knowledge through experience. - Multiart Silk 200 g Håkan Nilsson Inlaga - Multiart Silk 150 g We present our history in relation to the major contemporary issues and offer our visitors an L AYO U T & D E S I G N
T Y Pfor E contemplation. A place to return to. experience for all AB the senses. A place Helsinkifrostbites Frutiger Creative Agency www.helsinkifrostbites.com COVE R
ART DIRECTOR
Harri Paavolainen Py Paavolainen COPY
Håkan Nilsson Kristina Buhrgard Ingela Bergils PHOTO
Lucas Gölén www.lucasgolen.se Fredrik Ekblad (p. 3, 17 and the signs p. 21)
Photo - Lucas Gölén Partial UV-lacquer
In the well-preserved centre of Ystad, buildings from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Empire coexist with stately brick architecture and low buildings from past centuries. The small scale is carefully blended with exciting architecture from our own time. The oldest are St Mary’s Church and the Franciscan Abbey from the 13th century. Ystad is a city worth looking at and strolling through! The Franciscan Monastery movement was founded in 1210 by Francis of Assisi who was canonized two years after his death. The movement spread through Europe like a revival. In Ystad, a Knight called Holmger and his wife Catherine donated funds to the building of the abbey in 1267. The friars remained influential here until the Reformation in 1532, when the abbey was converted into a hospital. In the 1700s, the buildings were used as a distillery and in the 1800s as a granary. The north and the west wing had already collapsed by the 1600s, but there are plans to have them rebuilt. Below: medieval construction, illustration from 1475-1500
In 1887 the town of Ystad decided to demolish the abbey. There was a “Battle for the Abbey” where the conservation side won. The abbey reopened in 1912 after extensive renovation and became Ystad’s first cultural center with library and exhibitions. In 1994 the abbey was again given a facelift and in 2011 the buildings were again renovated for accessibility. The abbey’s rose garden was inaugurated in 2002, and has since been expanded to include a number of beautiful historic gardens. The abbey in Ystad is Sweden’s oldest remaining medieval monastery and is Ystad’s largest historical attraction. The site has approximately 70,000 visitors per year, not including those to the gardens.
Wonderful, Horrible, Human. 2003 produced by Kulturen in Lund
THE ABBEY’S EXHIBITIONS The architecture of the abbey itself constitutes one of the biggest attractions with the rooms and facades but also the great abbey church whose altar was consecrated to St. Peter. The abbey church is owned by the municipality but is used both as a church and a museum. Current activities in the abbey are inspired by the monastic period and the important and progressive values the abbey passed on to the locality: art, literature, architecture, science, medicine, gardening, crafts and agriculture. Franciscans also looked after and protected the persecuted and the poor, animals, the environment and nature. Can you imagine a better place to discuss life and ethics than in a former monastery?
Religious Vestments 2004 Monastery Kitchen 2010
Divine Shards 2006 From Petter Katt to Easter 2004
The abbey’s limited space does not allow long-term exhibitions. Major two or three-year projects make it possible to immerse oneself in various parts of the history of Ystad and the abbey, both in time and space. Every year we have three or four temporary exhibitions and a gallery displaying parts of Fornminnesföreningen’s (Ancient Monuments Association) large photo collection. We also need to reflect important current affairs in the city and municipality, when for example an industry is closed down or an important social function or business celebrates its centenary. Our future plans include a maritime exhibit on the abbey’s unfurnished top floor. “The Land gave birth to Man - the Sea created the City,” asserts an old Ystad proverb.
Power and Sanctity 2008
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Children and young people are a prime target audience for the abbey. The abbey has an educational workshop and trained staff who are specially engaged in school activities. We also cooperate with Charlotte Berlin’s museum and the children’s activities organised by the Art Museum and City Library and with the museums’ network for education in southern Sweden.
The educational activities are based both on the abbey’s exciting history and the museum’s various exhibitions with diverse themes. In the workshop you can work hands-on with the manufacture or design of items related to the theme you want to work with. For example, one can book a tour of the city or a garden walk.
THE ABBEY’S PROGRAMME The abbey’s programme is enriched from cooperation with local associations, primarily with Ystad’s Fornminnesförening (Ancient Monuments Association) which shares the Abbey’s scope of activity, but also with Sub Rosa, Ystad’s Gardening Society. In recent years, we have also developed an excellent collaboration with Österlens Museum, the Culture in Tomelilla and Glimmingehus with the common platform www.kulturhistorien.se. The abbey and Österlens Museum are also members of www.matrundan.se where we emphasize the cultural and historical aspects of food.
The Fellowship of the Scanian Bear outside the abbey, Christmas 2008
We can offer: Historical lectures, guided tours of current exhibitions, seasonal walks in the gardens, city tours, medieval dinners and regional evenings with snacks. We are happy to create tailored experiences to meet your specific desires. Please contact us!
Nordic Abbesses and prioresses visiting the abbey 2010 Medieval feast at the abbey with Chim con Brio
THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS ASSOCIATION For over 100 years Ystad’s Fornminnesförening (Ancient Monuments Association) has watched over Ystad’s heritage. The town’s reputation as an historic medieval city rests largely on the association’s action to prevent the demolition of historically significant buildings and environments. The association owns historical collections that are nurtured and renewed in cooperation with the municipal museum officials. Before the Board of the abbey became a part of Ystad’s Cultural Authority, the association ran all activities at the abbey. Through the years it has been a major support to the abbey’s business, not least with regard to the ongoing documentation of Ystad’s history. There is also a “Little Ancient Monuments Association” operated in cooperation with the abbey’s educators. Membership of Ystad Fornminnesförening brings many benefits!
COLLECTIONS AND DOCUMENTATION Kx Kulturmagasinet (The Culture Warehouse) in the Regimental area became a welcome reality in 1999. This new facility made it possible to collect all of Ystad’s cultural heritage in one place. Three collections are cared for and preserved here: Ystad Municipality’s art collection, Charlotte Berlin’s collections and the collections of Ystad’s Ancient Monuments Association. The last is the largest and covers about 40 000 objects, archival materials and glass plates. To view any of the public collections, call and schedule an appointment. In the future will be possible to view everything on the internet.
Documenting changes in Ystad is an important task that is made possible thanks to the Ystad Archaeological Society’s annual publication of books on”Ystadiana”. Since 1917, the association has published yearbooks. Since 1990, the yearbook has been thematized and with each book, another important piece of Ystad’s history is documented for posterity.
ABBEY GARDENS The staff of the municipal park department and the Abbey have cooperated to recreate the gardens around the Abbey. We do not know what they looked like originally, but we know that the monastery must have cultivated vegetables and root vegetables in addition to begging for alms to make ends meet. The rose has been an important symbol of the Virgin Mary and a medicinal plant for the production of medicines and ointments. An apple orchard probably also existed.
The latest addition is a peony garden. Peonies are yet another novelty introduced by monasticism and has through the centuries become a beloved representative of the Scania garden. Ystad’s Gardening Association, “Sub Rosa�, was formed in connection with the inauguration of the rose garden in 2002. The association resides in the gardens around the Abbey. In season it organises nighttime tours of both the rose garden and peony garden.
MUSEUM SHOP AND CAFE The Abbey has an interesting museum shop and a book section that contains history, costume and textile history, gardening, culinary history and many more fascinating topics. We sell unique crafts that represent Österlen but also spices, oils, soaps and beautiful fabrics. Here you will find those beautiful and original gifts. We also have a small café where you can get some rest in the abbey’s beautiful and tranquil environment. In summer you can take your coffee outside and enjoy the beautiful gardens!
CHARLOTTE BERLIN’S MUSEUM Miss Charlotte Berlin’s Museum is a little gem on Dammgatan 23 in Ystad. The original lady was a great character. She never married, but through good business sense, built up a large fortune. She died in 1916 and donated almost all her wealth and her home to the town of Ystad. It is a unique environment that shows a typical late-19th century home in best “klunkestil”, as they say in Danish. Charlotte Josephina Euphrosyne Aurora Constantia Berlin started out as a piano teacher. But as her fortune grew, she invested a lot of time and money in her collection of antiques. In particular, she collected table- and standing clocks and silver stamped in Ystad, but also textiles and the local miscellany we call “Ystadiana”.
Today the museum is open from June to August and guided tours are scheduled. There is a small museum shop and in 2011 there will be new business on the top floor. The museum is a foundation where the town of Ystad is one of the founders.
KLOSTRET I YSTAD Opening times Tue-Fri 12-17 Sat-Sun 12-16 extended opening times in summer RECEPTION & BOOKING, MUSEUM SHOP
Mail Address: Klostret i Ystad, Culture and Education Ystads kommun, 271 80 Ystad. Visiting Address: S:t Petri Kyrkoplan, Ystad. Phone: +46 411 577 286 Fax: +46 411 123 59 klostret@ystad.se www.klostret.se E D U C AT I O N
Curator Kristina Buhrgard Phone: +46 411 577 605 Mobile: +46 709 477 605 kristina.buhgard@ystad.se K U LT U R M A G A S I N E T ( T H E C U LT U R E WA R E H O U S E )
CHARLOTTE BERLIN’S MUSEUM Opening times 1 June-31 August Mon-Fri 12-17 Sat-Sun 12-16 Postal address: Dammgatan 23 271 42 Ystad Phone in opening season +46 411 188 66. For bookings out of season call the abbey +46 411 577 286 YSTADS FORNMINNESFÖRENING ( A N C I E N T M O N U M E N T S A S S O C I AT I O N )
Mail Address: Hospitalsgatan 4 271 34 Ystad. Visiting address: S:T Petri Kyrkoplan To apply for membership please call Phone +46 411 577 856 or email. info@ystadsfornminnesförening.se www.ystadsfornminnesforening.se SUB ROSA info@subrosa.nu www.subrosa.nu
Collections Curator Ingela Bergils Phone: +46 411 577 717 Mobile: +46 709 477 717 ingela.bergils@ystad.se
OTHER PARTNERS www.matrundan.se www.kulturhistorien.se
PUBLISHER
PRINTERS
Klostret i Ystad Ystads Kommun
Tryckfolket AB www.tryckfolket.se
EDITOR
Håkan Nilsson
PA P E R
Omslag - Multiart Silk 200 g Inlaga - Multiart Silk 150 g
L AYO U T & D E S I G N
Helsinkifrostbites AB Creative Agency www.helsinkifrostbites.com ART DIRECTOR
Harri Paavolainen Py Paavolainen COPY
Håkan Nilsson Kristina Buhrgard Ingela Bergils PHOTO
Lucas Gölén www.lucasgolen.se Fredrik Ekblad (p. 3, 17 and the signs p. 21)
TYPE
Frutiger COVE R
Photo - Lucas Gölén Partial UV-lacquer
A website presenting a vast number of heritage sites in YstadÖsterlen. From beautiful heritage farms and interesting museums to monuments like the “King’s Tomb” in Kivik and Ales stenar. Information about accommodation, restaurants, cafés as well as events and current exhibitions. www.kulturhistorien.se