A hotel that tells a story
Not much was written about the adults around Astrid Lindgren, as she lived her life as a teenager in Vimmerby. Well, about her parents, of course. Grandfather Samuel August in Hamphorva who became the grandfather in Bullerbyn. And a few more. But not so much about Nue in Nygård, Johan Ett Öre, Sotaren Jakobsson and Marie in Vendladal. But the stories young Astrid Eriksson at Näs heard found a place in both her head and heart, and later they were used in her many books about Emil and Pippi, Karlsson and Madicken.
From 1907 to 1926 in Wimmerby.
Astrid Eriksson grows up in Näs and can be found around her mother and father visiting Wimmerby Marken, or in Derwinger's clothing store on Storgatan, or in H W Andersson's store for the at the time modern hats. In 1920 she was 13 years old and just as receptive to impressions around her as today's thirteen-year-olds. In the years to come, she lived in the midst of the strong characters of the time in Wimmerby, heard exciting and dramatic stories about the living and the dead, saw the town's celebrities and was filled with strong impressions. Astrid was good at school and graduated with flying colours in 1924 and the same autumn she started as a volunteer at Wimmerby Tidning with the editorial address Storgatan 30. In the spring of 1926 she moved to Stockholm and new impressions would leave their mark on the future author.
The influence of youth remains
Modern external researchers who study consumption patterns in the 21st century talk about the "youth grid". It's the name that encompasses all the influences we take in as teenagers. The amazing thing is that this grid remains deep within us for the rest of our lives. In the form of values, among other things.
So that's why we have a special love for music we heard as teenagers, for the lifestyle we experienced then, for architecture and for personalities, among many other things. If this statement is true, then it may also be an explanation for why Astrid is said to have been greatly influenced by Vimmerby and the people of Vimmerby during her youth. It has left its mark on Astrid's books and there will certainly be reason for many who want to immerse themselves in Astrid Lindgren in the future, to also study the people around her. The town had just under 3,000 inhabitants so most of them were known to each other.
At Björkbackens Karaktärshotell in Vimmerby, we would like to believe that this is the case. How do special human characters affect others? People who go their own way, with a strong charisma, with a sharp and clear peculiarity? Many around 1920 were certainly a natural hub in everyday life – and these characters affect the people in a small community. Certainly, these charismatic, unique and often good-natured people influenced their time. And Astrid Lindgren lived her youth in the midst of them.
How the Character Hotel was created
It was in the mid-1990s that the old renovated building began to be rebuilt, from industrial premises and workshops, to a hotel. During the 30 years plenty of room have been added every year, all funds received have been used for continued investments. The idea for The Characters came after a trip to the United States, where the family visited Disneyworld. I saw that hotels and campsites were named after various Disney characters, but also cities. I thought about how the hotel could take its own unique place in the tourist town of Vimmerby, where Astrid Lindgren's World stood for Astrid's story and Astrid Lindgren's Näs with the childhood home for Astrid herself. But there was no one who reflected her surroundings. The choice fell on the city of Vimmerby and the environment that surrounded her, mainly focusing on people who lived here then, or on stories that were told here and that have taken place in Astrid's memory. I then saw the Character Hotel in front of me and I have followed that vision and still follow, to create the unique Character Hotel, the only one of its kind, a hotel that tells the story.
From the archives
Together with the County Museum in Kalmar, historian Håkan Nordmark in Växjö and project manager Christina Nibelius at Vimmerby Municipal Picture Archive, I began to think about the different characters Vimmerby had during the late 1800s and early 1900s. And how they may have inspired or influenced Astrid Lindgren in her writing in different ways.
From the archives in the basement of Vimmerby town hall stepped Johan Ett Öre, mentioned as living in the poor house Norka (in reality Grythult) in Emil in Lönneberga, whose life story Astrid had been told to some extent. Marie also came forward in Vendladal, living next door to Astrid's Näs, the storyteller who told everything that could be told and whose siblings had emigrated to America. We like to see her as the model for Krösamaja in Emil in Lönneberga
Her visits to Näs were many. And was the chimney sweep Jakobsson, the cheerful cheerleader on the roofs of Vimmerby Town, the chimney sweep that Alma fell in love with the Madicken books? And the thief Johan Samuel Lif "Lifven" from Lönneberga – not a day went by without tales of his exploits being told in the town – was he the model for the thieves "Lif and Leander" in Astrid's "Rasmus på Luffen"? As mentioned, Lifven was not a Vimmerby resident, but from the neighboring parish of Lönneberga, but this great thief's district included a large part of Småland and rumours of his ravages also reached Vimmerby and the children's ears of Näs.
From this archive also emerged human destinies, fraught with strong drama. Broommaker Skogs-Sara and tramp Jocke Kis – unique, special, strong in character.
Now the project was developed to include more than just role models for marginal figures in Astrid's books. Because Vimmerby could line up characters on a conveyor belt; Hulda Peters, Sweden's first female lady-in-waiting who was allowed to serve the king, and Nils Stolpe who, together with his siblings and his parents, grew up in Sweden's smallest cottage (10 sqm), still preserved in its original condition.
The characters came together
Fascinated and dazed, I pondered for weeks about the fates of these characters and decided to give them a permanent place in life; they would have their own room in the Character Hotel where they could "live" in the midst of today's people. Maybe forever? Hotel Björkbacken, as it was called at the beginning, was to be converted into Björkbacken's Character Hotel in Vimmerby. We decided to finance the project and create an expansion of the concept of "Astrid Lindgren's Vimmerby", to include the characters that were on the streets of the city and the roads of the villages during Astrid's time here. "The characters in Wimmerby" became the working name. Those who had a direct connection would have it listed, but we wanted to tell their own story as we can find it. Public areas were to be given installations, photographs and stories, a character in each of the more than 40 hotel rooms, as well as a group exhibition, a "character gallery", in the hotel's passage to the restaurant. In the restaurant, the characters would float freely in a frieze along the ceiling. The conference rooms were also to tell stories, perhaps also phenomena that had been noticed in different eras.
I want to see them, gathered in their own hotel, as a great asset both for Vimmerby residents who want to learn a part of their town's history, and tourists and guests who want to expand and understand a small part of the influence that was behind Astrid Lindgren's great storytelling.
In 2004 and 2005, historian Håkan Nordmark at Växjö University and affiliated with Kalmar County Museum, worked insistently on one story after another about Vimmerby's characters, by studying sources in various archives. Stubborn, initiated and enthusiastic. Håkan has done a fantastic job, which then continued with me interviewing elderly people in the nursing homes, who remember the time and the people. It became the Second Book about the Characters.
With life and desire, he is told about people and their life and fate. We closed our eyes and lived ourselves into the time, the atmosphere, life. Our mission for the future is to deepen the narrative with installations in public areas of the hotel, KrösaMaja's real guitar, for example, has been framed in a stand in the hotel corridor outside her room. Yes, it is an ongoing project that may never end. He who lives will see.