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Published: October 24th 2021
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Sculpture of Astrid Lindgren
On the main square in Vimmerby there is a sculpture depicting Astrid Lindgren sitting by a table writing A journey into our literary heritage
Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish author who mainly wrote children stories. She wrote stories about
Pippi Longstocking,
Emil of Lönneberga,
Karlsson-on-the-Roof, the
Six Bullerby Children and many more. Many of the stories Astrid Lindgren wrote are so well known in Sweden that virtually everybody know about them.
Astrid Lindgren was born in Vimmerby in Småland District and several of her stories are based on places in Småland and on her childhood memories. When we travelled from Öland back to Stockholm we decided to make a small detour into Småland District with the plan to explore sites we know about from her books and from the films and TV series based on her novels.
Vimmerby First we stopped in the town
Vimmerby. On the main square in town there is a sculpture depicting Astrid Lindgren sitting by a table writing.
Astrid Lindgren was born in 1907. The house in which she grew up is today part of the Astrid Lindgren Museum. That house is interesting as having been her home. But also it is interesting because it has served as inspiration to at least one of her book series
The house in which Astrid Lindgren grew up
Astrid Lindgren was born in 1907. The house in which she grew up is today part of the Astrid Lindgren Museum. - Emil of Lönneberga. The character Emil is a prankster and rascal. Each time he has done something that angers his father Emil hides in his tool shed. The original tool shed can be found in a shed where she grew up.
For a while Astrid lived in the clergy house in Vimmerby. This house has served as inspiration to one of her most beloved characters - a girl named Pippi Longstocking. In the novel Pippi lives by herself in a large house, Villa Villekulla. In the garden of the Villa there is a large oak tree in which there are soft drinks - the soft drink tree. The inspiration to that tree is a large oak tree in the garden of the clergy house.
Astrid Lindgren is buried in the cemetery in Vimmerby. Obviously we had to visit her grave.
Astrid Lindgren is buried next to her sister, Stina Hergin. Both sisters died at old age and as they grew older they both had accepted the fact that one day, Death, the Grim Reaper, will catch up with them. When they phoned each other they always started their conversation by
The inspiration to Emil's tool shed
In Emil of Lönneberga, the main character hides in his tool shed whenever he has done some mischief. The inspiration to the tool shed is this house. saying "Death, death, death, death." Then they said, "Now that we've talked about death, let's talk about something else."
In Vimmerby cemetery there is yet another grave that is somewhat interesting. On the grave marker it is written "The young brothers Johan Magnus and Achates Phalén". It is one of two graves that inspired Astrid Lindgren to write the novel The Brothers Lionheart. The other grave that served as inspiration to that novel can be seen in Northern Cemetery in Stockholm and has the inscription "Here lies the brothers Nils Bernström and Bertil Bernström".
The Brothers Lionheart is about two brothers who both die young, one of an illness and the other in an accident. It's not a sad story really because the brothers reunite again in Nangijala, the place where you go after you die.
Bullerbyn The Astrid Lindgren novel the Six Bullerby Children takes place in a small hamlet named Bullerby. The hamlet actually exists, its name is
Sevedstorp, and is the village where Astrid's father grew up. When the stories of the Bullerby Children where filmed they used Sevedstorp as filming location.
Lönneberga Lönneberga is known from
The inspiration to Villa Villekulla
As a child Astrid Lindgren for a while lived in the clergy house in Vimmerby. This house served as inspiration to Villa Villekulla, Pippi Longstocking's home the novels and TV series about Emil of Lönneberga. The village Lönneberga is of very little interest to be honest. The only thing worth seeing is a small Emil themed display created only for visiting tourists. For some reason that display was closed when we arrived so we didn't get to see it. It shouldn't have been closed. We think someone just forgot to go there and open it.
Emil of Lönneberga filming location When Emil of Lönneberga was filmed in the early 70-ties they the exterior shots were taken in a farm in the village Gibberyd. Today that farm is a popular tourist attraction allowing visitors look at where various scenes from the films and TV series were shot. Especially Emil's tool shed is an important part of this open-air museum. Ake has to admit that when he was a child he found the tool shed a little bit scary. Well, not the tool shed itself. But every time Emil had to escape into the tool shed it was because he had done some mischief that had angered his father. And Emil's father was really scary when he got angry...
Mio my The soft drink tree
One of Astrid's most beloved characters is Pippi Longstocking. Pippi lives by herself in a large house and in its garden there is a large oak tree in which there are soft drinks - the soft drink tree. The inspiration to that tree is a large oak tree in the garden of the clergy house in Vimmerby. Son/Mio my Mio
The novel
Mio, my Son, also known as Mio, my Mio, is a fantasy story. The story begins in central Stockholm. The character Mio, an orphan living with non-loving foster parents, is sitting on a bench in a park outside the apartment where he lives and is dreaming about a better life. That's before he is magically transported into a different world.
Dalagatan 46 Astrid Lindgren had many homes during her life. One of them was at Dalagatan 46 in Stockholm. Even though many of her stories take place in Småland District we think that she actually lived most of her life in Stockholm. Her home at Dalagatan is today a museum.
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Nice blog, Thanks fpr sharing.