Salla VartiainenStockholm – Go to prison (and look at art)
If you are interested in Swedish art and artists and also like to eat! Then I know a great place for you to visit in Stockholm! Långholmens Wärdshus is located at Långholmen, a small island between Södermalm and Kungsholmen. It is surrounded by a park and water and is a very enjoyable place to take a stroll.
The best way to get here is to take the subway to the Hornstulls metro station (red line) and then walk 10-15 minutes. But if you have trouble walking there is also a buss that can get you closer.
Långholmens Wärdshus history
It´s a beautiful summers day and all the trees are green and the birds are singing. As we approach our destination I think about how hard it is to get your head around that these nice looking houses actually used to be a prison!
These small slots were used for out-door time. Each prisoner got their own little slot.
But it´s true. Both women and men sat incarcerated here from 1724 until 1975 and all kinds of prisoners served their time here. The most famous political prisoner was probably Hjalmar Branting who later became Swedens prime minister but there were also journalists and artists such as Isaac Grünewald among the thiefs and murderers.
Alfred Ander was the last prisoner to be beheaded here in 1910. He had attempted to rob an exchange office locted at Malmtorgsgatan 2 and beaten the cashier so severely that she later ended up dying from her injuries.
Alfred Ander tried hard to become a successful restaurant owner, but failed and turned to alcohol and crime
The last prisoner to be released from Långholmen was Jan Guillou a Swedish author and journalist who was suspected for espionage.
Långholmens Wärdshus today
Today Långholmens Wärdshus serves as both a restaurant and a hotell. In the restaurant, which used to be a womens prison, you will find different types of Swedish food and there is also a very cute veranda and a cozy out door seating area.
The hotel part is located in the building that used to house the male prisoners, and the Isaac Grünewald art exhibition is also hanging here.
Who was Isaac Grünewald?
Isaac Grünewald is one of Swedens best known artists and many Swedish art collectors favorite. A auction house recently sold one of his paintings for 14.5 million swedish crowns (about 1.3 million Euro) which is all time high for a Grünewald.
But he wasn´t always embraced by every one. During his life time he was quite a controversial artist with a reputation of beeing hot-headed and a cheeter. The press also rediculed him for his jewish roots and many of the magazines really did print antisemitic pictures of him.
His wife was his artist collegue Sigrid Hjertén who also was a leading expressionist and modernist.
To the left Grünewalds “Rökar, Stockholm” and to the right Hjerténs “Den osynlige gästen”
The couple led an interesting life where they worked and travelled and exhibited their work. Some periods they also lived in Paris and hang out with all the interesting modernists that emerged after the Belle epoque.
Both Grünewald and Hjertén got their recognizion later in life and Grünewald later became a professor of Konsthögskolan, which is like the institution of higher studies of art.
Why did he end up in prison?
Grünewald was imprisoned on charges of battery. A ticket controller on a train tried to stop them from entering the train because Grünewald was intoxicated. The fight escalated and the ticket controller slapped Grünewalds wife, the artist Sigrid Hjertén and made her fall to the ground. Grünewald became furious and assaulted the ticket controller and hit him! This landed Grünewald in jail.
Hjertén and Grünewald playing music photo from Swedish artist lexicon
The exhibition
The exhibition is hanging on the second floor of the mens prison and the entrance is free of charge! All the prison cells where the inmates used to sit and regret their life choices, have now been turned in to hotelrooms.
Isaac Grünewald was incarcerated here for about a month and during this time he painted somewhat around 50 paintings, ranging from quick sketches to more time consuming studies. His motifs was the guards and the inmates and he also painted many selfportraits during this time.
And now the paintings hang here in a permanent exhibition open for everybody! Here you also can read more about his life and his time in prison.
Conclusion
The food is great, the venue is cute and the surroundings are also very enjoyable with all the lush greenery. And it´s always interesting to learn a bit more about art and in this case a Swedish artist.
So I do recommend a visit!
Lumphe litografiska
And if you are near by, do also check out Lumphe Litografiska and their garden!
xoxo/Salla V