We wanted to see a part of Sweden’s interior, which most Americans, who cruise to coastal cities, don’t see. We chose SAS to fly into Ostersund, the gateway to ski country, right in the middle of Sweden, near the border with Norway. Flying into Ostersund you think you are over the ocean because the beautiful Lake Storjon is so big. You’ll land at the suburb Froson, a large island, named for Freja, the Swedish Viking fertility goddess. This island was an important assembly site and place of sacrifice during the Pre-Bronze Age, over 2,000 years ago.
Ostersund is a city of 60,000 residents. ThisCounty of Hackas was settled over 2,000 years ago and Christianized about one thousand years ago. Ask at the Tourism Department in the City Center about a trail that leads to an Iron Age Viking burial ground and another to a fourteenth century farmhouse, which the same family has occupied for all those centuries!
When you are in Ostersund do not miss the Jamtli Folk Museum, an interactive, living history experience for children and adults. Ingamar Morsch, Director of Marketing, gave us a wonderful tour. At the beginning he told us to choose whether to go to the lower level by sliding through the circular slide inside the famous little lake monster’s caricature or taking the elevator with funny distortion mirrors! What an innovative and fun way to begin an incredible learning experience! The price (60 Swedish kroners …less than six dollars… for adults; children to age 17 are free,) is a bargain, and you can ask at the desk for a pass to JamtliOstersund, Swedenreturn the second day free. Season passes are 250 Kr. for a family. If possible you should allow two days to enjoy it all
The indoor displays are housed in a modern building completed in 2000. You’ll marvel at our walk through history from the earliest Nordic times. In the many interactive displays children can dress in period costumes and role play different businesses and ways of everyday life from the past: bartering, fishing, farming, loading wagons, buying, selling, building, petting a real (stuffed) bear, riding in a wagon, and much more.
History Is Fun at Jamtli Historyland
You’ll learn Viking history through a film about an incredible tapestry from about 900 – 1100 AD. This rare find is explained and then you can see it in actuality. At the Viking history displays children can dress in authentic costumes and practice the way of life of both men and women of a millennium ago. Some historic explanations are dioramas with hologram actors. We particularly liked the Viking sword fight.
Another section is a natural history with the wildlife of the Nordic area carefully preserved by taxidermy. Children can actually feel the fur and pet them. There is a superb slide show of the glass impressions of photographer Nils Thomasson, who photographed the Sami people’s way of life in the early 1900’s. It is particularly impressive to see the pioneer lifestyle of 1700’s, a woman’s world of hard work in the home, and a man’s world of hard work outside the home, just to subsist in this climate.
Children Love the Real Farm Area
When you leave the building to wander the open-air part of the museum, you find yourself on a large farm, with 60 houses and buildings, divided into sections showing the way of life in each period of history. There is a real barn with hay and carved wooden life-sized animals for the kids to pretend to curry, feed, milk, etc. There is also a petting area of live farm animals. The outdoor space is a great gathering place for families to enjoy the sun and picnics and an excellent restaurant open all year. In the Lansmueum building is a collection of Sami, or First People’s, cultural artifacts.
World-Renowned Parenting/ Child-Care Program
The museum, partly funded by the government, has a wonderful innovative concept to help families. In Sweden when a baby is born the mother gets a year and a half off work at 80 percent pay, and the father gets several months’ family leave too. The year-round, free pre-school, interactive learning center is set up for children to learn the things their moms and dads do by play-acting modern life and also the ways of other periods of history. The parents come to the playschool to learn and inter-act with the children and with other parents, which makes the lonely job of stay-at-home parents becomes a social activity. Parents learn from teachers and from each other, make new friends, have help with the care of their children, get lessons in parenting and help with psychological problems facing young families today. The director of the program, Britt-Marie Borgstrom, was invited to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, to explain this award-winning concept. She toured the US and was contracted to set up a similar program in Chicago. This open preschool activity center is now the model for others around the world because of its great success in helping build stronger families.
King Gustavus III Founded Ostersund
King Gustavus III founded Ostersund, but his love for stage acting prompted him to complete the theater before the church! Ostersund has a lovely city center and a very helpful Tourism Office, which can help you not to miss any of the attractions the area offers. The lake has wonderful recreation, boating, fishing, swimming, and camping, even ice-fishing, or diving if you are brave enough. With many lovely places to stay and numerous good places to eat, you can find one to fit your budget. Any time of year Ostersund is a beautiful stop for your holidays and is an easy drive to the favorite ski areas of Sweden.
Real Travel Adventures 