Swedsih House Mafia

Electronic music group Swedish House Mafia is set to transform New York's Empire State Building into its home country's flag colors Thursday. Blue and yellow lights will light up the well-known monument in honor of the band's Black Tie Rave charity, the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, and a Save the Children USA initiative.

In the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14th, the organization is calling for a National Commission on Children in the USA that will address the issues of violence, mental health and poverty.
The Black Tie Rave takes place today, just one day before the group kicks off their four night NYC run of their massive One Last Tour with record-breaking sold out shows at Madison Square Garden and Barclay's Center, reports the Elite Daily. Text: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=5458403

Princess Estelle of Sweden

Gustaf Adolf´s day 6 November

 

Gustavus Adolphus Day is a theme day which is celebrated on November 6 in memory of Gustavus Adolphus's death in 1632, and is a public flag day in Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus was killed in the Battle of Lützen, which was the sixth november ac...

cording to the Julian calendar, according to the Gregorian calendar was the date of 16 november.

The day has been celebrated since the early 1800's and is still popular especially in Göteborg. To celebrate you are eating Gustavus Adolphus pastries. The day is also celebrated in Finland under the name Swedish day.

 

 

Gustav II Adolf was born in 1594. He was the son of Karl IX and his wife Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp. He married Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg who gave birth to a daughter who later would become Queen Kristina of Sweden.

His relations to the Swedish aristocracy were very good. The aristocracy had strengthened its power position after the death of Karl IX. For instance, the King had to consult the Council of Aristocrats before initiating or ending a war. During his regime, many aristocrats were awarded estates in conquered territories, and others were able to buy land, originally belonging to the state. The good relations between the King and the aristocracy created a stable political climate.

During Gustav II Adolf´s period as king, a number of new cities were built, among them the most important, Göteborg. Today you can se the statue of the king on Gustav II Adolf square.

As King, he immediately had to deal with a war against Denmark. In this war the Danes, among other things, occupied the fortress of Älvsborg in Göteborg. The Swedish state had to pay a ransom to get it back. During the 30 Years War, Gustav II Adolf personally led his troops in Germany. At Breitenfelt in 1631, he won a great victory in spite of numerical inferiority. However, one year later, in 1632 , he was killed in the Battle of Lützen. In the peace of Westfalia in 1648, Sweden was established as a Great Power.

Alfred Nobel - His Life and Work

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833. His father Immanuel Nobel was an engineer and inventor who built bridges and buildings in Stockholm. In connection with his construction work Immanuel Nobel also experimented with different techniques for blasting rocks.

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Alfred Nobel - His Life and Work

New film tackles Olof Palme's complex legacy

With their much-anticipated documentary about Sweden's slain Prime Minister Olof Palme set to open in cinemas across the country on Friday, the film's directors talk to The Local about Swedes' love-hate relationship with the controversial politician.

New film tackles Olof Palme's complex legacy - The Local

Meet Glenn Hysén

As a footballer, he was one of Sweden's all-time greats, winning trophies at IFK Gothenburg and Liverpool as well as playing in Italy's Serie A with Fiorentina. Long-since retired, Glenn Hysén is more known these days for having a gay son in football and for his encourgement of gays in sport.

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The Vikings

The name "Viking" origin is probably the Swedish word for bay, "vik". This shows the close connection between the people and the sea. The Vikings are often considered wild, drunken, merciless robbers. In fact, their main occupation was farming and trade. The Viking expeditions were mostly trade expeditions that sometimes degenerated to looting. But to be honest, there were also expeditions whose main purpose was to loot foreign coastal regions.

The Swedish vikings went mostly eastwards into Russia and further on to Byzantium and the Caliphate. You can find runestones and archaeological artefacts in several places in Sweden  A special place is Birka. Birka was a trade centres situated on an island in Lake Mälaren, not far from modern day Stockholm.   
Source:sverigeturism.se

Birka was a thriving marketplace and international harbour in the 700´s and one can still see remnants of those glory days. Birka can today be found on the UNESCO World heritage list.

Photo: Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se

The gods lived in a place Asgård. The humans lived in Midgård, and the giants in Jotunheim. These places was the world and they were situated in the world tree, an ash tree called Yggdrasil. The highest god was Oden, the lord of gods and humans.
Of course the Vikings went to battles. When they died Oden took the fallen Vikings to the wonderful place Valhall on his eight leged horse "Sleipner". He also gave the Vikings a wonderful dinner, where the pig Särimner was slaughtered, they ate him with great appetite along with the drink mead. The next morning the pig reappeared again so it could again be slaughtered for the evening

Other gods were Frö sometimes called Frej. He was the god of love and fertility and Fröja/Freja was the goddess of love and fertility. The most famous god is Tor, the mightiest warrior of them all. He was the god of thunder and had a hammer called "Mjölner" which, like a boomerang, returned to his hand after he had thrown it.

Source:sverigeturism.se

Swedish surnames

Swedish Names

The patronymic naming system was used up to the end of the 19th century.  90 and 95% of the population used the patronymic naming system. Every child was eighter the son of or the daughter of the father. If the father’s name was Anders Eriksson, his son’s name might be Lars Andersson. Anders son = son of Anders. The daughter might that way be named Kersti Andersdotter, Anders dotter= Daughter of Anders. When she was married, she did not adopt her husband’s name, but kept her patronymic.

Surnames or family names were used by the nobility, the clergy. The nobility had special noble name often used with a prefix as af, von or de. Less than 1% of the population was nobility.
Many of the clergy took names with Greek or Latin endings such as "ander" or "ius" often in combination with the place the origin. Examples of names used by the clergy are Fallander and Morelius.

Soldiers and some townspeople adopted family names often from the nature. A military name could for example be associated with the place where the person served.These names usually would consist of two parts of nature such as Dalberg. Dal = valley and berg =mountain.
If the soldiers didn´t get a nature name they were  also very often given names that represented a personal quality like Rapp= quick, or Nöjd = satisfied  When leaving the military service, some soldiers did keep their military name while some returned to using their patronymic name.
When the emigrant moved to a new country, he or she often changed their name. If they emigrated to English speaking countries, the name was often Anglicized. Married women would adopt their husband’s surname. Examples of name changes are:

1. 1. Andersson Anderson (The double s becomes one s.)
2. 2. Bengtsson Benson, Bentson
3. 3. Johansson Johnson
4. 4. Sjöberg Seaberg or Seeberg

It is very important to understand that the name and spelling of a name for one individual can differ in the various records. It is important to compare birth dates and other family information to verify that you are tracing the correct person.

Source: Genline

 

The Swedes

 Swedes healthier but many still overweight

More Swedes have quit smoking but inactive lifestyles and fatty foods continue to pose a health threat.


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