Rosendals Slott

I love castles! I just have to say that. They are little living museums of interior décor. And, who doesn’t love interior décor?! =) This Swedish summer slott (castle) is not the largest or most impressive one i’ve ever seen, but it is a wonderful historical landmark and a great example of Swedish craftsmanship during the Industrial revolution. Rosendals Palace is located in the Djurgården hunting park and is next to Rosendals Trädgård café. It’s a beautiful area to escape to for the day! It’s only open in the summer time for viewing and I think is a «must see» if your a history buff and in the Stockholm area when the sun is shining.
The castle is a nice example of an interesting point in Swedish cultural history – when King Karl XIV Johan (the first Bernadotte and «adopted» king) took the throne. Sweden was a poor country at that time and was desperately in need of help. The old linage of royals in Sweden was also dying out with King Charles XIII not having an heir. King Karl XIV Johan (born Jean Bernadotte) was surprisingly elected by parliament to take his place with the hope that he could pioneer a new future for the country. King Karl was an interesting man having worked his way up from the lower-​middle class in France, to being a «top general» for Napoleon Bonaparte and who then then was later «adopted» as the King of Sweden – in a kind of a «rags to riches» story. I think a lot of people can appreciate someone coming from nothing and working his way up in the world. It’s something I think is fascinating about this castle and the man who decorated it.
A lot of what you can see in this castle was decorated by King Karl in an effort to show off a little of what Swedish artisans, craftsmen and factories were capable of. I believe it (probably in a much smaller way than other castles under his control) was an effort to «advertise» Sweden as a vehicle for trade to friends, relatives and visitors. Almost everything in this castle is pre-​fabricated including the foundation itself. They have a miniature example in the back yard of what one of the towers would have looked like when it was initially installed – which could be considered one of the first «IKEA style» pre-​fabricated and moveable structures in Sweden. This castle is really a small little landmark that helps to display a huge cultural change throughout Sweden’s history – helping to shape the country as it is today. Electing a commoner as King without prejudice and having a showroom of pre-​fabricated structures and interior décor (IKEA) all sound like pretty Swedish things to me! Haha!
TIP: Notice that most of the castle is set up to look like a roman tent due to the fact that he King Karl was a general
TIP: Notice that this was originally only a daytime castle, they would return elsewhere to sleep.
TIP: This castle is still in possession of the royal family of Sweden and the King occasionally still uses it for for things like official dinners, ect.
TIP: You can only view the inside with a tour guide, so check the times on the website! The tour guide we had was incredibly knowledgeable and well educated in history and restoration (I asked, lol!)
TIP: You can watch the movie «Désirée» with Marlon Brando from 1954 to get a little romantic «adapted-​for-​film» picture of Jean Bernadotte (King Karl), his wife and their relationship to Napoleon Bonaparte.