Wrangel's Space Suite, Skokloster Castle

On each side of the King's Hall is the Count's and Countess's room suites, which consist of each their own bedroom with atrium. The Count's atrium is dominated by a monumental painting by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, showing Wrangel a horse with a bloody guard. The walls are clad with golden leather and here, among other things, paintings with Wrangel's wife Anna Margareta von Haugwitz and their common children. The walls of the county's meadow bed are covered with woven wallpaper called "English Hunt" and consist of seven parts. They are made in Gouda in the Netherlands. The wallpaper motifs represent hunting of different kinds, framed by a lush nature. At the top of each part is a coat of arms interwoven. The bed itself has drapes made of red, floral patterned silk fabric. In the outlines of the flowers there are sequins of genuine silver.

Countess Wrangel's atrium is distinguished by a beautiful stucco roof, possibly the most beautiful in the entire castle. In the midfield, playing putti and in the corners are shown allegorical motives. One of the room's treasures is a harpsichord with figure paintings on the opened lid. In the county's bed chamber, the floor does not consist of limestone tiles, as in the other rooms, but of a patterned oak and pine floor. It got warmer on my feet. On the walls there are woven wallpaper from the same Dutch production as in the county's bed chamber. The bed was made in Germany and has a sculpted backing in silver-plated papier-mâché.


Skokloster Castle
Skokloster Castle is a Swedish Baroque castle built between 1654 and 1676 by Carl Gustaf Wrangel, located on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala. It became a state museum in the 1970s and displays collections of paintings, furniture, textiles and tableware as well as books and weapons.

The finished parts of the castle display the full, sumptuous splendour of the Baroque. Its detailed chambers are home to collections of paintings, furniture, textiles and silver and glass tableware. One of the most famous paintings is the 16th century Vertumnus by Italian master Giuseppe Arcimboldo, depicting the face of Holy Roman emperor Rudolf II as the Roman god of the seasons using fruits and vegetables. The painting was taken as war booty in Prague in the 17th century.

The castle armoury and library are noteworthy, both founded on Wrangel's collections of weapons and books and enriched and enlarged by other 17th- and 18th-century aristocratic bequests, such as those by Carl Gustaf Bielke.

The armoury contains the largest collection of personal 17th century military weapons in the world. Mostly muskets and pistols, but also swords - including Japanese samurai swords - small cannons, pikes and crossbows. The weapons collection also includes various exotic items such as a 16th-century Eskimo canoe and snake skins. The original scale model of the castle, which the architect Caspar Vogel had made to demonstrate his plan to Count Wrangel, is also there.

Skokloster Castle is located at the countryside 60 km northwest of Stockholm, the Swedish capital. Together with the Hallwyl Museum and the Royal Armoury the castle constitutes a national authority, headed by a Director General, and accountable to the Ministry of Culture. The three museums base their work on a national cultural policy resolution enacted by Swedish Parliament. Skokloster Castle is one of the mayor monuments from the period when Sweden was one of the most powerful countries in Europe. It's built in the baroque style between 1654 and 1676. At Skokloster the Field Marshal and Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613-1676) created a stately home of European caliber during the second half of the 17th century. Just like continental princes, he tried to understand the world by collecting the most remarkable things that Man and nature were capable of making. The castle has remained amazingly untouched for more than 300 years, giving this building a unique authenticity. Wrangel and the following owners collected fine arts like armory, books, silver, glass, textiles and furniture. The collection consists of about 50 000 items in the 77 rooms in the Castle. Skokloster is considered one of the great castles of Baroque Europe.