The Bexell Cottage ( Swedish: ''Bexellska stugan'') is a small cottage in

Varberg Varberg () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg th ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It has been turned into a historical heritage mini-museum. In Bexell Cottage there are

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

s and painted wall

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

from the 19th century. The tapestry cover the walls and ceiling of the cottage. Originally, they were only used for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, but today they are posted all the year around. Bexell Cottage can be visited by the public at the shows of the cottage that are arranged by Halland Museum of Cultural History.

History

The Bexell Cottage was originally built in 1785 at Harplinge. In 1876, it was bought by member of

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and local land owner Alfred Bexell (1831–1900) from its owner Jöns Jönsson (born 1828) together with all interior possessions. Jönsson was only allowed to retain his day dress, according to the purchase agreement. Even Jönsson's snuffbox passed to the ownership of Bexell. Alfred Bexell was the first in Sweden who bought and protected a Swedish peasant's home with the intent of turning it into a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. He inspired Arthur Hazelius to establish the open-air museum

Skansen Skansen (; "the Sconce") is the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. After Alfred Bexell's death, his widow Cecilia Bexell (1843–1929) moved the cottage to Varberg in 1907. The museum continued until 1915 after which Cecilia Bexell sold most of the items in the Bexellian collections at auction. Many of the auction items were bought by a local association formed with the intention of operating a museum. In the 20th century, it was called ''bålastugan'', a

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

ic name of the type of cottage. In 2003, it became a part of Halland Museum of Cultural History. At present it is named Bexell Cottage.

Bexell's Stones

Alfred Bexell also created a different kind of "museum" in a forested area which he owned, east of Varberg (northeast of the smaller village of Rolfstorp.The forested area is north of the Rolfstorp golf course, at 57.1690N/12.4813E.) The area has become famous, after visitors in 1925 began discovering rocks engraved with sayings, names of noted people of the time, or mottos. They were all commissioned by Bexell during the end of the nineteenth century, and were carved by two stonemasons whom he hired for the purpose. His diaries describe his causing the engravings but do not explain his motive. In 2014 an effort was mounted to discover the extent of the engravings; as of 2016 some 600 names of famous writers, philosophers, scientists, politicians and statesmen have been identified in the carvings, as well as more than 180 aphorisms, sayings, quotes from literature, and Bexell's thoughts. The messages include: "Do not say all you know but always know what you say"; and "What is sleep but the image of death." Bexell's own tombstone is inscribed with: "Man’s history is his character."''Bexell's Talking Stones'', Atlas Obscura (December 2016)
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References

Other sources

*Margareta Strömbom (2007) ''Bålastugan: Bexellska ryggåsstugan, föregångare till friluftsmuseet Skansen i Stockholm ; ett unikt svenskt kulturarv'' (Varberg: CAL-Förlagets)

External links

Halland Museum of Cultural History website

Bexellska stugan website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Varberg Museums in Halland County Historic house museums in Sweden