Gustavus Adolphus Day () is celebrated in Sweden on 6 November in memory of King
Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...
. Observing the day became popular after 1832, the 200th anniversary of the king's death in 1632. It is a general
Flag flying days in Sweden, flag flying day in Sweden. Today it is mainly connected with the consumption of
Gustavus Adolphus pastries. In
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, the
Finnish Swedish Heritage Day is celebrated on the same date.
Date
According to the Gregorian calendar, the king died on 16 November, but the
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...
("old style") was still used in Protestant Sweden at the time and that date, 6 November, is still used.
History
Gustavus Adolphus Day is celebrated in Sweden on 6 November in memory of King
, who was killed on that date (
old style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...
) in 1632 at the
Battle of Lützen in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
.
The day is named for the king
and is a general
Flag flying days in Sweden, flag flying day in Sweden.
The day has been celebrated since the early 19th century and became especially popular after the 200th anniversary celebration in 1832, of the king's death.
It was formerly celebrated with torchlight processions and patriotic speeches.
Today what remains is mainly the consumption of the
Gustavus Adolphus pastry (''Gustav Adolfsbakelse'' in
Swedish) on this day, with a chocolate or
marzipan
Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract.
It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and ...
relief of that king on top.
In Sweden, the day is especially observed in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, which was founded by the king,
but also in cities with old educational traditions,
such as
Uppsala
Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Loc ...
, where he donated considerable funding to
the university, and in cities where the military traditionally has been based.
The same day has been celebrated in Finland since 1908 by the
Swedish speakers as ''Svenska dagen'',
. It is an established
flag flying day in Finland since 1979.
In
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
, which like Finland was a part of Sweden during the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, the day is celebrated by the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country. , which was founded under the name ''Academia Gustaviana'' during Gustavus Adolphus' reign. In all three countries, 6 November is the
name day
In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, as well as Christian communities elsewhere. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively t ...
for Gustav Adolf, Gustavus Adolphus' name in Swedish,
or Kustaa Aadolf, the name in Finnish.
Sjättenovembervägen ("Sixth November Road"), a part of the old
Göta highway in the Stockholm borough of
Älvsjö, is named for this day. According to the 1924 street naming committee, the road was the entry point into Stockholm for the king's
funeral procession.
References
Nationalencyklopedin
(; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version.
History
The project was ...
, Gustav Adolfsdagen.[Nationalencyklopedin, Gustav II Adolf.]
[{{cite web, url=http://www.vardsvenska.fi/se/about-finland/culture-in-finland/namedays/finnish-namedays, publisher=Vardsvenska, title=Finnish namedays, accessdate=20 February 2014]
External links
In Memory of a Great Man, Spokane Daily Chronicle, 4 November 1901
Swedes in the US celebrating Gustavus Adolphus Day, 1909
Gustavus Adolphus
November observances
Culture of Sweden
Society of Sweden
Lutheranism in Sweden
Swedish flag flying days
Autumn in Sweden