Tidö Castle () is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

located 17 km (11 mi) south of

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ) is a historical Swedish province, or , in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "West Man Land" or, less literally, "The Land of the Western Men", where the "we ...

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 ...

History

The former castle

The first building on the site was a medieval house built by the Gren family in the fifteenth century. In 1537, the Gren family sold the castle to the Queen Consort, Margaret Leijonhufvud (1516–1551). In 1540, her husband, King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

, traded the castle to Ekolsund Castle and Tidö came to the Tott family. Today, minor ruins of the former house can be found next to the present building.

The present castle

The present castle at Tidö was built by the influential statesman and Lord High Chancellor

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (; 1583–1654) was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of ...

in 1625–1645. The castle was built around a rectangular courtyard with the main building to the north and the three linked wings to the east, west and south. The main entrance is through a vault in the south wing. In 1889, the von Schinkel family bought Tidö and they still own it today. Tidö is one of Sweden's best preserved

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

palaces, in the

Dutch Renaissance The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders). Culture in the Low ...

style. In 1974, the toy collector Carl-David von Schinkel opened a toy museum at Tidö, with a large collection of historical toys, including toys formerly owned by the royal family. After a merger with the Seriemuseet collection in 2010, when the museum was moved out of the castle to the adjacent stables, the museum operated as ''Tidö leksaks- och seriemuseum''. The entire collection moved to

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 ...

in 2017 and today forms the core of the museum '' Bergrummet – Tidö collection of toys and comics'' on

Skeppsholmen Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. It is accessible by foot from Kungsträdgården, past the Grand Hôtel and Nationalmuseum, by bus number 65, or by boat from Slusse ...

in Stockholm. Following the

2022 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 11 September 2022 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag who in turn elected the Prime Minister of Sweden. Under the constitution, regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The pr ...

the leaders of the 4 right wing parties,

Ebba Busch Ebba-Elisabeth Busch (, formerly Busch Thor; born 11 February 1987) is a Swedish politician, serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Minister for Energy (Sweden), Minister for Energy and the Minister for Business and Industry (Sweden), M ...

from the

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

Johan Pehrson Carl Johan Georg Pehrson (born 8 May 1968) is a Swedish politician who has been leader of the Liberal Party since 8 April 2022, a Member of Parliament since 2018, representing Örebro County, and Minister for Education since September 2024. He ...

from the Liberals,

Ulf Kristersson Ulf Hjalmar Kristersson (; born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Sweden, prime minister of Sweden since 2022. He has been the leader of the Moderate Party (M) since 2017 and a Member of Parliamen ...

from the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

, and

Jimmie Åkesson Per Jimmie Åkesson (; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician and author, serving as leader of the Sweden Democrats since 2005. He has been a member of the Riksdag (SD) for Jönköping County (Riksdag constituency), Jönköping County since ...

from the

Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...

gathered at the castle to negotiate the Tidö Agreement. This agreement allowed Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson to form a center right government with the Christian Democrats and Liberals, supported by the Sweden Democrats.

References

External links

Tidö Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tido Castle Houses completed in 1645 Castles in Västmanland County Västmanland Museums in Västmanland County Toy museums Historic house museums in Sweden 1645 establishments in Sweden Västerås Municipality 17th-century establishments in Västmanland County

History

The former castle

The present castle

See also

References

External links