Furusund

In Furusund's old customs station from 1811 is the newly restored Furusund Värdshus with a White Guide restaurant, hotel and conference facility. Not far from there lies the guest harbour with a café in the sea pavilion. Do join a historical Strindberg walk, and don't miss Furusund's ceramics in the Manor Villa. Furusund has given its name to the shipping channel that for centuries has been used by seafarers heading east. Even today the Furusund channel is busily used by large cruise ships, Finland ferries and leisure boats. Furusund is visible from miles away from both north and south - the island lies where the shipping channel passes through a narrow sound. The Furusund channel is first mentioned in writing in the 1200s. In 1463 the union king Christian I moored here with his war fleet on the way to Finland on a crusade. As a memory of the visit, he had a compass rose carved into the rock. It is the Nordic region's oldest and the only one with a royal star. The compass rose can still be admired today. An inn and harbour tavern were built in the 1600s. The tavern was burned by the Russians in 1719 but was rebuilt. In the 1700s Gustav III had one of the country's largest crown distilleries built on Furusund. In the 1800s Furusund became known as a bathing and health resort - even outside Sweden. The first steamboats - Najaden and Roslagen - came here and the resort grew. In 1882 the immensely wealthy court jeweller Christian Hammer bought Furusund at auction for 70,000 kronor and transformed the island into a summer paradise in Art Nouveau style. Hammer was also a theatre director, director and actor. Here he rebuilt the Hammer Barn (the Smaller Theatre) from Kungsträdgården in Stockholm and continued here with theatre performances. The barn is still used for theatre and can also be hired for private functions. With its bathhouses, picturesque villas with romantic names, beautiful promenades, tennis courts and skittle alleys, Furusund attracted high society and royalty as well as artists and authors. There is a festivity hall with a giant veranda where music is played every day. Parties and theatre performances follow one another. August Strindberg came to Furusund in the summer of 1899. Here he also spent some time with Harriet Bosse in the villa Isola Bella. Not infrequently, the island and the people here are models for characters in his works. Other cultural personalities who enjoyed Furusund are Albert Engström, Anders Zorn, Evert Taube, Carl Larsson and not least Astrid Lindgren, who had her summer house here. With the world wars and various owners, the stately resort at times fell into decay. During the Second World War, Furusund was a quarantine for war refugees, mainly Estonians who had made their way here by boat. In 1950 the large restaurant burned down. That was the start of the inn business in the old customs house. With the building of the bridge in 1953, Furusund was connected to the mainland, the resort expanded and the summer guests moved in. Timetables and more information – Waxholmsbolaget