Keeping Medieval Time in Lund (Sweden)

The southern Swedish town of Lund buzzes with a bohemian university atmosphere that permeates its medieval streets. Packed into a few streets are an array of museums, a grand cathedral and a fine collection of preserved Swedish buildings from the past.

The spires of the grey monochromatic cathedral (built during Danish rule) tower above the town. The exterior of the cathedral is decorated with an array of dramatic carvings of grotesque animals and birds to help keep the evil spirits at bay.

Standing alone in the cathedral’s crypt is an eerie experience. The floor is covered in tombstones. In limited light, the spirits of its 900 years moodily wander among the thick stone pillars – the crypt seems unchanged since it was built. Two stories emanate from the crypt to add to its mystique. One tells of a proud but tiny archbishop Gunnarsson so chastened by his lack of height that he demanded that his effigy should be tall and dignified.

The other has a more traditional Norse flavour. A giant troll, named Finn, wandering past the site of the cathedral offered to build a church. The payment would be the priest's eyes and heart unless he could guess the troll's name. Alarmingly, the troll was powerful and an adept builder, quickly assembling the cathedral. With only the final pillar to set, the priest lay down in a field in an abject state of panic, fearing a loss of his eyesight, when the tuneful words of a troll-woman included the troll's name. He rushed back to the church and yelled Finn when the troll tried to pull a pillar out of the ground to knock over the cathedral. At that point Finn was turned to stone with his towering figure still in evidence in the crypt with empty eye sockets.

While the story is clearly fanciful (and the figure is likely to be Samson), I love the mix of pagan saga mixed with the history of this fine cathedral.

The interior of the cathedral is extremely plain but has a feeling of grandeur. However the undoubted highlight is a fascinating astronomical clock located near the entrance. Built in 1423 (though hidden in boxes in the cathedral vault for a number of centuries), the extraordinary mechanisms for the time slowly move a variety of dials and wheels that unveil a plethora of astronomical information from phases of the moon, the location of the astrological signs and the position of the sun at sunset.

The bottom of the clock shows a huge wheel, good till 2123 (unlike the Mayans, not everyone is finishing their calendars at 2012!!) that highlight the relevant saint day (with every day appears to be assigned to someone) and the various religious holidays and festivals (including those that vary from year to year). The clock is absorbing with many features being discovered the longer that you spend looking at its detail.

Twice a day the clock celebrates the striking of an hour as trumpeters raise their instruments and play a medieval hymn through the cathedral’s pipe organ while the Three Kings and their servants quickly bow and parade past Mary and a baby Jesus.

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Open Air and Nose Museums (Lund, Sweden)

Fresh from seeing the brooding Lund Cathedral and its stunning astronomical clock, a block east is a superb collection of historic Swedish buildings over two city blocks. Kulturen was the brainchild of Georg Karlin. On seeing the death of old farming practices through mechanisation and the gradual migration of people from the rural villages to the towns and cities in the late 1800s, Karlin made a determined effort to preserve the older Swedish culture.

The result is a collection of over 30 buildings in the world’s second oldest open-air museum and a superb extended half day wandering through the pleasant virtual town of Kulturen (the map is courtesy Kulturen and like all photos can be clicked to enlarge). With the traditional class structure of the time, Karlin collected a mix of characteristic buildings, tools, clothing, furniture and artefacts representing everything from the aristocratic and religious to the burghers and peasants.

In a short stroll, a professor’s elegant house and merchant’s quarters both sit near a crofter’s turf-roofed cottage (top photo), a dean’s residence (photo) and church are only a short walk from a clog maker’s workshop. Most buildings are open inviting people to wander freely seeing the fittings and living conditions and tell their human story.

Several buildings contain fine displays and exhibitions on topics as diverse as the weights and measures of the day, fishing techniques, underwear through the ages, cultivating tools, glassware and ceramics. Various live demonstrations keep dying skills alive.

In the centre are beautifully manicured gardens also representing different ages from Viking rune stones and a medieval fragrant medicinal herb garden to sculptured French style gardens and a hedge maze.

Unsurprisingly as a town with one of the world’s most prestigious universities (and a cathedral school dating from 1085), Lund is full of museums. The most surprising collection, found within the university is the Nose Museum or Nasoteket. Yes, an entire collection dedicated to that esteemed central facial feature! Not documented in any of Lund’s tourist brochures, I lucked in to a visit with a student I met in a bar (but had no camera with me). The university collection includes over 130 plaster cast noses displayed with mirrors so that you can see the nose in profile and front-on. The collection is managed by the Nasal committee (I kid you not!) and includes peer-reviewed academic works on various attributes of noses (one article was about the nose in heraldry) and their place in history.

The science (and I use that term a little flippantly in this case) of casting noses started centuries ago to help reconstruct broken marble elements of ancient Roman and Greek statues that often lost their protruding parts over centuries of wear.

Today, prospective nose models to join the august collection are anointed by the Nasal committee, typically for excellent service to Lund and are announced at a nasifieringstillfället, surprising the candidate. Most castings today are performed publicly with great fanfare. Those in the collection include notable figures such as astronomer Tycho Brahe, botanist Carl Linnaeus, former prime ministers, Sweden’s first female archbishop, authors, TV personalities and significant university people.

The Museum of Sketches (Skissernas Museum) is also highly recommended with a collection focussed on preliminary sketches and models of artworks. The museum endeavours to capture the creative process of the artist from the inception of an idea to the final product and includes four rooms covering Swedish art, Mexican art, international art and sculpture.

In the best traditions of the British university towns, Lund has a lively free spirited feeling with plenty to do for a couple of days - a chance to wander medieval streets, study a stunning astronomical clock, view a fine collection of historic Swedish buildings and enjoy an eccentric and unusual collection of noses.

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