Lönneberga was made famous by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren when she made it the home of Emil, the boy with the many pranks. He did, however, not live in the small settlement, but rather at a farm within the parish. This settlement has developed along the railway and is seperated by a few kilomters from the church that was the center of the parish with the same name. It lies within what is today Hultsfreds Municipality in Kalmar County and has a population of around 130 inhabitants.
A Short History of Lönneberga
The railway was built here in the 1870’s through what at the time was mostly uninhabited fields. A settlement soon began to develop in the vicinity of the new railway station. The settlement was originally known as Lönneberga Station, but the latter part did eventually disappear. The settlement has had a declining population since at least the 1960’s and the train line that stopped here was decommissioned in 2014.
Things to Do and See
Lönneberga consists mostly of one-family homes along the main road and the railway. The sculpture of Emil is the only link to the books by Astrid Lindgren that you will find within the settlement, but there are more in the surrounding area.
Emil and His “Snickerbo”
A sculpture of Emil stands at a rest stop in Lönneberga. Here he sits inside his small “Snickerbo”, the toolshed. The sculpture was completed in 1998 and was made by the artist Torbjörn Berg, the son of Björn Berg who made the illustrations in the books about Emil.
Ålunds Mekaniska Verkstad
Ålunds Mekaniska Verkstad is part of the area’s industrial heritage. The company Dunberg, Pettersson & Co initiated production here in 1900. Carl Oskar Pettersson took over the company in 1905. From 1905 until 1920 he together with his sons built engines here. Since then it has seen a quite diverse production and is since 1992 owned by the local heritage society. It is today in many ways an open-air museum showcasing the small-scale industrial history of the area.
How to Get to Lönneberga
- Flights: The nearest airport is Småland Airport (VXO) in Växjö, which is 118 kilometers to the southwest.
- Car: Lönneberga is on Road 129 between Hultsfred and Mariannelund.
- Bus: Buses from Kalmar Länstrafik connect Länneberga with the surrounding region.
The driving distance from 5 major Swedish cities, according to Google Maps:
- Stockholm – 319 kilometers (3 h 30 min)
- Gothenburg – 255 kilometers (3 h)
- Malmö – 309 kilometers (3 h 40 min)
- Linköping – 117 kilometers (1 h 40 min)
- Kiruna – 1550 kilometers (17 h)
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