Stensund is a small residential area as well as a castle-like manor in Trosa Municipality in Södermanland County. It is an area famous for its coast and natural beauty. The settlement has around 270 inhabitants and it is just to the east of the town of Trosa.
A Short History of Stensund
Construction of Stensund Manor began in 1918 and was completed two years later in 1920. Its original owner was Emil Löfgren, a Swedish ship-owner and businessman, who was born in Oskarshamn in 1884. The name of the Manor was originally Ethelborg, after Emil’s wife Ethel.
A few owners later came Conrad Åhlberg in 1944, an enthusiast within the physical culture movement in Sweden. He remained the owner for about a year before Svenska Frisksportförbundet acquired Stensund. Svenska Frisksportförbundet is the main organization for the physical culture movement in Sweden and stands for physical health and temperance of alcoholic beverages. The Organization founded Stensunds Folkhögskola here in 1950. This is a Folk high school, an adult education center with different educational courses and programs.
Things to Do and See
There is a residential area nearby with mostly one-family homes, but that will probably not be your main target when visiting Stensund. Well, unless you know someone living there. Instead, it is most likely that you either go here to visit the school or to enjoy the surrounding nature.
Stensund Manor
Stensunds Slott, the manor house, was completed in 1919. This castle-like manor has since 1950 been the home to Stensunds Folkhögskola, an education center for adults. Its grounds include both a small beach as well as a small marina. Many more buildings for the school have been built after the opening of the school.
Stensund Nature Reserve
Just south of the manor is Stensund Nature Reserve. The reserve consists of a coastal landscape as well as a bit of the forested area inland. This nature reserve was established in 2018 and covers an area of 25 hectares. There are hiking trails for Sörmlandsleden through the reserve. Sörmlandsleden is a series of hiking routes within the province of Södermanland.
Ormen Friske Memorial
Ormen Friske was a replica of a Norwegian Viking ship that was built at Stensund in 1949. It was hit by a storm in the German Bight of the North Sea in 1950 and sank. All 15 seamen were lost to the sea. The circumstances around the sinking remain unclear. The island of Helgoland had been bombed by American bombers around the time of the sinking. There was, however, no proper investigation. Several months after the incident two messages in bottles appeared.
The first message in German said “Unser Shiff Ormen Friske strandet an Helgoland“, in English that means “Our ship Ormen Friske has been stranded at Helgoland“. The second note was in Swedish and said “Hjälp! Ormen Friske! Bombardemang!”. A request for help from Ormen Friske due to bombings. It is still today not clear if the notes are from the Viking ship or if they are just a bad joke.
At Stensund there is today a memorial for the men lost at sea. It consists of a stone with the name of the ship and the names of the 15 men that lost their lives.
How to Get to Stensund
- Flights: Stockholm Skavsta Airport (NYO) is 54 kilometers to the west.
- Car: Stensund is along countryside roads to the east of Trosa.
- Bus: Buses from Sörmlandstrafiken connect Stensund with the surrounding region.
The driving distance from 5 major Swedish cities, according to Google Maps:
- Stockholm – 75 kilometers (1 h 5 min)
- Gothenburg – 417 kilometers (4 h 35 min)
- Malmö – 561 kilometers (6 h 3 min)
- Linköping – 150 kilometers (1 h 45 min)
- Kiruna – 1306 kilometers (15 h 42 min)
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