Valåsen Manor ( sv, Valåsens herrgård, ) is a manor house at Valåsen och Labbsand. The manor is located in Karlskoga Municipality, Örebro County,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The current-standing manor house was built in the 18th century, but the history of the property is older. Valåsen Manor is one of Karlskoga's major historical buildings. The manor is associated with several Swedish writers including Selma Lagerlöf, Hjalmar Bergman, Erik Gustaf Geijer and

Sven Stolpe Sven Stolpe (24 August 1905, in Stockholm – 26 August 1996, in Filipstad) was a Swedish writer, translator, journalist, literary scholar and critic. His brother was Herman Stolpe. Sven Stolpe was active in Swedish literary and intellectual dis ...

Geography

Valåsen Manor is near the course of the River Valån, east of Lake Möckeln, uphill on a sloping site. It is bounded notionally by

Kilsbergen Kilsbergen is a low mountainous ridge that separates Närke from Värmland. It is the southernmost extension of the taiga in Scandinavia and shows a flora and fauna that are unusual for the latitude. There are several skiing and hiking facilitie ...

and Lake Angsjön, to the east.

History

Valåsen Works was acquired in the 1630s by Gerhard Ysing from Arvid Bengtsson. Valåsen was passed to Ysing's heir, Johan Ysing. In 1779, the manor was acquired by nobleman Bengt von Hofsten. There he created an English landscape garden. The manor was then passed to his heirs. For several generations the property was strongly associated with the Swedish noble family von Hofsten. Bengt von Hofsten died in 1826. The manor was therefore inherited by his son Erland von Hofsten, he resided in the manor for approximately 13 years. The manor was then inherited by his son Bengt Johan von Hofsten in 1839. The last member of the von Hofsten family to reside at Valåsen Manor was painter Hugo Olof von Hofsten, who in 1885 emigrated to the United States. Swedish reform pedagogue

Anna Whitlock Anna Whitlock (13June 185216June 1930) was a Swedish reform pedagogue, journalist, suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for th ...

was employed as

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

by Ironmaster von Hofsten at Valåsen Manor. In the 1880s, the owner had gone bankrupt and was therefore forced to auction the property.

20th century

C. J. Yngström resided in the manor at the beginning of the 20th century. It was then purchased by Ironmaster Ernst Kjellberg. He settled in the manor in 1913. In the mid 20th century, the manor was acquired by

and Karin von Euler-Chelpin. They resided at the manor, where they also gave birth to Lisette Schulman. Lisette became renown Swedish journalist

Alex Schulman Carl Magnus Alexander Schulman (born 17 February 1976 in Hemmesdynge) is a Swedish author, journalist, blogger and television and radio personality. His career started when he created the website Stureplan.se in 2005. The same year he had a reo ...

's mother. Sven Stolpe enjoyed living at Valåsen Manor since he embraced the building's history.

Cultural depictions

In 1925, Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf published novel ''

Charlotte Löwensköld ''Charlotte Löwensköld'' is a 1925 novel by the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf. It is the second installment in Lagerlöf's Ring trilogy, or ''The Ring of the Löwenskölds''. Thus it follows ''The Löwensköld Ring'' and is followed by '' Anna ...

'', in which she depicted Valåsen Manor.

References

Works cited

External links

Official website
* {{coord, 59.30959, 14.58632, format=dms, type:landmark_region:SE, display=title Buildings and structures in Karlskoga Municipality Manor houses in Sweden