Gustavus Adolphus Day ( sv, Gustav Adolfsdagen; fi, Kustaa Aadolfin päivä; et, Gustav Adolfi päev) is celebrated in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia on 6 November in memory of King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

. Observing the day became popular after the 200th anniversary of the king's death in 1632. It is a general flag flying day in Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. Today it is mainly connected with the consumption of Gustavus Adolphus pastries.

Date

According to the Gregorian calendar, the king died on 16 November, but the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...

("old style") was still used in Protestant Sweden at the time and that date – 6 November – is still used.

History

Gustavus Adolphus Day is celebrated in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia on 6 November in memory of King

, who was killed on that date (

old style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

) in 1632 at the Battle of Lützen in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

. The day is named for the king and is a general flag flying day in Sweden and in Finland. The day has been celebrated since the early 19th century and became especially popular after the 200th anniversary celebration in 1832, of the king's death. The day was formerly celebrated with torchlight processions and patriotic speeches. Today what remains is mainly the consumption of the Gustavus Adolphus pastry (''Gustav Adolfsbakelse'' in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) on this day, with a chocolate or

marzipan Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imit ...

relief of that king on top. In Sweden, the day is especially observed in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, which was founded by the king, but also in cities with old educational traditions, such as

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the ca ...

, where he donated considerable funding to the university, and in cities where the military traditionally has been based. The day has been celebrated in Finland since 1908 by the Swedish speakers as ''Svenska dagen'',

Finnish Swedish Heritage Day , fi, Ruotsalaisuuden päivä , nickname = , observedby = Finland , litcolor = , longtype = , significance = Date on which King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was killed at the Battle of Lützen (1632) , begins = , ends ...

. In

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

, which like Finland was a part of Sweden during the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, the day is known as ''Gustav Adolfi päev''. In all three countries, 6 November is the

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

for Gustav Adolf, Gustavus Adolphus' name in Swedish, or Kustaa Aadolf, the name in Finnish. Sjättenovembervägen ("Sixth November Road"), a part of the old Göta highway in the Stockholm borough of

Älvsjö Älvsjö () is a district of the city of Stockholm Municipality in Sweden, located in the borough Älvsjö in Söderort. It has the biggest rentable facility in northern Europe called Stockholm International Fairs, and also the hotel Scandic T ...

, is named for this day. According to the 1924 street naming committee, the road was the entry point into Stockholm for the king's funeral procession.

References

Nationalencyklopedin ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 1 ...

, Gustav Adolfsdagen. Nationalencyklopedin, Gustav II Adolf. {{cite web, url=http://www.vardsvenska.fi/se/about-finland/culture-in-finland/namedays/finnish-namedays, publisher=Vardsvenska, title=Finnish namedays, accessdate=20 February 2014

External links

In Memory of a Great Man, Spokane Daily Chronicle, 4 November 1901
Swedes in the US celebrating Gustavus Adolphus Day, 1909 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden November observances Swedish culture Society of Sweden Lutheranism in Sweden Finnish flag flying days Swedish flag flying days Autumn events in Sweden