Berga is partly an estate and partly an associated castle in

Västerhaninge Västerhaninge () is a locality situated in Haninge Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. It had 15,134 inhabitants in 2010. It is connected to Stockholm by commuter rail. Västerhaninge borders the large Hanveden forest to the north, the Jord ...

socken Socken ( or ) is the name used for a part of a counties of Sweden, county in Sweden. In Denmark, similar areas are known as , in Norway or and in Finland or . A is a rural area formed around a church, typically in the Middle Ages. A socken ...

Haninge Municipality Haninge Municipality () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Handen, a part of the Stockholm urban area. Haninge Municipality was formed in 1971 when ''Västerhaninge'' and ''Österhaninge'' wer ...

, in

Södertörn Södertörn is a roughly triangular peninsula and artificial island in eastern Södermanland, Sweden, with an area of 1,207 km² and is bordered by: *Lake Mälaren, the Hammarby Canal and the inlet of Saltsjön (a part of the Baltic Sea) t ...

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

and in Stockholm County, Sweden.

Berga village

Originally Berga was a village with ancient ancestry. Burial cairns from the Bronze Age and the

Late Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

can be found on the mountains to the west and within the open landscape to the east and south there are several grave fields from the Early Iron Age, as well as cup marks and remains after now disappeared ''torp''s and farms that have been in use since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Berga is mentioned in writing for the first time in 1401 as "Dygraberghom", then "Berghom" in 1437. The village comprised in 1554-1573 four mantal of tax and one church homestead. The latter was located at the village of Fors, where

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

Sö 237 stands at the edge along the farm entrance.

Berga seat farm

The first known owners of the farm that would become Berga

seat farm In Scandinavia, a seat farm or manor farm (; Norwegian language, Norwegian /; or ; ) was a farm where a nobility, nobleman had his permanent residence. They were found in the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, and ...

was a Gierss in 1669, Ulfsparre in 1670 and Ehrenhjelm in 1686. Then the farm came to Törnflycht, in the 1700s again to Ehrenhjelm in 1722, Colling in 1735, Flach in 1740, Aulævill in 1772, then to the ''kommerseråd'' (official in the National Board of Trade) Ljunggren, managing director Zethelius and merchant A. Tydén. During the 1850s, the estate consisted of 2 mantal seat farm, with 5 subordinates, a mill and sawmill. During the 1880s the estate consisted of Berga 5 mantal, Dalby 1, Kapp Ekeby 2, Fors 1, Ormesta 1, Fors mill and sawmill. Later owners owned the island of Vitsgarn in

Muskö Muskö is an island in the southern part of Stockholm archipelago, which forms part of Haninge Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. It is best known for the Muskö Naval Base. There are also two urban areas (''tätort'') on the island: Muskö ...

located outside Berga. In 1921, the Berga Agricultural School (''Berga lantbruksskola'') was founded at the mansion and its facilities, which today is Berga Land Management School (''Berga naturbruksgymnasium''). In 1944, the Swedish state acquired Berga seat farm, after which the naval school at

Skeppsholmen Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. It is accessible by foot from Kungsträdgården, past the Grand Hôtel and Nationalmuseum, by bus number 65, or by boat from Slusse ...

in Stockholm was relocated to Berga. The area included a beach strip that stretched from Vitså harbor to Näringsberg, which was divided into a naval port and naval schools. In addition to the beach strip, there was also a part of the area where Berga Agricultural School was located.

Berga Castle

Berga Castle with associated buildings was built in 1913-15 by industrialist and art patron Helge Axelsson Johnson (1878–1941) according to drawings by architect

Torben Grut Torben Grut (2 June 1871 - 24 December 1945) was a Swedish architect. Biography Torben Andreas Grut was born at Tuns parish in Skaraborg County, Sweden. Grut studied at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. From 1894, Grut was e ...

(1871–1945). The two-storey building is built of red brick and rests on a pedestal of granite. It is equipped with a säteri roof and has two towered wings towards the courtyard side. During Helge Axelsson Johnson's ownership there was a large hunting ground at Berga with, among other things, wisents. These animals were later transferred to his private facility in

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

. Other animals included in the park were deer, roe deer, European badgers, foxes, hares and a variety of bird species. In the autumn it was traditional moose hunting and King

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

and his company occupied their own wing at Berga. Thus Helge Axelsson Johnson became '' hovjägmästare'' and the building was upgraded to a castle. Helge Axelsson Johnson was a board member of family-controlled investment company

Nordstjernan Nordstjernan () is a Swedish investment company. Nordstjernan is a fourth-generation family company controlled by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. The origin is the shipping company Nordstjernan, which was founded in 1890. Hist ...

. He was also a great art lover and collected works at the castle by notable artists including

Anders Zorn Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish artist who attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. His portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three President of the Un ...

Bruno Liljefors Bruno Andreas Liljefors (; 14 May 1860 – 18 December 1939) was a Swedish artist. He is perhaps best known for his nature and animal motifs, especially with dramatic situations. He was the most important and probably most influential Swedish wi ...

, Carl Eldh. When Helge Axelsson Johnson died in 1941, in accordance with his will, his entire estate was sold and most, except for a few grants for various charitable purposes formed a foundation, the Helge Helge Axelsson Johnson Foundation (''Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse''), which issues grants annually for cultural purposes. In 1944, Berga was sold to the Swedish state for 2.6 million, and the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

gained access to sought-after land adjacent to Hårsfjärden, while the Swedish Forest Service (''Domänverket'') took over the agricultural lands and Berga property. During the last years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and after, the area was expanded for military purposes and in 1946 the Swedish Navy Non-Commissioned Officers’ School started here. During all the years in the hands of the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

, the castle has been used for practical purposes, staffs, school management and in recent years also a naval command. Even today there is an office room with a view of Hårsfjärden at the disposal of the Chief of Navy.

Gallery

Berga slott - KMB - 16001000030284.jpg Berga slott - KMB - 16001000030317.jpg Berga slott - KMB - 16001000030309.jpg Berga slott - KMB - 16001000030323.jpg Berga slott - KMB - 16001000030307.jpg

References

External links