Bergkvara Castle Ruin

Kronoberg · Sweden · Castle ruin

Six storeys and four corner towers rose out of the lake. In 1542 Nils Dacke came, negotiated – and burned the lot when the answer would not do.

Some ten kilometres west of Växjö, the councillor Arvid Trolle built a stone house in the 1470s without equal in Småland: six storeys tall with four corner towers, raised in the water at Bergkvara. It was one of the country's mightiest private fortresses. In 1542 the peasants of Småland rose under Nils Dacke against Gustav Vasa, and Dacke's forces besieged Bergkvara. First they negotiated. When the talks collapsed, the castle was burned. It was never properly repaired, decayed through the 1600s and stood a complete ruin by the 1700s. In the 1790s Count Arvid Erik Posse raised a new neoclassical main building alongside, and that still stands. Behind it the black remains of the walls rise from the shoreline – thick, empty and still soot-stained.

FAQ

Where is Bergkvara Castle Ruin located?

Bergkvara Castle Ruin is in Kronoberg, Sweden.