Welcome to Älmhult and Linnébygden

Welcome to Älmhult and Linnébygden

Two of the world’s best ideas
come from Älmhult
Carl Linnaeus and Ingvar Kamprad are two world-famous
Smålanders with a number of things in common…
Both are renowned for their
creativity, commitment and
tenacity. Both had ideas that
attracted attention all over
the world. Both were born in
or in the vicinity of Älmhult.
The king of botany, Carl
Linnaeus (Carl von Linné),
is famous for his systematization
of the three kingdoms in
nature – the plant kingdom,
the animal kingdom and
the mineral kingdom. The
businessman Ingvar Kamprad
is famous for IKEA.

If you take a slightly closer
look, you will appreciate that
we are not dealing here with
individual ideas. If anything,
they are a series of insights
arrived at through experience
and the occasional mistake.
Carl Linnaeus had an idea
about order in the biological
world. Ingvar Kamprad’s
idea was about how to apply
shrewd logistics to offer home
furnishing products at such
low prices that the masses
can afford to buy them.
In Älmhult, you can follow
in Linnaeus’s steps in Råshult
and Stenbrohult. You can
shop at the world’s first
IKEA store. And you can
find accommodation to suit
your taste, interest or wallet.
A red Småland cottage or
a manor house, a hotel or a
camping site – Älmhult offers
you the choise.
Welcome to the district that
witnessed the birth of two
of the world’s best ideas.

Meet the most beautiful gems in Linnébygden
– Carl Linnaeus shows the way
Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) is known
as a botanist, researcher, teacher, scientist
and author. But he was also a committed
explorer who did not waver in the face of
hardships in his quest for new discoveries
in unfamiliar territories.
The signs were already
clear in his early childhood.
He accompanied his father
inquisitively as he sowed,
planted and harvested in the
family’s own kitchen garden.
Carl had a patch of his own,
but he soon began to ponder
over what lay beyond the
horizon.
The young Carl’s journeys of
discovery in his home district
are the foundation for what
is referred to today as Linnébygden,
a generic term for the
places where Carl Linnaeus
spent a large part of his
youth – Råshult, Stenbrohult,
Möckelsnäs, Taxås and Höö.

You do not have to be an
expert on Carl Linnaeus to
be interested in the environment
in which he grew up.
Carl not only had a nose for
plants, animals and minerals,
but he also had an eye for
the beauty of nature. Linnébygden
is among the most
beautiful locations that the
Småland landscape has to
offer.
The starting point for a tour
in Linnaeus’s footsteps is the
curate’s house in Råshult, the
place where he was born in
1707. Linnaeus spent the
first 18 months of his life
in Råshult before the family
moved to the neighbouring
vicarage in Stenbrohult.
Råshult today consists of
gardens, arable land and
meadows that are tended
in the 18 th century manner.
The small house in which
Linnaeus was born was
destroyed by fire in the 18 th
century and was replaced by
a similar small house a few
years later.
This building still exists
and has undergone extensive
renovation in anticipation
of the 300 th anniversary of
Linnaeus’s birth in 2007.

Stenbrohult church is beautifully
situated on the shore of
Lake Möckeln and looks over
to the Möckelsnäs isthmus on
the far side of the lake. The
surrounding broad-leaved
woodland in combination
with hay meadows and
pastureland gives an intimation
of the appearance of the
landscape when Linnaeus
was a child.
Taxås, on the way to
Möckelsnäs, is where diabase,
so-called black granite, was
once quarried. It is rich in
nutrients, which is one explanation
for the luxuriant
flora that attracted Linnaeus.
Taxås today is a popular
vantage point.
Möckelsnäs is a peninsula
in Lake Möckeln and is one
of the places that the young
Carl loved most. Möckelsnäs
Manor has a recently constructed
orangery and a
garden, both of which are
copies of designs dating from
Linnaeus’s time. The Krunan
nature reserve with its many
rare plants can also be found
in the vicinity.
Carl Linnaeus continued to be
an inquisitive explorer with
an inquiring mind throughout
his life and far beyond
Sweden’s borders. It was in
Älmhult, however, that he
gained his first inspiration.
Höö is a nature reserve on an
island in Lake Möckeln. The
island is undulating and is
covered with valuable hardwood
species with the occasional
magnificent juniper.
The Höö estate is in private
ownership, and the land here
is farmed according to old
methods of cultivation.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Hallaböke Wildmarksliv,
wilderness experience
Bejstorps Gård, nature and adventure camp
Ulvberga sport fishing
Göinge Hemslöjd handicrafts
Hallaryd local history centre
Hallaryd church
Hallarydsgården
Göteryd local history centre
Göteryd church
Resting place of
Mästertjuven Tullberg*
Juddhultsgraven, one of Sweden’s
largest passage graves
Emanuelskapellet chapel
– Holmseryd church
Delary industrial heritage site
Gustavsfors game fishing and
walking trail with ancient monuments
Gustavsfors and Gåaryd troll*
Pjätteryd local history centre
Pjätteryd church
Sams Camp and Viking settlements
Walking and cultural trail,
“På gårdagens stigar”
Sjöstugan bathing, camping
and youth hostel
Bokhult craft centre
Vita Korset
– Ingvar Kamprad’s birthplace
Älmhult church
IKEA area with the world’s
first IKEA store
Walking and cultural trail. “Skånerundan”,
start at Fågelvägen, Älmhult
and illuminated ski track
Ormakullagården, agricultural heritage
from a bygone age
Kulturhuset Blohmé with
a library and school museum
Stortorget
– Bronze statue of Linnaeus by Carl Eldh
– Torgbrunn well in stone and
aluminium by Tirgny Larsson
– Valvbron. Granite and water art
by Takashi Naraha
The old locomotive
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
“Stolen” – gigantic chair sculpture
by Kaj Engström and Arne Persson
Lönngården arts and crafts studio
Älmhult local history centre
and jogging track
Haganäs school swimming pool
and sports centre
Äskya golf course, 18 holes
Dragon’s treasure in Sånnaböke*
Linnés Råshult
– Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) birthplace
Cultural reservation with a vegetable garden,
herb garden, 18 th century flower meadows
and museum.
Stenbrohult church and
Linnaeus places of interest
Taxås nature reserve
Taxås cliff and Lake Möckeln*
Möckelsnäs area with the Kronan
nature reserve, manor house and
orangery & Carl von Linné Visitor Centre
Tångarne nature reserve
Höö nature reserve
Eneryda glass studio

27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
Lille Petter Johan’s cottage,
Haghult, Eneryda*
Virestad church
Virestad local history centre, Kajelund
Helge river – start of an 80 km
marked canoe trail
Baldershage dance palace, Häradsbäck
Härlunda church
Härlunda local history centre, Krampanäs
Siggaboda – Stensjönäs nature reserve
Gärdsle wolf’s lair*
Ingeborg in Mjärhult*
Bridegroom’s stone*
Per and Kerstin in Röckla*
Galgahallarna*
Vakö bog, nature reserve
*Places to visit in the district of legends (Sagobygden)
Some places of interest are not signposted and not open to the public,
and others have restricted opening times.
For further details, please see additional information material or contact
Älmhult Tourist Information Office by telephone on +46 (0)476-551 52
or visit www.almhult.se.

You will find
The First Wilderness
in Småland
It used to be said of Skåne, Sweden’s
southernmost province, that it was put
there to show the Swedes what the rest
of Europe looks like.
For anyone who approaches Älmhult
and Småland from the south, however,
the experience is precisely the opposite.
Our district has farmland and church
villages too, of course. But it is dominated
by the forests, watercourses and lakes
of the wilderness.

The First Wilderness offers
the opportunity to take full
advantage of the uniquely
Swedish right to roam. This
is a statutory right to be free
to move around essentially
at will in the forests and
countryside by exercising
care and good judgement.
The combination of the right
to roam and wilderness draws
many adventure-seekers to
Älmhult. People walk, fish
or cycle here. You can spend
time on the water, on our
many lakes, or paddle a
canoe on the River Helgeån.
When you have had enough
of the wilderness, you can
park your caravan or rent
a cottage at the nearest
camping site. If you are
keen to play a round of golf,
there is an 18-hole course
with a driving range, restaurant
and golf shop almost
in the middle of the town.
New adventures await you
the following day.
Canoeists on the River
Helgeån frequently stop
at Gustavsfors, a favourite
destination for both tourists
and local residents. The
stretch of water between
Gustavsfors and Fredriksfors
further downstream is also
the destination for many
anglers with their sights
set on game fish.

From ruined crofts and smallholdings
to successful enterprise
As you travel along the narrow,
winding roads in the Älmhult area,
you will pass prosperous farming villages
and barren, rocky nature by turns.
Here and there, you will catch
a glimpse of the remains of
long-abandoned crofts and
smallholdings, traces of a
long-standing and constant
struggle to make a living.
Smålanders have the reputation
of not giving up at the
first attempt. If they failed
to provide for themselves on
what life as a crofter had to
offer, they would look for
work in the stone quarries
or in the booming industrial
sector.
Many decided to emigrate
to America in the mid-19 th
century. To this day, there are
many strong links with the
Swedish areas of the USA.
Some of those who remained
managed to transform a
spare-time occupation into
a successful enterprise. Many
of the businesses in Älmhult
today can trace their roots
back to that time.
As you walk along one
of our waymarked walking
trails, you can study traces
of people’s toil and persistency
close at hand. Here and there,
you will come across the
foundations of a house,
a staircase or a wolf trap.
Or perhaps a tar pile or
a pitch boiling pit.

The further back in time
you look, the more difficult
it becomes to distinguish
between fact and fiction. In
the gloom of the dark forests,
real events were easily transformed
into myths and
legends.
Stories take on a new form,
and descriptions of who did
what are added and subtracted.
Myth becomes reality
and reality becomes myth.
Folk tales live on in Älmhult.
Stories of bloody exploits
and dragon’s treasures live
side-by-side with historical
facts. You will come across
these folk tales and legends
along the roads where you
see the sign “Sagobygden”,
the district of legends.
Follow the signs and
get to know Blodberget
at Åsnen or Galgahallarna
at Virestadssjön.
A good tip is to have your
camera with you at all times.
The chance of encountering
a restless spirit in our district
of legends is, in truth, quite
remote. But there are plenty
of elk, roe deer and wild
boar.

Stimulating “small-town shopping”
in the Älmhult area
Älmhult – “a rural idyll with an international
atmosphere”. Here you will find
local shops, department stores and craft
centres, but also companies that operate
on a global scale – and, of course, the
heart of the big world of IKEA.
Småland dialect is not the
only language spoken in
Älmhult. Languages from all
over the world can be heard
in the busy lunch restaurants
and cafés. The shops and
craft centres stock a wide and
familiar range of local products.
Take the opportunity
for some relaxing shopping,
both in a small-town environment
and out in the country.
Älmhult is international,
yet at the same time it is a
flourishing local commercial
centre. The large and the
small worlds come together
here, providing both stimulation
and relaxation.
Take a look at the shops
in Älmhult. Here you have
a face and a name, and you
will be welcomed accordingly.
Many of the shops are owned
and run by Älmhult residents
and are unique to the town.
You will find a different and
at times slightly broader
range than you might
otherwise expect.

If the mix between local
and international is a plus
point – then so is Älmhult’s
location, as there is much
within easy reach.
From your cottage or camp
site in Älmhult, you can take
exciting excursions. You can
visit Pippi Longstocking and
Emil at Astrid Lindgren’s
World, see the home of the
artist Sven Ljungberg in
Ljungby, follow in the footsteps
of Karl-Oskar and
Kristina in Vilhelm Moberg’s
émigré district, or experience
Glasriket (the Kingdom
of Crystal) and Möbelriket
(the Kingdom of Furniture)
in the interior of Småland.
Situated further south is the
Snapphanne district (freedom
fighters in their occupied
homeland) and Österlen in
Skåne. And to the east and
west you will reach the coast
and the sea in less than an
hour by car.

Surprising Älmhult
– international & close
Älmhult Tourist Information Office
Visitors’ address: Stortorget 1
Box 500, SE-343 23 Älmhult
Tel: +46 (0)476-551 52
Fax: +46 (0)476-552 00
e-mail: turist@almhult.se
www.almhult.se
Ä 0806/02GB