The sea is history in Sweden's second city
A two-year journey by a replica of an 18th century merchant ship commemorates the trading history of Goteborg and China.
By SHARON MCDONNELL
Published October 16, 2005
GOTEBORG, Sweden - Images of the sea permeate much of Sweden's second-largest city. Reminders of its centuries as a trade center for merchant fleets are in a major church, the opera house and various restaurants. But the biggest municipal project undertaken in recent memory is something special:
After 10 years of effort by dozens of shipwrights, sailmakers and other specialists using traditional methods, a full-size replica of an 18th century merchant ship sailed Oct. 2 from here on a two-year voyage to China.
The objective is to celebrate the glory years when Goteborg's Swedish East India Co. enjoyed a near monopoly among European nations in trading with the Chinese. Ironically, the new vessel is a copy of one that sank in the harbor in 1745.
Financed by the city government and companies such as Volvo and SAS, the ship Gotheborg (a variation of the city's name) is a replica of the sunken vessel of the same name that was discovered in 1984 beneath the waters of Scandinavia's largest port. The old ship was studied by marine archaeologists.
That ship was typical of the merchant trade that made Goteborg rich: Its cargo after two years at sea was mainly silks, spices, porcelain and tea.
Building and sailing the replica is "an adventure that will display Swedish culture, trade and industry and make our nation visible and attractive in a new way," said Jorgen Gabrielson, managing director of the company that built the new ship.
Yearning to be well-knownIn a way, the expedition is an effort by Goteborg to get out from under the reputation of seductive Stockholm, Sweden's capital. Goteborg was founded in 1621 by the king, but a rule was that its governing council be composed of Dutch nationals, three Germans and two Scots - and only four Swedes.
Indeed, the first mayor was Dutch, and Dutch planners laid out the city, which accounts for Goteborg's many canals.
The City Museum, housed in the former offices of the Swedish East India Co., where imported goods were auctioned from 1762 on, offers a fascinating view of regional history. Back in 1731, the company's founders, who included a Scot, received a charter granting them a 15-year monopoly in Sweden on all trade "east of the Cape of Good Hope," which is the southwestern tip of Africa.
While East India companies in nations such as England, Holland and France focused on trade with India, Goteborg's merchants concentrated on China.
Imported items featuring the Chinese aesthetic were to influence Swedish design, arts and crafts, and even landscape gardening. Porcelain in blue-and-white and armorial patterns was highly prized by upper-class Swedes in the late 1700s, as were chinoiserie designs - still visible in many buildings in Goteborg and on display here in the museum.
But beyond the Chinese influence, it is the city's centuries-long dependence on the sea that is more widely seen now.
For instance, the Masthugg Church features images of a boat and dragon figures, like those that once fronted Viking vessels, on iron chandeliers.
The Opera House resembles a ship. Its interior has a seashell-shaped sculpture, a wooden boat shaped like a Chinese river boat, and a sculpture of Venus emerging from the sea.
But then, the Opera House is next to a marina. There, a four-masted ship serves as a hotel and restaurant, with a popular bar on its deck.
And a popular stop for food is named the Fish Church. While the exterior of this 1874 building slightly resembles a church, this is mainly a fresh-seafood market hall. The restaurant upstairs, Gabriel Fish and Seafood Bar, serves a seafood buffet that includes the sweet and tasty shrimp and crayfish from cold Swedish waters
This city could claim to be the gourmet capital of the country: Goteborg chefs have won Sweden's "Chef of the Year" award seven times in the past nine years.
Goteborg is also a gateway to fishing villages, beaches and islands off Sweden's west coast, and to its two biggest lakes.
- Sharon McDonnell if a freelance writer living in Brooklyn, N.Y.
IF YOU GOTHE SHIP: Workers used oak, pine and elm, created canvas sails and forged special tools to build the Gotheborg in the defunct style known as an East Indiaman.
The first stop of the voyage to China is scheduled to take place in less than three weeks at Cadiz, Spain. In the days of these sailing ships, wood, iron and copper would have been sold at Cadiz to buy silver.
Then, the vessel is to cross the Atlantic and call at Recife, Brazil, joining in New Year's celebrations.
The Gotheborg is to sail around the tip of South Africa, past western Australia and Indonesia, to call at Canton, China. There, a major celebration will honor the first of these vessels to appear there in nearly 200 years.
The ship will also call at Shanghai and then Singapore, Mauritius, the Azores Islands and England. The Gotheborg is not expected to return to its home city until September 2007.
To keep track of the ship's progress or to read more about it, go to www.soic.se For English, click on the British flag at the top of the screen.
GETTING THERE: Air service between the Tampa Bay area and Goteborg is available via connecting flights into London. Goteborg is about a two-hour flight from London, a one-hour flight from Stockholm or a three-hour drive from Copenhagen, Denmark.
EATING THERE: The restaurant named 28+ is a warren of whitewashed, grottolike rooms with vaulted ceilings in a cellar lit by candles. A typical dinner here is scallop soup, carpaccio of crayfish with pickled tomatoes and caviar cream, crayfish soup with peas and dill flower oil, and pan-fried monkfish with mushrooms and crayfish butter sauces.
Named after the percentage of butterfat in its renowned cheeses, the romantic 28+ has a cheese shop as well. Call 031-20-21-61. At Swea Hof, sensational appetizers include scallops with panko crumbs, beef carpaccio with mushrooms, a goat cheese crouton and pumpkin creme, and foie gras with pistachio nuts in a cardamom reduction. Try the fig and goat cheese bread. Call 031-720-40-40, or go to www.elite.se Click on the English flag, then "our hotels." Search for Goteborg - Elite Plaza Hotel, then click on "Restaurang and Bar." Swea Hof is in the Elite Plaza Hotel under a tall arcaded skylight with mosaic floors and a painted ceiling. A British-type pub in the basement of the hotel, the Bishop's Arms, serves a variety of beers.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Goteborg's city tourism site is at www.goteborg.com
West Sweden tourism is at www.west-sweden.com
The Swedish Travel & Tourism Council is at www.visit-sweden.com