Uppåt till Uppsala (Upwards to Uppsala)

Uppsala

On one of our days in Sweden we journeyed to the small town of Uppsala. Because of the excellent public transportation, the less than an hour train trip was comfortable and interesting. The countryside, viewed through the train window, was lovely; the seats were comfortable and there was free WiFi – what could be better?













Uppsala was originally located a few miles north of its current location at a place now known as Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala). Today's Uppsala

River Fyris

was the pagan center of Sweden, and the Temple at Uppsala contained amazing idols of the Norse gods. And it was on this spot that in 1160, King Erik Jedvardsson was attacked and killed. He later became venerated as a saint, Erik the Holy, in the Catholic Church. Uppsala Cathedral was inaugurated in 1435 and the archbishopric and the relics of Saint Erik were moved there; these relics are still housed in the cathedral. Recent scientific examination of the relics has given insights into the life of this king and saint.



Uppsala is also the location of the oldest university in Scandinavia,

Top L to R: Curiosity Cabinet, Funerary statue,
Anatomical Theater
Bottom: Botany book used by Linneas

founded in 1477. The city and the university were home to Carl Linnaeus, the botanist, physician and zoologist, who formalized binomial nomenclature. Uppsala University, like most early institutes of higher education, grew out of an ecclesiastical center. Christianity first spread to this region in the ninth century and the archbishopric of Uppsala was one of the most important sees in Sweden. The university had the right to teach the four traditional topics of theology, law (Canon Law and Roman law), medicine, and philosophy; it could also award the bachelor's, master's, licentiate, and doctoral degrees. While there were rather good sized classes in law, medicine and philosophy, there was a smaller student population in theology since this was a Catholic sponsored university. At the end of the 16^th century the situation had changed, and Uppsala became a bastion of Lutheranism. This change was used by Duke Charles, the third son of Gustavus Vasa (King of Sweden from 1523 until 1560), to consolidate his power so that he eventually became King Charles IX. Under King Charles the university grew and continued to expand the curriculum. In 1600, Johannes Bureus, an antiquarian and mystic designed and engraved the seal of the university. I find this interesting since the university was so closely controlled by Lutheranism – why was a seal designed by a mystic? The university continued to rock along until the 19^th Century when women’s rights became an issue. In 1865 Carl Johan Svensén made a motion to allow women to study at universities. Of course, this upset many folks, but most of the opposition was from the clergy. In 1870 women were allowed to take the secondary school examination that gave them the right to enter universities and the right to study and complete degrees in Medicine. However, they were restricted in their vocation to private practice (no hospital rights). Eventually women were allowed to pursue degrees in all subject areas, although they were restricted from working in some areas until well into the 20^th century. Famous scientists (notice there are no women in this group) from Uppsala include Anders Celsius (1701–1744), inventor of the Celsius scale, Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779 – 1848), one of the fathers of modern chemistry, and physicist Anders Jonas Ångström (1814–1874). Surprisingly, Alfred Nobel was not an alumnus of any Swedish university; however, he chose to have the Nobel Prize presented in Stockholm.

As with many early cities, Uppsala was struck with disasters. One was the fire of 1702. The Uppsala Cathedral and Uppsala Castle were both

Top L to R: History tapestry, Chapel crypt
Bottom L to R: Stained glass, Odd statue

eventually restored. Uppsala Cathedral is located between the Uppsala University Main Building and the River Fyris. It is the seat of the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala, the primate of Sweden. The tallest church in the Nordic countries at 389 feet, parts of it date back to the late 13^th century. Several of its chapels have been converted to house the tombs of Swedish monarchs, including Gustav Vasa and John III. Carl Linnaeus, Olaus Rudbeck, Emanuel Swedenborg, and several archbishops are also buried here. Originally built under Roman Catholicism, the church was designed in the French Gothic style. The principal construction material is brick but the pillars and many details are of Gotland limestone. There is artwork in the funeral chapels and the medieval frescoes have been restored. It is quite a lovely church, but there is a weird statue that has nothing written about it.

Uppsala is a neat little town that I’d like to spend some more time exploring. I’m sure that there are lots of other things to see, and places to eat. For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews.

What we did:

Four carrots

Uppsala Cathedral (Domkyrkoplan, 753 10 Uppsala, Sweden, +46 18

Cathedral ceiling

430 35 00) is a beautiful building with a hefty history. Once inside, you may think that you’re in a Catholic church, and as far as architecture and decorations go, you are. Take a nice slow stroll through the church and into the chapels. The artwork is beautiful, but some of the statues are a bit creepy.

Gustavianum (Uppsala University, Museum Akademigatan 3 753 10 Uppsala, Sweden, +46 (0) 18-471 75 71), has Europe's third oldest

Museum displays

anatomical theater, the world's only complete preserved art cabinet, Viking swords, Egyptian mummies, and Celsius's own thermometer. The anatomical theater was built in 1662-63 by Olof Rudbeck. In an anatomical theater, students and a paying public could attend dissections and gain knowledge about how the human body worked. The women, once they were allowed in, were told to stand at the top of the theater and could not ask questions.

A note about traveling by train from Stockholm to wherever: We never did figure out how to get a round-trip ticket with an open return. Our tickets said that we were coming back as soon as we got where we were going rather than coming back later in the day. There didn’t seem to be a way to specify what time we were returning. This was not a problem if no one checked your return ticket; however, we did have one official fuss at us about not having the proper time on our ticket. Evidently you can be assessed a rather hefty fine.

Where we ate:

Three carrots

Sandy’s Kaffe and Matt (Vaksalagatan 7, Uppsala 753 20, Sweden, +46

L to R: Caesar salad, Logo

18 10 64 64) is a small, local coffee shop that also has sandwiches, hot plates, salads, and desserts. It’s a walk-up-and-order, then they bring the food. The folks behind the counter are pleasant and speak some English. They have no problem with letting you spend as long as you want sitting at a table or booth, talking, working on your computer, or reading. I had a rather nice chicken Caesar salad.

Streets of Uppsala

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