Lovön

Lovön is an island located in the Swedish lake Mälaren in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County. It was joined with Ekerö Municipality in 1952 after being its own municipality for quite some time. Lovöns biggest attraction is Drottningholm Palace and its many public gardens which was built on the island in 1580.

History

There is much known about the history of this rather small island. Due to its status today as a World Heritage Site, much research has gone into the history of the island. It is estimated that Lovön has been inhabited since around 25th century BC.

Stone Age

Traces of hunting and fishing camps have been found as far back as 2500 B.C. by archeologists on this island. Harpoons made of bone, stone tools, ceramic bowls and remains of huts are some artifacts that have been located and researched. It is also believed that these camps were seasonal quarters rather than year-round inhabitants. The island was at this point a set of broken up smaller islands, since the water level in the lake Mälaren was significantly higher then it is today.

Nordic Bronze Age

During this age permanent settlement began. Due to the water level dropping off more land was exposed and began to shape the smaller islands into a coherent landmass. New wetlands were created in the low lying areas, moist and fertile. Archeologists studies show a large amount of juniper and grass pollen - a sign that much of Lovön was open land for grazing by cattle. Archeologists have found smaller living quarters around the spot where the church is located today. 30 or so stone burial mounds have been found scattered throughout the island from this period. By studying bone materials found in these burial mounds it is established that only were put in burial mounds, and only one person per generation received this type of burial. This has been interpreted as the men being chieftains. Towards the end of the Bronze Age, pollen counts indicate spruce trees being abundant and growing in the open fields.

Iron Age

The waters of Mälaren receded again, new land masses were created. Combined with an increase in population, the island transformed in many ways. Families consisting of farmers were now the norm and the fertile lower lands were being tilled. Each core family would have their own set of fields, and also a family graveyard. The graveyard was placed on infertile lands. Because of this, much of the graves have been untouched until modern times. The graves says a lot about life and how people lived, worked and died together.

The pre-Christian tradition of burial was to create a funeral pyre that was set on fire. The remains were then gathered and covered with selected stones and then packed with dirt. Towards the very end of the Iron Age Christianity made its way into this region of Sweden, a region where the pagan ways were slow to die. Burials of converted pagans did not involve burning the body, but rather dressing it in a simple white dress and buried in the ground. The gravesite would be rectangular, mainly in an East-West direction and at times lined with stones. The introduction of Christianity on the island was a slow process.

Late Middle Ages and on

:"Drottningholm Palace has more information of the region for this time period"The family farms had combined into villages. Commonly 2 to 4 farms would combine together into a village. A name would be given, such as Norrby (North Village), Söderby (South Village) Rinkeby, Edeby and so on. Many of these village names are still used today. Part of the island now became royal property. The son of Gustav Vasa, Johan III, erected a stone house on the island in 1579. The same house that eventually would turn into Drottningholm Palace.

Today

There are approxiamately 1,000 permanent inhabitants on Lovönn. The major employer is the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment which has been located there since 1942. A large part of the island was designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1991 for the Drottningholm Palace and surrounding gardens. Many tourists visit the island, particularly in the summertime, to enjoy the palace and the gardens.

The Church

The oldest section of Lovös church (not to be confused with the castle church that belongs to Drottningholm Palace) has been dated back to the later part of the 12th century. One researcher, Berit Wallenberg claims it is as early as the 11th century. It is also believed that an even older church existed on this site, built in wood.

Church sermons are held in the church, normally once a month and for certain Christian holidays.

Interior

The sanctuary of the church was created around 1670. The architect is believed to be Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, who was working on Drottningholm Palace around this same time. Inside the church there are 30 gravestones. Several of them belonged to people employed at Drottningholm palace. The interior was renovated by the church in 2004.

Exterior

Five runestones were found around the church. The stones were made in the early 11th century. Revealed by the runestones are names of the local people, such as:
*Torgils
*Signiut
*Holmer
*Vig
*Tingfast
*Johan

The church is unusually small and narrow. It was extended to the east, first in the 13th century and then further extended to the east around the 17th century. Churches built during this time were built with a weapons room, a foyer where people going to church had to lay down their arms before entering the church itself. This weapons house was demolished in 1798, and an entry was made in the attached church towers west side.

References

* [http://www.ekeropastorat.nu/fors_lovo/lovo_ka/lovo_ka.htm Ekerö municipality, official church organisation website (In Swedish)]
* [http://www.lovohembygd.com/ Lovön local interest organisation (In Swedish)]
*cite book
publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell international
id=ISBN 91-22-00702-4
author=Bo Petre
language=Swedish
title=Arkeologiska undersökningar på Lovön. Del 1 - 4 ('Archeological investigations on Lovön. Part 1 through 4')
year=1982 & 1984