Kristinestad was playfully called “the Paris of the west coast”, because the merchant vessels and seamen brought with them new habits and ideas, that quickly gained footing in the city and later spread to the rest of the country.
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Maritime Museum of Kristinestad
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Kristinestad was playfully called “the Paris of the west coast”, because the merchant vessels and seamen brought with them new habits and ideas, that quickly gained footing in the city and lat ...
The Maritime Museum of Kristinestad features artefacts, photographs and stories connected to seafaring, sailing and local shipping activities. The incredible sea voyages of the past come to life in the diverse displays.
The main exhibition is situated on the attic floor of an Empire-style building next to the Market Square. The premises used to host the sailmaker’s workshop of the Wendelin shipping company. The visitor gets to explore seafaring life through the equipment and tools from old sailing ships, an old-style diving suit, ship portraits, photographs, sailor’s chests, and exotic items from faraway countries. The reconstructed interior of the vessel Ulrica, built for Otto Wendelin in 1854-55, shows a rather luxurious ship, where the captain’s cabin is decorated with columns and a coffered ceiling.Kristinestad is an old shipping company and maritime centre dating back to the 17th century. The shipyards built stately ships, which sailed the seas of the world, The first vessels were simple ‘skutas’, later brigs and ships for the North Sea and the Mediterranean voyages of the 18th century, and finally frigates and barque ships, for sailing the world’s oceans. The sea provided the inhabitants with a livelihood through fishing and indirectly through trade. Cotton from America, salt, tobacco and sugar were unloaded in the town harbour, and tar and timber loaded in.
The period from the 1840s to the 1870s was the golden age of sailing ships. During this time, Kristinestad also developed into an important shipyard and harbour town. Kristinestad was once the starting point of numerous sailing trips to the world. Advertising posters from the turn of the 20th century testify to the lively emigration to America, and artefacts tell of tragic shipwrecks.
In the museum’s ’Sea Warehouse’, located 600 metres southwards at Strandgatan 62, various types of boats are on display. The exhibition is worth a visit also for the detailed miniature models of Kristinestad, the shipyards, the tar yeard and and steamship pier.