The Sancta Birgitta Klostermuseum is a historical museum with an emphasis on the Middle Ages and the cultural heritage left by St Birgitta. The museum is located in the building where many of our stories take place, tarting in the palace that Birger Jarl had built for his son Valdemar in the 1260s.
The feasts of the knight's age are turned into the monastic life of Birgittaorden It is a rich story that takes us on a journey through time, through war invalides home, mental hospitals and now a museum.
Opening times 2024/25
5 October - 21 December: Saturdays 11-17.
Christmas bank holidays 26–29 December and 2–5 January: Daily 11-17.
11-25 January: Saturdays 11-17.
Guided theme tour (in swedish) on all open days 12 and 15.
Guided tours
Guided theme tour on all open days 12 and 15.
The museum's knowledgeable guides will take you on a journey through Swedish history from Birger Jarl's 13th century to Swedish women's suffrage and all the way to how St Birgitta can inspire us today.
Themed tours can be booked in Salver, and if space is available, tickets can be purchased at the museum shortly before the tour.
The museum is open for booking all year round.
Admission museum
Adults (low season): 80 SEK.
Adults (high season 1 June - 25 August): 100 SEK.
Children and teens (up to 17): free
Admission museum and guided theme tour
Adults (low season): 130 SEK.
Adults (high season 1 June - 25 August): 150 SEK.
Children and teens (8-17): 50 SEK.
Contact
+46-143-100 31
From royal palace to heritage
Join us on a journey through time from the early Middle Ages to the present day. The comprehensive tour tells the
entire history of the museum building, starting with the palace that Birger Jarl's son King Valdemar had built in
the mid-13th century. It was a centre of power with a lively court life and political meetings.
Birgitta Birgersdotter came here to teach Queen Blanka about Swedish culture. The palace was transformed into
Birgitta's convent and then into a warrior's house, then a hospital and now a historical museum. Fabulous events
have taken place here, making it a unique national and international cultural heritage site.
Dates and times: No tours planned in 2024.
Vadstena Castle was built 1545-55 originally as a fortress by King Gustav Vasa to protect the country from possible Danish and Smålandish attacks. Soon after, reconstruction into a habitable castle began, when prince Magnus became Duke of Östergötland. By 1620, Vadstena castle was completed and is today regarded as one of Sweden’s best-preserved Renaissance castles.
Visitors can enjoy the castle alone or take one of the exciting guided tours.
1 May–23 June: Daily 12.00-16.00
Guided tour saturday and sunday 14.00.
24-30 June: Daily 10.00–17.00
Guided tour daily 14.00.
1-5 July: Daily 10.00–17.00
Daily guided tours.
6-7 July: Medieval Days
8 July – 4 August: Daily 10.00–17.00
Daily guided tours.
5–31 August: Daily 12.00–16.00
Guided tour saturday and sunday 14.00.
1-29 September: Daily 12.00–16.00
Guided tour saturday 14.00.
Opening times 2024/25
4–24 November: Wednesday-Saturday 12–16
Guided tour saturdays 14.00
26 December – 12 January: Daily 12-16
Guided tour saturdays 14.00
Daily Christmas holiday activity for children.
Admission:
Adults 110 kr
Pensioners & Students (ID required): 100 kr
Children (7 - 17) 80kr
Children under 7 free
With the Kulturarvscard (Culture Heritage card) you pay half the admission price.
Other prices apply for entry with guided tours.
Contact
+46-143-62 16 00
At the Archives, you can explore a vast collection of written material and get help with information. You can also experience special exhibitions, listen to lectures or go on a guided tour. The regional archives have been in Vadstena since 1899. They contain detailed information about births, marriages, deaths, title deeds, crime registers and maps. Our largest archive is of Göta court proceedings, which occupies 5,5 km of shelving. Many private archives have also ended up in the Archive, for example from castles, farms, businesses and associations.
The regional archive is located in Vadstena castle. All the regional archives, with minor exceptions, are available for research. Exceptions include sensitive information, and the secrecy act. In addition, there are some individual archives, where the depositor has special conditions for archival access.
Opening times
Monday: 10.00 – 16.00
Tuesday: 10.00 – 19.00
Wednesday: 10.00 – 16.00
Thursday: 10.00 – 16.00
Friday: Closed
Summer Opening times (June-August)
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10.00 – 16.00
Wednesday: 10.00 – 16.00
Thursday: 10.00 – 16.00
Friday: Closed
The 150th anniversary of Sweden's oldest narrow-gauge railway in operation will be celebrated on 13/14 July with a special programme.
Welcome to Vadstena and the Wadstena-Fogelsta Railway.
The Wadstena-Fogelsta Railway (WFJ) opened in October 1874. WFJ was one of the two first narrow-gauge lines in Östergötland. The 9.6 km long track was funded by Vadstena town and was built to provide access to the standard-gauge lines and privately owned Hallsberg-Motala-Mjölby railway, which was inaugurated one year previously in 1873. Today, visitors can ride vintage trains from Vadstena station during the summer months, lasting 20-25 minutes.
Timetable 2024
The season starts national day 6 June with museum train services to Folkets Park.
Thursday 6 June
Departure 12, 13, 14.
Saturdays 22 June - 17 August
Departure 12, 13, 14, 15.
Sundays 23 June - 18 August
Departure 12, 13, 14, 15.
Wednesdays 26 June - 21 August
Departure 17, 18, 19, 20.
Departure from Folkets Park ca. 15 min after departure from Vadstena station.
Special timetables apply on 6 June, 10 July, 13-14 July (150 years WFJ) and 7-8 September
(Höstens Östgötadagar). See Homepage.
www.wfj.se - Timetable -
In 2022, a new and very interesting exhibition about 19th century Vadstena opened. The exhibition "A half-sized small town" takes us back to 19th century Vadstena where we meet both (sometimes disappointed) visitors and the entertainment life of the time. In the newly decorated salon, the memory of the Holm family lives on and the drawings of Mayor Öhrström have, as always, a prominent place.
Opening times 2024
Daily 22 June - 15 August 13.00 - 16.00: Free admission!
Opening times 2024
The museum is mainly open during the summer, but is open for special events. Free admission!
Extra opening times and group tours can be arranged on agreement.
Contact or ring +46-10-476 87 31.
The hospital museum is in the so called "Stora Dårhuset" ("Madhouse") from 1757, in the centre of Vadstenas old hospital complex. The museum and outlines the development of mental healthcare techniques throughout the centuries - from Mårten Skinnare’s Hospital to the modern Birgitta Hospital.
Mårten Skinnare’s house belongs to the Old Hospital and is a medieval house with many interesting details.
Opening times
Due to fire safety work that makes the second floor of the hospital museum inaccessible, the museum will not be
able to open for self-guided visits.
The Sculpture Museum shows Östergötland-born Gottfrid Larsson’s (1875-1947) art. After studying in Stockholm, he was based in Paris for ten years at the beginning of the 1900's. On his return to Sweden he ran an art school in Stockholm between 1920-1932, together with Edward Berggren. The museum opened in Vadstena after his death and shows drawings, sketches and original artwork – all of which were in his studio at the time of his death. This includes emblematic works "The darkness flees the light" from the turn of the century extending to his later years of realistic portraits of both Östergötland residents and others. His official artwork can be found in Vadstena, Linköping, Norrköping, Stockholm and Uppsala. Gottfrid Larsson was a central figure in Östergötlands artlife until his death and is Vadstena’s most internationally known sculptor. In 1921 he was one of the founders of Östergötlands Art Association.
Opening times
The opening hours of the Lace Museum apply.
Admission: Free
Viewings
Enquiries regarding viewing can be sent to Göran Söderström, Vadstena, or Stefan Hammenbeck, Linköping.
In Vadstena and the surrounding area there is a tradition of making lace that goes back at least the 1600's.
The Lace Museum presents both lace-works and the people behind the handicraft like pricking-makers, lacemakers, dealers, travelling salesmen and toolmakers.
Further examples of lace are on display in a museum section for innovatory laces.
Opening times 2024
Summer opening 26 June 19.00.
Then open every day during the summer 13.00 - 17.00 until 18 August.
Admission: 20:- kr
Exhibition 2024
Anniversary exhibition 20 years Vadstena lace museum
Garden art
In the garden, bobbin lace works on the theme of Something in the air will be on display.
The Lace Museum (Spetsmuseet) is located in Gottfrid-Larsson-Gården.
Both the cottages were originally located on Backegatan’s south side and in the 1820's there was a simple pub operating in one of the cottages. In 1910 the shoe-maker Karl Pontus Petterson became owner to both cottages. In 1957 both the cottages moved to their current location.
Opening times
The Shoe-Maker's Cottages opens on agreement with the Foundation Gottfrid Larsson Gården.
Admission: Free
On the 1200 m² site around 90 tractors, 80 motorbikes and mopeds and a number of engines are on display.
The tractors are from the 1920's through to the 1960's. They were manufactured in Sweden, USA, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia and England and were used in Swedish agriculture.
Smaller stationary engines have been used in milk machines, wood cutting, mills and the larger ignition engines used in sawmills and seed mills.
The motorbikes and mopeds are from Sweden, Denmark, England, USA, Germany and Czechoslovakia. On display are road bikes, military bikes and racing bikes. The oldest motorbikes were manufactured in the 1920s. There are also mopeds from different eras.
Opening times 2024
Weeks 20-35: Saturday and Sunday 13-18
July: daily 13-18
Additional opening times on agreement.
Admission: 30 kr
Veteran Days
13/14 July 10-17
During the Veteran Days, tractors, motorbikes, engines, etc. as well a stone crusher will be on display in operation.
Hot beverages served and a large flea market!
The village of Hov was originally one of Östergötland’s largest villages with 15 to 20 farms. Skräddaregården (Skräddare's farm ) remains in the old village after the land reform of 1827. The site was built with a residential building and consists of a s.c. "parstuga" cottage from the 1700's, a brewery and a barn. Even though the farm was lived in to 1947, it has never been modernised. It is therefore of high cultural importance and was declared a monument in 2009.
Opening times 2024
Sunday 14 april: 14-16 Spring cleaning with open house and museum
Friday 21 June: 14-16 Midsummer with open house and museum
Admission: Free
The area at the foot of Omberg, which is designated "Borghamnsskolan building monument" in the government decision on the building monument declaration of 28 January 1993, is Vadstena municipality's largest and oldest building monument of an industrial nature. In addition to 22 buildings, the entire harbour, the Bocka cemetery with the pastureland and the dog graves at the entrance are also included in the monument.
The harbour and original harbour buildings were built by the Göta Canal Company. The appearance of the buildings today, however, is mostly characterised by Borghamn's time as the work station of the Crown Labour Corps (1842-1894).
The area is best known for the Lanthushållsskolan, or later Borghamn School, which began operations in 1923 and ended as an upper secondary school in 1997. Then a hostel business was established, and as of October 2018 "Borghamn Strand" is housed here.
Since 2023 the building monument is classified as a working life museum.
Travel back to the 60s and 70s! In the years 1961-1991 the long-wave transmitter of Orlunda was broadcasting the Swedish radio programme P1 covering parts of Northern Europe. Today the building functions as a museum. During the "Östgötadagar" we organize guided tours through the radiostation building and tell about how it was built and had been used.
Guided tours 2024
Saturday 18 May: 9-16, Guided tour every 20-30 minutes
Sunday 19 May: 9-16, Guided tour every 20-30 minutes
Saturday 8 September: 9-16, Guided tour every 20-30 minutes
Sunday 9 September 9-16, Guided tour every 20-30 minutes
Admission
100 SEK/adult, 50 SEK/child, free for children up to 5 years.
For adults and children aged 5-15 including coffee/drinks with snacks.
Cash or Swish.
Organizer
Erik and Lena Klasén
Contact
Lena Klasén, +46-70-5143 500
Location
Orlunda Radiostation
In the tithe barn next to Örberga church there is a small stone museum with a copy of an early Christian grave monument (Eskilstunakista).
Opening times
daily 9-18.
Admission: Free
One of Vadstena’s most unusual museums can be found in Borghamn - Lasse Söderberg’s Skateboard Museum.
The museum is connected to Media (second hand) market (medialoppis) in Borghamn and offers a mix of boards, wheels, shoes, helmets, knee pads, games and posters.
Opening times
Summer: thursday-sunday 12-17.
Other times:
By telephone arrangement under +46-70-777 4154.
Admission: Free
The museum can be found at Hovanäset next to Vättern beach just north of Borghamn. The museum is under construction
and contains, amongst other things:
- The stone industry in Borghamn
- A shoe maker's workshop
- Old appliances
- Apartments from the 1920's and 1950's
- (Steel wire) craft items.
Opening times 2024
Saturday 8 September: 10.00-16.00
Sunday 9 September: 10.00-16.00
Admission: Free
Jacob Berzelius, 1779-1848, was on the world’s most famous scientists. He developed chemical symbols and nomenclature systems, and discovered elements cerium, selenium, silicon, zirconium and thorium. He was born in Väversunda in Östergötland, and at his birthplace there is a memorial, erected at the centenary of his birth.
The exhibition, which was previously on display in the church's porch, has been moved to the parish hall and supplemented with exhibits from the Phänomen magazine in Linköping. The film ‘Jacob Berzelius - den store kemisten’ (Jacob Berzelius - the great chemist) will also be shown.
Opening times 2024
Daily 1 May - 31 August 9-18 (samme times as church).
Daily 7-8 September 10-16.
Daily 26 October - 3 November 10-17.
For more information and film-trailer see Jacob Berzelius - "den svenska kemins fader".
Ellen Keys Beach was built in 1910 - 1911 and is a mixture of many sources of inspiration from Ellen Key: Art Nouveau, Italy and the Swedish manor house (herrgården), not least her own parental home Sundsholms herrgård outside Västervik. After many years without her own home she did it like many others at that time: she built her own dream house in which she could retire.
Guided tours
for single visitors, max 20 persons/guided tour.
Pre-booking required.
For prebooked groups, special tour times apply.
1–14 May:
Saturday-Sunday 11 and 14.
15 May–30 June:
Tuesday-Sunday 11 and Uhr.
1–27 June:
Saturday-Sunday 11, 12 and 14.
28 June–14 August:
Tuesday-Sunday 11, 12, 14 and 16.
15 August–31 August:
Tuesday-Sunday 11 and 14.
1-30 September: Saturday-Sunday 11 and 14.
Prices for guided tour:
Adults 130:-
Youth 7-15 years 30:-
Children 0-6 years free, no booking.
Contact
Alvastra, 599 93 Ödeshög, +46-144 330 30
Ellen Keys Strand
Old fire-fighting equipment that already could be found in the 1870s. Documents on orders for equipment and construction projects, minutes of the city council on various resolutions. Many pictures of fires and films as of the hotel fire in 1961.
Let us show you the exhibition, or enjoy it yourself in peace and quiet!
Opening times
--
Admission
Free admittance
Contact
Vadstena Kamrat Förenings Museum
+46-70-537 6470.
Location
Fire station, Birgittas Väg 2, cellar entrance
from the back
