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Castle Wivesby Salsta slott
Salsta slott, Lena Salsta 63, 743 92 Vattholma
The exhibition Castle Wives shows the lives of women at the castle, and was originally produced by Skokloster Castle in 2022. Salsta has the exhibition on loan and has supplemented it with its own material.
Salsta Castle has throughout history largely been the women's castle. This is due to the fact that in both the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries the castle was for long periods of time a widow's residence.
Eva Horn (1653-1740) was the first owner of the Baroque castle erected on the site of the older Renaissance castle during the 1670s. Formally, she received Salsta as a morning gift from her husband Nils Bielke. But then so too was the fortune she brought into the marriage that funded the rebuilding of the older castle. After her husband's death in 1716, she lived as a widow at Salsta for 24 years, until her death in 1740.
When Eva's son Carl-Gustaf Bielke took over Salsta in 1740, he was already widowed after his wife Brita Horn (1679-1728). Salsta therefore now came to be without a new castle wife, and that in practice until Eva Horn's great-great-grandson Magnus Fredrik Brahe married Ulrika Koskull (1759-1805). Ulrika, however, died young and it was therefore Magnus Fredrik's second wife Aurora Koskull (1778-1852) who came to leave her mark on the castle during the 19th century. After her husband's death in 1826, Aurora preferred Salsta as her widow's residence, and she, like Eva Horn, came to outlive her husband by about a quarter of a century, 26 years.
After Aurora Koskull's death at Salsta [19/2 1852] (tel:19/2 1852), the castle served first as a summer residence for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and then as a representative building for the family owned Wattholma Bruks Aktiebolag. When the company was wound up in 1904, Aurora's granddaughter Ebba Aurora Brahes (1838-1924) husband Fredrik von Essen bought out the other relatives. Like her grandmother, Ebba Aurora came to end her days at Salsta, dead on 7/1 1924.
New long-term castle wife at Salsta now became Wera von Essen (1890-1953, née Lagercrantz), who in 1913 married Ebba Aurora Brahe's son Gustaf Fredrik von Essen. Her 19 years older husband died in 1936, which is why Wera also came to live as a widow in the castle for many years. Salsta's last castle wife became Wera's sonwife Charlotte Tornérhielm (1918-1974). After Charlotte passed away, three years after her husband, her children decided to sell Salsta, and in 1976 the State Domämverket stepped in as the new owner of the castle. This set the stage for a centuries-old family history.
Next available events
May 25 11:00 AM-4:00 PM
Castle WivesSalsta slott, Lena Salsta 63, Vattholmaby Salsta slottMay 28 11:00 AM-4:00 PM
Castle WivesSalsta slott, Lena Salsta 63, Vattholmaby Salsta slottMay 29 11:00 AM-4:00 PM
Castle WivesSalsta slott, Lena Salsta 63, Vattholmaby Salsta slottMay 30 11:00 AM-4:00 PM
Castle WivesSalsta slott, Lena Salsta 63, Vattholmaby Salsta slottMay 31 11:00 AM-4:00 PM
Castle WivesSalsta slott, Lena Salsta 63, Vattholmaby Salsta slottBuy a gift cardGive someone you care about an experience they'll never forget.
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