Author Terry Lee Marzell explores the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. This museum is where the historic Swedish warship known as the Vasa is housed. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell
Summer is prime time for teachers—and students—to incorporate travel into their vacation plans. Many people, both young and mature, know that travel, in addition to being fun and intellectually stimulating, is one of the most meaningful learning opportunities available. Last month, I was able to enjoy the fun, stimulation, and learning opportunities to be gained from a tour of four Scandinavian countries.
Scandinavia is a region that abounds with watercraft. When Hal and I were there, we indulged in numerous cruises, and we visited a number of maritime museums. One of these included the Vasa Museum located in Stockholm, Sweden. This museum was built specifically to house the Vasa, a mighty ship of great importance to the country’s nautical history. The vessel is one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions. In fact, more than 35 million people have visited the ship since the Vasa Museum opened in 1989.
The Vasa was a warship that sank in Stockholm’s harbor on her maiden voyage on Aug. 10, 1628. In fact, the ship went down immediately after she was launched for the first time. After 333 years lying hidden on the harbor seabed, the ship was salvaged, fully intact. Today, the Vasa is the world’s best-preserved 17th century ship.
The Vasa was armed with 64 bronze cannons and was magnificently decorated with royal and national symbols, carved and painted in dazzling colors. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell
The man-of-war was built on the orders of Sweden’s King Gustavus Adolphus as a weapon for his military campaign against Poland and Lithuania. Constructed between 1626–1627, the Vasa was armed with bronze cannons. In fact, she was one of the most powerfully armed ships in the world in her day. In addition, she was magnificently decorated with royal and national symbols, carved and painted in dazzling colors.
Unfortunately, the king ordered the last-minute construction of an additional deck and the installation of extra cannons. The Vasa had not been designed to carry this extra, upper-deck tonnage. The weight made the ship dangerously top heavy, and therefore precariously unstable. But nobody wanted to incur the ire of their impatient and short-tempered king, so despite her lack of stability, the ship was launched anyway—amid much fanfare and celebration. Shipwrights pushed the vessel out to harbor and held their breath, hoping for the best. Their worst fears were realized. With the first strong gust of wind, the Vasa promptly tilted, swamped, and sank. The sinking not only represented a significant financial loss, but also cost the lives of numerous Swedish sailors—plus their womenfolk and children who were aboard to celebrate the inaugural voyage.
Among the many exhibits in the Vasa Museum are the remains of numerous individuals who went down with the ship. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell
In 1956, the vessel was located on the bottom of Stockholm Harbor, and in 1961, after 333 years underwater, covered in the rich silt of Stockholm Harbor, the Vasa was raised. In the years that followed, she was painstakingly restored. Then the Vasa Museum was built around her, and the facility was opened in 1989.
The museum houses a collection of over 40,000 artifacts, including the intact warship herself, six of the ship’s ten original sails, and two of the original 64 bronze cannons. In addition, the exhibits include the skeletal remains (encased in glass) of at least 15 individuals who went down with the vessel and some objects belonging to those individuals, including clothing, tools, coins, weapons, and cutlery.
Learning about the Vasa would make a great lesson in European history, geography, ship design (and design flaws), the technology used to raise the ship intact, or the science behind her natural preservation in the Scandinavian harbor. If you choose to fit a lesson about this historic ship into your curriculum, you and your students can learn more by visiting the museum website. A virtual tour of the ship is also available.
As always, teach a great day!
