Door to Door
I’ve taken up the habit of walking through the rows of church cabins in Gammelstads Kyrkstad (church town) during the weekends. The silence and void of people makes you flinch at sudden movements or sounds and it is easy to let your thoughts wander. When I walked around the other day I noticed something I hadn’t before. A repeating pattern of some sort, I realised that most doors wore a resemblance. Certain normative symbols appeared every other step; triangles, squares etc. So I started to make a small survey in my head, grouping them according to appearances. I also took some photos of them. Now I did not look at all doors nor did I pass all cabins so this is quite summarily but it still gave a result; I identified four groups of doors.
The most usual one is the one with triangle at the top and standing panel on the bottom(ca 20)
The second group is a more classic door with X numbers of panels(ca 15)
Then I found a couple of doors with a fish bone pattern(2)
And one with a rounded archway(1)
As you can see the frequency show that some are more common than others. The cabins in them self are often quite simple, the red painted panels are from the beginning of the 20th century, but the outer doors and the window frames are more elaborated.
When one looks in between the cottages there are those who have a more old-fashioned appearance as well as some walls that have no panels.
There is a kind of beauty in those ruff edges and weather-beaten walls that has stood the test of time just as it is a bit ghost like as no one lives in them. They’re empty, silent, closed in by walls of snow and deserted ‘til the next church festival or festivity.
Magnus Reuterdahl
I loved looking at your beautiful, peaceful photos. Pardon my ignorance, but if you have a moment could you briefly describe how these cabins are used, and for what types of festivals? Thank you.
Glad you liked the post.
The cabins were built by farmers for the purpose of staying overnight as they attended mass, regional court sessions, parish meetings and markets. During these events one met up with friends and business partners as well. The ownership of the cabins was connected to the ownership of a farmstead. At these gatherings taxes and different fees were collected. At the time, 17th -19th century, there was a stable and shed connected to the cabin. Only a few stables have survived until today and close to no sheds.
Today the cabins are normally used in connection with markets, for example at the Christmas market, and church holidays for example at Christmas, Easter etc.
The essential difference between church cabins and other living quarters are that their purpose is temporary, e.g. none lived or lives in them permanently.
I hope this answered your question at least in part.
Bw
Magnus
Thank you for your reply. That’s very interesting. Having a well-outfitted cabin must have been a matter of pride. I suppose the practice of convening for markets and for religious and legal occasions predates Christianity. I wonder whether, in earlier times, people used temporary structures at these occasions instead. I’m thinking of the “booths” (the english translation of some Old Norse word that is unknown to me) that are often mentioned in the icelandic sagas, erected at the site of the thing.
I think I found the reference you think off in Gisle Surssons saga where “bod” (booth) is mentioned. These have been interpreted as a temporary quarters used while attending ting (thing) on Iceland. This indicate that one can guess that similar customs existed in Scandinavia, regarding marketplaces I believe I‘ve seen some archaeological references to this. I can’t seem to recall finds of that nature at “thing”-places. Regarding religious practises predating Christianity the importance of the hall is often empathised, though it’s not unlikely that there might have been less permanent structures surrounding them or other holy places. Interesting – I’ll have to look into the matter.