Harstena museum

About the museum

Harstena village school was built in 1921 when the number of pupils grew. Previously the school had been held on the upper floor of Carl Svensson’s house. The teacher lived with his family in the same house, and children from Gräsmarö and other inhabited islands came by boat. The last teacher, Ingrid Andersson, taught from 1951 to 1964, when the school was closed. As early as 1849 the school board in Gryt had decided to introduce schooling in the archipelago too, at first in the form of a travelling folk school.

Today the school building is partly a museum and premises of Harstena Byskoleförening (Harstena village school association). The association was formed in the 1970s to preserve the school and use it for cultural purposes. The museum activities take place in summer in the school building, the tool shed and the Trankokeri (train-oil boiling house), and describe life on Harstena in bygone times.

The Trankokeri at Östantill tells about seal hunting. Harstena’s seal banks (sälbådar) were the largest gathering place for grey seals on the east coast, and the blubber was salted in barrels and later melted down to train oil in the boiling house’s large iron cauldrons.

Highlights

• School building from 1921 with a school museum
• Tool shed and train-oil boiling house with stories of seal hunting and train-oil production
• Island life on Harstena in bygone times
• Open daily in summer on the island in the Gryt archipelago

Permanent exhibitions

• Skolmuseet i byskolan – The school building from 1921 with exhibitions on school life and life on Harstena in bygone times.
• Trankokeriet – The story of seal hunting on Harstena and of how the blubber became train oil in the boiling house’s iron cauldrons.

Operated by

Harstena byskoleförening

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

Harstena is an island in the north-east of the Gryt archipelago, about six nautical miles from Fyruddens hamn.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

This year’s shirts (T-shirt SEK 150, hoodie SEK 300) are sold at the museum during opening hours.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit