Exploring the Wasa
Ship Museum
All imagess are
copyright Randy Asplund
The Wasa in Stockholm, Sweden
The very large model of the Wasa is an amazingly detailed and acurate replica
A beautifully wrought model and diorama of teh Wasa's final moments
The intensely carved stern of the Wasa
Another view of the Wasa stern
The colorful carved wood ornaments of the Wasa
The museum contains a full scale replica of a section of the gun deck
A higher view of Wasa from one of the museum's observation galleries
The intricate bow of the Wasa
Several of the skelletons found on Wasa were studied and
the faces of the long lost crew and passengers were remade
using scientific reconstruction. You are seeing the face of one
of Wasa's crew.
The Wasa Ship Museum is a highlight of anytrip to Stockholm. Unlike most tourists with a flash camera, I went in with a tripod and used long exposures. The museum is pretty dark, and there's just no way to take pictures of the full ship and exhibits with flash photography. The Wasa (pronounced Vasa in English) was the jewel of the Swedish fleet when she launched in 1628. Her glory was short lived because about a mile after launching, with all of her flags flying and gun ports open to show her might, a cross wind heeled her over because they had not added enough ballast, the water rushed into the lower gun ports, and down she went. She sat there until being discovered and finally raised in exceptionally complete condition in 1961. Here are some of my many pictures of the
Wasa in her specially built museum.
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The Wasa in Stockholm, Sweden
The very large model of the Wasa is an amazingly detailed and acurate replica
A beautifully wrought model and diorama of teh Wasa's final moments
The intensely carved stern of the Wasa
Another view of the Wasa stern
The colorful carved wood ornaments of the Wasa
The museum contains a full scale replica of a section of the gun deck
A higher view of Wasa from one of the museum's observation galleries
The intricate bow of the Wasa
Several of the skelletons found on Wasa were studied and
the faces of the long lost crew and passengers were remade
using scientific reconstruction. You are seeing the face of one
of Wasa's crew.
| If
you have even a casual interest in history, and happen to be in
Stockholm, the Wasa Ship Museum is an absolute must see destination.
Even on a rainy day it was well worth the long line to get in. I spent
4 hours photographing and reading about the many exhibits. There were
dioramas and models of what it looked like inside and out, displays of
many items found on the ship, reconstructions, and even an exhibit of
the many paint colors used to paint her hull. The scale of the Wasa is
breathtaking and difficult to appreciate in photographs. The many
reconstructed busts of crew and passengers, while eerily haunting,
really transport you back to the 17th century and provide a connection
to the human aspect of the story. The gift of these people to us
today is that connection to their time. |