Positioned in Sweden, in Flen Municipality, Södermanland County, Harpsund is a manor house with a long history. Axel Stålarm, president of Göta Court of Appeal and county governor, inherited the property in 1647 and changed its name to Axelsberg. The Sparre family owned it from 1784 to 1899. Industrialist Hjalmar Wicander purchased it in 1899, renamed it Harpsund again, and saw the construction of a new main building designed by Otar Hökerberg, which was completed in 1914.
After Hjalmar Wicander's death in 1939, his son Carl August Wicander bequeathed the estate to the state. Since 22 May 1953, Harpsund has been used as a country retreat for the prime minister of Sweden. The donation included the entire estate, including farmland and forestry, with the wish that the estate be preserved the way it looked when the Wicander family lived there.
Harpsund has been a locale for government, industry, and labor meetings, instituting an informal practice known as Harpsund Democracy. Leaders from around the world have stayed there as guests, including Nikita Khrushchev. It is tradition that guests at the estate take a small trip, with the prime minister, in the rowing boat, a tradition introduced by Prime Minister Tage Erlander.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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