Friedrich Wilhelm Schubert(I'll just write down some facts and descriptions from his story)
"In Blekinge you can find many beautiful women, oh yeah. Beauty is not particularly rare here, it's actually the ugly women that are difficult to find here, strangely enough! Not that I have any idea why you'd want to look for them.. Yes, the people of Blekinge in beautiful. You can always see it when they're happy, you can see how they are filled with independence and confidence without having it turn into arrogance, which often happens with other people. The people of Blekinge are loyal and hard-working, devoted to religion and church, king and master." (Then he describes people's clothing, I can add this in later if you want)
"In their expressions they are serious and thoughtful, combining this with kindness and a genuine zest for life, and their strength, honesty and loyalty is easily recognizable amongst a crowd of others. In Blekinge most people complain about the loss of traditions and decency, brought about by wine and the many taverns of Carlscrona."
"Carlscrona itself, built at the end of the 18th Century, has a very pleasant look. It has broad, in places a bit uneven streets and two marketplaces, the grand one and (Amiralitetstorget). Most of the houses have been built in stone.
The first thing I did when I came to Carlscrona was visit major Carl Petersson, whom I had recommendations for. The man greeted me warmly and since I had only a limited amount of time to spend in the city, he immediatelly took me to the strangest part of Carlscrona, the walled-off military area of the docks and the shipyard, all belonging to the naval army of Sweden. First we saw the docks, one of the most comfortable and safest in all of Europe; many battle ships were lined up there with as many as 74 cannons each, and some smaller ships (fregatter). There was one called
Skärgårdsfregatten which could also be used for more shallow depths; at the front of the ship there were several figureheads reflecting on the name of the ship; the beautiful works of the figurehead artist
Johan Törnström. From the 1500 foot long bridge we had a beautiful overview of the sea and the islands ahead. Right ahead lies Aspö and Tjurkö, between which is the main entrance into the docks. Further on there's an entrance for the smaller ships of the fleet at Arpösund and in the east there's an even smaller entrance called Skällesund. I went on one of the battleships (?..linjeskepp); it was about 170 foot long, 30 foot wide and had three canon decks, one level for groceries and one for anchors and shipment."
He also talks about Lindholmen, something he calls 'the famous old dock', the place where they repair the ships and send them out to sea (built by Polhelm). If this is of any relevance to us, please let me know and I will type it up.
"The new docks with many new departments, built west of the old ones, were a pleasant sight. Director Thunberg started building these in 1775 during the reign of Gustav III. While I was there, they were building a new battle ship with 80 canons. Close nearby you can find
Törnströms figurehead workshop where after modelling the figureheads are cut in wood. "
He also gives a good description of the inside of the German Church and its history, Cicci you might want to borrow this book tomorrow. :P
- Eve.