Baggensstäket
Encyclopedia
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
in the Stockholm archipelago
Stockholm archipelago
The Stockholm archipelago is the largest archipelago of Sweden, and one of the largest archipelagos of the Baltic Sea.-Geography:The archipelago extends from Stockholm roughly 60 kilometers to the east...
, between the island of Värmdö
Värmdön
Värmdö is an island in the innermost region of the Stockholm archipelago and covers an area of 180 km², making it the largest island in the archipelago. Värmdö is after Gotland and Öland the third largest island on the eastern coast of Sweden....
and the mainland (Södermanland
Södermanland
', sometimes referred to under its Latin form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a historical province or landskap on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanland and Uppland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea.In Swedish, the province name is...
).
It is part of the waterway
Waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
between the firth
Firth
Firth is the word in the Lowland Scots language and in English used to denote various coastal waters in Scotland and England. In mainland Scotland it is used to describe a large sea bay, or even a strait. In the Northern Isles it more usually refers to a smaller inlet...
of Baggensfjärden and bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
of Lännerstaviken. The waterway continues northwards through Skurusundet till Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
The strait is shallow and narrow and can only be traversed by small vessels with up to 3 meter draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
. Traffic through the strait is heavy in summertime.
Etymology
Baggenstäket, like the nearby firthFirth
Firth is the word in the Lowland Scots language and in English used to denote various coastal waters in Scotland and England. In mainland Scotland it is used to describe a large sea bay, or even a strait. In the Northern Isles it more usually refers to a smaller inlet...
Baggensfjärden, probably was given its name after the naval hero Jakob Bagge, who owned the nearby estate Boo gård on Värmdö.
History
Baggensstäket, which was known as Harstäket earlier, was since time immemorial the southern waterway between Stockholm and the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. Until the 13th century the main waterway led through Baggensstäket, Lännerstaviken, and Järlasjön
Järlasjön
Järlasjön is a lake of Södermanland, Sweden....
to Hammarbysjön; later it passed Lännerstaviken och Skurusundet. Baggensstäket was the main waterway to Stockholm until the end of the middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, when the post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
made the channel shallower while at the same time ships progressively had larger drafts. It is also probable that the waterway was made more impassable by filling it with rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
. Such filling with rubble may have been done during conflicts between 1518 and 1520. After the Swedish War of Liberation
Swedish War of Liberation
The Swedish War of Liberation , , was a civil war in which the Swedish nobleman Gustav Vasa successfully deposed the Danish king Christian II as regent of the Kalmar Union in Sweden. The war started in January 1521 when Gustav Vasa was appointed "hövitsman" over Dalarna. After Gustav Vasa sacked...
, king Gustav Vasa
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
ordered a clearing of the waterway.
Eric XIV
Eric XIV of Sweden
-Family and descendants:Eric XIV had several relationships before his marriage. With Agda Persdotter he had four daughters:#Margareta Eriksdotter , married 1592 to Olov Simonsson, vicar of Horn....
decreed that all ships from foreign countries were to be inspected in Vaxholm
Vaxholm
Vaxholm is a locality and the seat of Vaxholm Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. It is located in the Stockholm archipelago. The name Vaxholm comes from Vaxholm Castle, which was constructed in 1549 on an islet with this name on the inlet to Stockholm, for defense purposes, by King Gustav...
and pay toll
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
fees for goods transported to Stockholm. In response, some merchants transferred their cargoes to smaller vessels which were passed in via Baggensstäket, which in this manner became a well-utilized smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
route. Charles IX
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
decreed in 1602 that a toll station would be placed in Baggensstäket as well. The station was placed at the narrowest point of the strait and is named Knapens hål ("Knaap's hole") after one of the first customs officials, Olof Knaap. In 1680 the toll inspection was moved from Baggenstäket och Vaxholm to Blockhusudden.
Architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
, owner of nearby Boo gård, offered to deepen Baggensstäket to a depth of eight Swedish feet, in return for the privilege to collect a "boom fee"; this was collected from ships which couldn't pass a boom barrier
Boom barrier
A boom barrier is a bar, or pole pivoted in such a way as to allow the boom to block vehicular access through a controlled point. Typically the tip of a boom gate rises in a vertical arc to a near vertical position. Boom gates are often counterweighted, so the pole is easily tipped...
placed in the water at a certain depth. He received this privilege in 1704. The clearing of the strait was done with "90 prisoners, over 40 dalecarlian
Dalecarlian
Dalecarlian is a group of dialects or unofficial languages spoken in Dalecarlia, Sweden. The most prominent is Elfdalian.The group is as follows:*Old Swedish**Dalecarlian***Dalecarlian Dalecarlian (Dalmål in vernacular and Swedish) is a group of dialects or unofficial languages spoken in...
s, 12 timbermen, 24 horses and drivers". In April 1705 the work was completed, even if Tessin didn't manage to make the waterway as deep as he had promised.
It was through Baggensstäket the plague
Plague of Sweden (1710-1713)
The Plague of Sweden between 1710-1713 was the most recent plague epidemic to ravage Sweden. The contagion was spread from Livonia and Finland by ship.-History:...
came to Sweden in 1710. A boat from Pernau
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
had the contagion onboard and when the skipper died at the Erstavik inn at Baggensstäket, the plague gained a foothold in the country.
In 1719 a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n invasion fleet attempted to reach Stockholm through Baggensstäket, but were beaten back by Swedish forces at this last line of defence (see Battle of Stäket
Battle of Stäket
The Battle of Stäket was a minor battle during the Great Northern War. A probing Russian force, circumventing Vaxholm Castle, attempted to pass through Baggensstäket, a very narrow passage in the Stockholm archipelago...
). Shortly thereafter three new redoubt
Redoubt
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...
s were built on both sides of the strait. After the treaty of Nystad
Treaty of Nystad
The Treaty of Nystad was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War. It was concluded between the Tsardom of Russia and Swedish Empire on 30 August / 10 September 1721 in the then Swedish town of Nystad , after Sweden had settled with the other parties in Stockholm and Frederiksborg.During...
in 1721 these defensive works started decaying; in 1742-1743 temporary fortifications had to be erected.
The 19th and early 20th centuries saw several proposals of widening and deepening the waterway being laid forth, in order to reopen a conveninent route for Stockholm-bound sea traffic from the south. None were accepted, one reason being that this would require further expenditures for new fortifications. An alternative was proposed in 1893: a canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
south of Baggenstäket at the bay of Moranviken, a distance of less than a kilometer.
Between 1853 and 1947 Gustavsbergsbolaget had the responsibility for maintaining the waterway. The company financed its traffic and the maintenance by amon other things extracting a fee from deep-going vessels at Knapens hål. For this purpose a guard booth was built around 1870. There the guard would collect the fee with a håv until 1945, when the last guard retired. Sjöfartsverket took over the responsibility in 1947. In the autumn of 1985 Knapens hål was dredged and widened and erosion guards were installed to protect the eroding quays.
See also
- Battle of StäketBattle of StäketThe Battle of Stäket was a minor battle during the Great Northern War. A probing Russian force, circumventing Vaxholm Castle, attempted to pass through Baggensstäket, a very narrow passage in the Stockholm archipelago...
- AlmarestäketAlmarestäketAlmarestäket, or Stäket, is a strait at the inlet of Lake Mälaren in mid-east Sweden. A fortress existed there between about 1370 and 1517, also named Almarestäket....