Visit to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm

I like museums that have stuff.  Photos in museums are great, and reading about impressive people is cool, but I'm not that interested in visiting a walk-through Wikipedia page.  I want to see objects, I want to have the same awe people from hundreds of years ago had when first set their sights on new technology or things of beauty.  I want to stand in front of a life-sized painting instead of looking at a thumbnail of it online. That said, the photos below may be impressive, but just imagine the awesomeness of seeing these items in real life.

With only one full day in Stockholm we had to narrow down our sight-seeing opportunities.  The one ‘for sure’ thing on our list was a trip to the Vasa Museum.  I'm talking about a 17th century warship that sank in its maiden voyage conveniently right outside Stockholm harbor to be risen nearly 300 years later.  Now this complete, giant, wooden work of art is on display while being restored at the same time.  While there are many areas of interest under the museum roof the ship itself is definitely the highlight.

Upon arrival you're greeted with this impressive sight.

While the Vasa as a functional ship was flawed there is no denying it's beauty.  From the shape of the ship itself to those fine, intricate wood details that most of us would have difficulty recreating even with modern tools.

Here is one of the reasons why the Vasa sank.  Lots and lots of cannons.  Forty-eight 24-pound cannons (called 24-pound because they hurl a projectile of 24 pounds).  That's a lot of weight on top.

When the gun port opens the lions show their teeth.  Intimidating and artistic.

There are even gun ports at the back of the boat (stern).  You think they're fleeing, well surprise?  *BOOM* *BOOM*

As I mentioned before, this ship was loaded with artwork on the outside of the ship to show off the wealth of the country flying the flag on the ship.  A lot of this woodwork is still intact.

If all this isn't noticeable and impressive enough, then imagine it all painted in bright colors (below).  This ship would've been seen from miles around.  But from what I read it wasn't likely that the vibrant paint would've lasted long in the ocean's harsh environment.

This is what the ship's outside would've looked like in its original form.  Bright, realistic colors.  Meant to be noticed.  No camouflage here!

The whole ship is currently a work in process.  Below you can see some new wood mixed with the old.  Meanwhile the line (or rigging, I'm not sure what it's call) has been recreated.  That's all the functional rope that raises and lowers parts of the ship and is used to climb up to the crows nest.

Here's a good photo of old wood and new wood merged during the refurbishing process.

Inside the bowels of the ship modern day workers take inventory of all the preserved parts.

New rigging and lines.

The ship was designed to be a busy place.  Almost 450 people were aboard.  Below is a miniature recreation of the internal workings of the ship - 5 floors of activity.  While the Vasa's life-sized presence is definitely the highlight of the museum I must say I always have enjoyed miniatures depicting life in the past.  Especially when they're well lit to form realistic moods.

And then there is a life-sized version of one room . . .

A real-sized version of the Captain's Quarters.

Despite sinking right outside Stockholm Harbor there were still casualties - it's believed roughly 30 people died though not all bodies were recovered.  Below forensic arts recreated the faces of some of the people who perished on the ship.

Not only did they have to consider the shape of the skull, but the diet of the day, estimated age of the skeleton, typical grooming characteristics, and clothing.

Artist recreation of a ship worker.  Amazing!  You can even see pores on the man's face.

An actual skeleton of someone who died during the sinking.

More forensic artist renderings based on recovered skulls.

Inside the gift shop there was plenty of Vasa merchandise.  At the time I couldn’t really get behind the Vasa craze.  There’s no doubt it’s a beautiful ship, and the story of raising it is indeed impressive, but it was poorly designed and therefore sank on its maiden voyage.  I'm going to walk around with a t-shirt advertising a flawed ship?

As I've had time to think about it, the Vasa has a cool story.  Not because it sank and it's still in relatively one piece, but because it is a a story of of engineers and builders who probably knew better, influenced by people above them who kept piling on unrealistic expectations.  It's a story of the devastating feeling a whole country experienced when their flagship vessel went down in the harbor, and the loss they felt not only for the lives gone, but the realization that their country wasn't as almighty as they thought and there was a limit to their dreams.  It's a story of workers who had faith in their leaders and wouldn't put them in a sinking death-trap.  And it's a story of a ship that sat at the bottom of the harbor for ages, watching from below the power of ships change from wind to steam to combustion and even nuclear, to be risen 300 years later to show the reveal to the world that the people before us made some really cool stuff.  The Vasa has a fascinating story, and now that I think about it I'm disappointed I didn't find buy a t-shirt in the gift shop.  :)

In case you're interested, you can get more information here:  Vasa Museum Website

Two hundred years later on the Missouri River there was another sinking, this time a steamboat that had been in service for 3 years.  It was carrying 200 tons worth of cargo.  After sinking it was quickly covered in mud.  Without light and oxygen for nearly 100 years it was recently recovered.  While the Vasa had very little cargo/personal items recovered, the Great Arabia Steamboat has literally a Macy's-sized general store worth of stuff on display, showing everything from the food to the fashions to the hardware and tools used by America's earlier settlers.  That place is definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Kansas City.  And why not go to Kansas City, it's a very cool place?