22 Oct The Proposal Garden

A photograph taken by Herman Allen of gardens “in Skansen” ~ Stockholm, Sweden on September 29, 1944

The day the “Siblings in Sweden” went to Skansen we were on a mission to find the garden where our father proposed to our mother in late September 1944.  I had found a tiny snapshot in their wartime photo album that read “taken in Skansen the day Al proposed to me.”  We showed it to Leif, the landscaper in the Rose Garden.  He made a copy, passed the photo around, and promised to get back to me.

We went on our way thinking that the garden didn’t exist any longer but still enjoyed a beautiful morning in the outdoor museum.

The next day the four of us visited Gustav Adolfs kyrka, the church where our parents were married. We sat in the pews and stood at the very same altar where they said their vows on January 18, 1945.  Of course then our country was still in the throes of World War II, and our Dad would be sent back to the states a month later. By the time we left the church we knew we had already had an extraordinary day.

Late that afternoon we finally returned to our hotel and checked emails. I had one from a gentleman who works at Skansen!  Lars Åke Näsman wrote:  This is the address to the place you are looking for:  Rosendals Wärdshus, Rosendalsterrassen 3, 115 21 Stockholm.  No way!

Lars Åke works for Skansen’s Department of Administration. As Leif passed around the photo one suggestion was that they send the picture to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, for their column about Stockholm. Fortunately for us, Lars Åke was just too curious.  He went into Google Images and wrote: FONTÄNER DJURGÅRDEN STOCKHOLM.  He looked through the pictures and finally came to this one.  Bingo!

I wrote back:  “We’re going right now!  I’ll let you know …”

Located on the island of Djurgården and east of Skansen is Rosendals Wärdshus, a café open daily during the “season.”  They also specialize in special events for parties of 60 people or more … birthdays, corporate events, weddings, etc.

Djurgården is a historic royal game park where Swedish kings hunted deer, reindeer and elk.  Today it is one of Stockholm’s favorite destinations … the VASA, the new Abba plus other museums, parks, gardens, Grona Lund amusement park and Skansen (both there during WWII.)  You can even tour the Rosendal Palace just a little farther east from the café.  It was built in the 1820s as a summer retreat for King Karl XIV, the first Bernadotte.  Everything is beautifully landscaped.

We googled the address and took off to search for the garden. From our hotel it was about fifteen minutes to get to the bridge and walk over into Djurgården. Right before we got to Skansen we turned left on Rosendalsvägen for a scenic hike along the water. We talked about our parents taking that very same walk in September of 1944. We wondered what Herman was thinking, knowing that he would soon be “popping the question.”

When we got to a large sign that read “Rosendal” we turned right past a restaurant and and up a steep hill.  Half way up the hill we saw a path with some stairs on our left and for some reason we hiked up them.

Rosendals Wärdshus garden … we found it!

And there it was.

A beautiful garden with a fountain in the center, all of it surrounded by the benches. We couldn’t believe it.  The restaurant was deserted. There was absolutely no one else around.  We had the garden all to ourselves.

We took tons of pictures and tried to determine in which direction the 1944 photographer, certainly our father, had been standing.  The trees had probably been replanted in sixty-nine years but the garden spot was almost exactly the same.

We sat on every bench, trying to feel for vibes.  We were there!

I thought, there’s one thing that would make this moment better … if only there were someone who could take our picture.

Rosendals Wärdshus garden fountain

Stay tuned … the story still isn’t over!

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