KALMAR NYCKEL FOUNDATION

2013 LECTURE SERIES

"375 Years On The Delaware: New Sweden Past and Present"

Lecture 3: "Royal Ship Kronan:

The Archaeology and Development of Swedish Naval Power in the 17th Century"

Oil painting of the battle of Öland on 1 June 1676, showing Kronan exploding; by Claus Möinichen (1686).         Oil on canvas,  Frederiksborg castle, Denmark.

Wilmington, Delaware – The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation announces its Lecture Series for 2013, entitled “375 Years On The Delaware: New Sweden Past and Present.”   The Foundation's annual lecture series brings world class scholars and speakers to the greater Delaware community and supports our mission “to preserve and promote Delaware’s cultural and maritime heritage for the education and enrichment of all.”   This year we are honored to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the original Kalmar Nyckel's first voyage to North America and the founding of New Sweden on the Delaware.

The sunken Royal Warship Kronan (Crown) is an archaeological treasure and a time-machine that transports us back to the hey-day of Sweden's Baltic Empire in the 17^th Century.  Discovered in 1980 below the clear waters of the Baltic about 4 miles off the south-east coast of Öland in Sweden, the Royal Ship Kronan was the largest and most powerful warship of her day.  The famous Kronan had been lost during the Battle of Öland, June 1, 1676, heeling over in heavy weather before blowing up and sinking while fighting a combined Danish-Dutch battle fleet.  Twice as large as the Vasa, she sank fully-equipped for battle, carrying a crew of 840 and 126 bronze cannon mounted on three decks.  A major loss for Sweden during the Scanian War, Kronan’s crew represented close to 10% of the active manpower available to the navy at the time.

Although tragic and controversial at the time, the wreck of the Kronan reveals a 17^th-century community in miniature and a snapshot of Sweden during her period as a maritime empire – a “Great Power” period that extends to our original Kalmar Nyckel and the colony New Sweden.  The remains of the ill-fated Kronan includes over 25,000 separate artifacts – everything from unique bronze cannon to silver and copper coins, plates and jugs, musical instruments, navigational equipment, seamen’s chests, chess pieces, clay pipes, rings, jewelry, uniforms, stockings, shoes, and the largest gold treasure-trove ever found in Sweden.

Here to tell us about this incredible story is the Head Underwater Archaeologist and the Director of the Kronan Project at the Kalmar Lans Museum, Lars Einarsson.  As one of the world’s top underwater divers and marine archaeologists, Einarsson has been chiefly responsible for excavating, recovering, and preserving the wreck site and all the thousands of artifacts associated with Kronan.  His work, vision, and many publications, both scholarly and for the general public, have made Kronan one of the most important archaeological finds in the world.

     Photo of Lars Einarsson, Diving on the Wreck of the Kronan

Lars Einarsson will be here also as part of the official delegation representing the City of Kalmar on a visit to Wilmington in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Wilmington-Kalmar Sister Cities’ Program.  The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation is honored to participate in this international celebration, one that helps remind us of our close and ongoing connectedness to Sweden – a connection that includes our Kalmar Nyckel’s original namesake city.

This Program is Partially Funded By A Grant From The Delaware Humanties Forum, A State Program Of The National Endowment For The Humanties.

The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation’s 2013 Lecture Series is sponsored in part by the Riverfront Development Corporation of Delaware. 

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