Lighthouse story
The men who built Kullen Lighthouse
Among the scattered documents belonging to the lighthouse we found an intriguing photograph of the 14 proud craftsmen who built the lighthouse in 1899–1900. They look like self-assured men with straight backs and well-groomed moustaches, dressed up in their Vega caps and bowler hats. The men in the picture surely had reason to feel appreciated – many tourists came up to the building site to watch the lighthouse rise, in the middle of the golden age of Kullaberg and Mölle, the period from the 1880s until the First World War. Many German and Danish visitors came here at that time, as well as celebrities such as Selma Lagerlöf, Strindberg and Oscar II.
No wonder they come across as rather cocky fellows. The accompanying list of nicknames, trades and home villages only added to the fascination: the smith Sväs Karl from Sålanda and the carpenter Munters from Färsled – who were these men, and where did they come from?
Several of the place names were similar: Ryk, Kärret Ryksdamm, Nipe Ryk and others. When we looked the names up on the map, we were surprised to find that all the men actually came from an area only a few kilometres across around the small village of Skepplanda in Ale Municipality, Västergötland, about 30 km north-east of Gothenburg. That was a surprise. Why Skepplanda? Why hire 14 men from a small community 300 km away to build Kullen Lighthouse? Were times hard up in Risveden, or were these men particularly skilled craftsmen? After some research we found the answer: the men in the picture are a link in a long local tradition of labour migration.
For several hundred years the smallholders of Ale (Risveden) had set off in work teams every summer to build houses for others. The forests of Risveden had plenty of timber, unlike the coastal parts of Bohuslän, where the demand was. They built the houses at home, marked every board, took the houses down again and then rebuilt them on site. In earlier times the logs were floated to their destination, often Gothenburg and the islands of the archipelago.
In the late 1800s the lighthouse builders became a new group who travelled around in work teams during the summer months, building lighthouses and keepers' houses at many places along Sweden's coasts, from Hållö in Bohuslän all the way up to Malören in Norrbotten. They are also said to have built lighthouses along the coast of Norway. Many of the craftsmen came, as in the case of Kullen Lighthouse, from Skepplanda and Ale.
We have no photographs, however, of the lighthouse builders' wives and children. It was they who ran the farms at home while the men were away – a less glamorous task, but perhaps just as demanding. No doubt they also worried whether the men would come home unharmed, and whether they would still have their earnings. Life in a strange place, not least in Mölle, held many temptations for anyone who fancied a beer after the working day.
The lighthouse builders from Skepplanda
The workers at Kullen Lighthouse in 1900.
Standing, from left:
1. Gustav Karlsson, Ryk, later foreman, bricklayer
2. Emanuel Johansson, Färdsle (Munters), carpenter
3. Karl Egenvall, Skepplanda (Knapes), smith
4. August Svensson, Kärret Ryksdamm
5. Bernhard Eriksson, Ryksdamm, carpenter
6. Karl Kristensson, Skönningared
Sitting on the fence, from left:
1. Johan Larsson, Angertuvan, later Alvhem
2. Karl Andersson, Relsbo Ryksdamm, smith
3. Sven Karlsson, Ryk (Rösthållars), carpenter
4. Anders Andersson, Ryksdamm Relsbon, foreman, father of no. 2 in this group
Sitting on the ground:
1. Anders Johansson, Ryk, later Sålanda
2. Albin Kristofersson, Nipe Ryk, carpenter
3. Karl Andersson, Sålanda (Sväs Karl), smith
4. Johan Andreasson, Sålanda, assistant to the previous man