At Kalmar Castle we display permanent exhibitions that tell the dramatic history of the castle, but also temporary exhibitions with different themes.
Permanent exhibitions
800 years of war, power, and glory!
In the Governor’s Apartments we tell the 800-year long history of Kalmar Castle through different themes. Each room presents an epoch, an event, or a theme.
Follow how the castle developed architecturally from the 12th century until the 16th, study the Dacke Revolt, experience the Kalmar Union era, or how about stepping right into the Kalmar War? And don’t miss the interactive databases, featuring some 400 texts, anecdotes, and stories.
John III’s Easter Dinner
Welcome to a set table in the Grey Hall. It is Easter in the year of 1586, and the King’s retinue is ready to dine. The dinner is a reconstruction based on the German traveler Samuel Kiechel’s preserved diary entries. He was invited as a spectator to the dinner in 1586. Preserved lists of purchases and menus from the 16th century have also been used as source material for the reconstruction.
The table is heavy with dishes such as fish pies with eggs, salmon with lemons, rice pudding with walnuts and minced pike shaped like pears.
The Agda Chamber
This small room is located next to ”the king’s new chamber”, or the Golden Hall as it is called today. It may have been here that Duke Erik’s favorite mistress Agda Persdotter lived during the time she spent at Kalmar Castle.
The room is furnished as a 16th century upper class bedchamber, illustrating how a royal mistress might have lived. The furniture has been modeled after preserved original Renaissance furniture.
The Women’s Prison
In the old women’s prison from the 19th century, you’ll have a rather unpleasant encounter with crime and punishment. Shockingly realistic imagery conveys the torment that women suffered from the 15th century until the 19th century. Superstition and questionable evidence influenced the trials they endured, during this dark time in our history of law.
Curious about the castle?
At Kalmar Castle we have interactive touch screens where you’ll find some 400 texts, anecdotes, and stories. The texts are written in Swedish, English, and German.
