2023 truly is a jubilee year for Sweden, as the country boasts 500 years worthy of a celebration.
It’s a year with more than one Swedish milestone, featuring everything from royals and opera to roller coasters and the Nobel Prize Banquet. But at the heart of it all is independence and democracy.
Swedish independence
So, you’ve done the maths and have rewound to 1523. What exactly happened then?
That year, on 6 June to be exact, Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden. With Gustav Vasa elected, Sweden left the so-called Kalmar Union with Denmark and Norway, and once again became independent. The historic place where Gustav Vasa was elected? Strängnäs, 59 kilometres west of Stockholm.
Under King Gustav Vasa, the Protestant Reformation was introduced and the church was nationalised. During King Gustav Vasa’s reign, Sweden would also lay the foundations of the strong central governance it would develop over centuries to come.
