Rankhyttan Threshing Barn, Falun

Gustav Vasa's flight from Danish soldiers

There are many stories about Gustav Eriksson Vasa's time in Dalarna in the winter of 1520-21, and separating fact from fiction is not easy. Gustav's intention was to recruit supporters from among the people of Dalarna for an uprising against the Danish King Christian II. He was pursued by Christian II's soldiers and hid away in various places, including Ornäs Loft and threshing barns in the village of Isala and Rankhyttan.

Gentleman farmer Anders Persson

The threshing barn at Rankhyttan was constructed in the 1490s. In 1520, the estate was owned by Anders Persson, a gentleman farmer who had studied with Gustav in Uppsala. Gustav is said to have visited Rankhyttan during his winter travels in Dalarna and even worked in the threshing barn in disguise.

The barn measures 7.5 x 12 metres, and is built from 17 layers of round logs. The quality of the timberwork is high. Threshing barns were used both for storage and as a dwelling. Rankhyttan's is the largest preserved single barn from Medieval Sweden and is divided into areas for threshing and storage, separated by a metre-high partition.

Protected very early on

The buildings in Ornäs, Isala and Rankhyttan became protected very early on thanks to their associations with Gustav Vasa, and have therefore been preserved over the centuries. The state acquired Rankhyttan threshing barn in 1667, making it a national monument.

Several rounds of renovation work have been carried out over the centuries, including in 1863, 1921-23 and 1996-98, and opinion has been divided on how best to preserve the barn for posterity. We can see how the barn looked from the 18th century on from various pictures.

In 1996, the National Property Board drew up a preservation plan for the barn which included a damage survey, gathering and analysing archive material and a target for future preservation initiatives.