The Linnaeus' museum, Uppsala

Just like in Linné's day

In 2004, the Linnaeus' museum saw the completion of work on an unusual wallpaper. A long chain of skilled craftsmen have worked on the wallpaper, to provide a true picture of how the walls may have looked during Linné's lifetime.

The National Property Board had the wallpaper reconstructed for the Linnaeus' museum, based on a fragment that the museum had identified as a work by Uppsala's only known eighteenth century wallpaper maker Bure. Craftsmen Sanny Holm and Lennart Tjernberg were commissioned to get as close to the original as possible.

Hand-painted on paper handmade from linen rags, the wallpaper is glued and stitched together before being tacked to the wall. The greatest care has been taken to work using historically correct materials and techniques.

History

Carl von Linné's home 1743-1778

The building from 1693 was erected as the residence of the professor of medicine, who was also director of Uppsala's botanical gardens. From 1743-1778, the house was Carl von Linné's home as part of his job. During his tenure the Botanical House, as it was called then, was an international centre for medical and scientific research - the place where Linné taught, made scientific discoveries and wrote his epoch-defining books.

Plants and animals from all corners of the globe

The upper floor was used for Linné's scientific work, functioning as the department for medicine and botany at the time. From the study, he sent copious letters, and in reply received seeds, plants and animals from all corners of the globe. The natural history collections grew and grew until finally they filled three rooms. In the building's lecture room, Linné inspired a whole generation of scientists. The lower floor housed his wife Sara Lisa and their seven children.

Built by Olof Rudbeck the Elder

The building was built by and for Olof Rudbeck the Elder, who created the botanical gardens in 1655. The universal genius Rudbeck was not just a professor of medicine, botanist, historian and inventor, but also a keen architect. Finances were tight at Uppsala University at the time, so he came up with a construction method that used minimum materials and was fireproof. In places, the walls were only one brick thick, but were held together by a sort of reinforced iron rod. All the wood was replaced with iron, and the roof, door and window frames were plated. The building was placed in the corner of the garden, so that its prefect, Rudbeck's son Olof the Younger, could keep a good eye on what was happening. When large parts of Uppsala burned down in 1702, this remarkably fireproof building survived.

More like a thieves' den and owl nest

When Linné took up his position, the Botanical House was run down and "more like a thieves' den and owl nest than a professor's residence". The building was radically redeveloped by master stonemason Körner, who may have worked to Carl Hårleman's instructions. The building certainly came to have many Hårleman features and Körner had previously worked with Carl Hårleman on several of Uppsala's major eighteenth century building projects.

A palais built by the Academy

The roof was raised and each level was given a layout with a large room in the middle and smaller side rooms, all with elegant plaster ceilings. The ground floor was furnished to accommodate the family, while the upper floor became Linné's scientific area, with the lecture room, library, study and natural history display. The man himself described it as "quite a lavish palais" built for him by the Academy.

From science to music

In the early nineteenth century, the building became the residence of the university's director musices, who was responsible for music at the University. The last of these was Hugo Alfvén, who lived here from 1910-1935 with his wife Marie Kröyer. On the ground floor, Alfvén practised with the Academy orchestra, while the upper floor was his home, with a special composing room.

Linné's spirit returns

The Swedish Linnean Society had already restored the Linné garden when in 1935-1937 attention turned to a complete historical survey and restoration of the actual building. The survey was led by Erik Lundkvist, Sigurd Wallin and Nils Sundkvist, with the aim of recreating Linné's time in the house as accurately as possible. The discovery of a large quantity of eighteenth century objects and building fixtures used to fill the double floor proved a great help in the project. 1937 saw Linné's home open as the Linnaeus' museum, and thanks to the fact that many of his descendants were among the founders of the society, their inherited Linné collections were able to be returned to the house.