Nobel blasting bunkers
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One of the more obscure destinations within Stockholm, but one with a dark connection to the famous Alfred Nobel’s legacy in the development of high explosives, especially dynamite (i.e. before he compensated for this through the creation of the Nobel Prizes).
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: Alfred Nobel, now primarily known as the founder of the Nobel Prizes, was a Swedish inventor, chemist and business tycoon. His invention of dynamite made him rich. The idea for the Nobel Prize came to him at the end of his life when he bequeathed his riches for this purpose, in a way as a means to “make up for” having made his fortune through deadly high explosives.
Born in 1833 to a well-to-do family he turned out to be quite a prodigy, both in science and languages (allegedly he spoke six languages fluently). During his studies in Paris, young Alfred got to meet the Italian Ascanio Sobrero, who a few years earlier had invented nitroglycerine, a high explosive much more powerful than the gunpowder up to then in common use (e.g. in mining as well as in the military). Nobel became greatly interested in this field, even though Sobrero is said to have warned Alfred against the use of nitroglycerine as an industrial explosive because of its unpredictability. The substance is highly volatile and unstable, susceptible to detonating due to just the tiniest shock, changes in air pressure, temperature or sometimes it seemed to go off for no reason whatsoever.
Yet Alfred Nobel was hooked and pursued his ambition of trying to manufacture and apply nitroglycerine safely. Initially working from the family estate, he had to learn the hard way how deadly nitroglycerine could be when his brother Emil was killed in an accidental explosion of the substance in 1864.
After that Alfred acquired a property at Vinterviken in 1865, a secluded bay with hills surrounding it, thus shielding the site from residential areas around it. Here he built a factory and continued producing and experimenting with nitroglycerine. And that’s what the blast tunnels still found at the site were for: test explosions. Fatal accidents continued to occur, though, so Nobel was keen to find a way to make handling the substance safer.
The breakthrough came when he was in northern Germany and discovered diatomaceous earth – a clay-like substance of marine sediment. When mixed with nitroglycerine it made the explosive more stable and pliable and hence safely transportable – all that without losing its explosive power. And thus dynamite was invented!
After he had it patented in 1867, Alfred Nobel went on to found hundreds of factories all over the world to meet the skyrocketing demand for dynamite, under the company name of “Alfred Nobel & Co,” which later became “Dynamit AG (DAG)” in Germany, and eventually “Dynamit Nobel” (which still exists with its HQ in Germany). Ruins of his first factory in Geesthacht near Hamburg can still be found and are a popular urbex destination!
Anyway, dynamite made Alfred Nobel an incredibly rich businessman. Towards the end of his life he is assumed to have mulled over his legacy and in an attempt to offset his negative heritage as a high-explosive inventor and manufacturer he came up with the idea of the Nobel Prize. He had the idea enshrined in his will and with it donated virtually his entire fortune for this purpose (apparently without his family knowing).
Alfred Nobel passed away in 1896, and the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901. While the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Olso, Norway, the other Nobel Prizes in a range of categories, from medicine to physics and economics, are awarded and presented in Stockholm. They remain the most prestigious awards on the planet. Yet the root of their creation was a very dark one, which should not be forgotten. And that’s why the original blasting bunkers in Vinterviken are a trace of that dark legacy that still reaches into the modern day and is hence also relevant to dark tourism.
What there is to see: not an awful lot, really, and maybe too little for some, but I found it intriguing enough to justify the way out there.
I went there in winter and the paths along the coast were quite icy and slippery and the ground near the bunkers muddy, so I was glad I had my sturdy hiking boots on. In other seasons that may not be necessary.
Eventually I reached the first tunnels and bunker-like structures, though I’m not sure if they’re already part of the Nobel blasting bunkers. These definitely come up a bit further along the path and a small metal panel by them indicates that you’ve reached the right spot.
The small info panel features a map of the area, three historical photos and some Swedish text, complete with a shorter summary in English.
The bunkers (at least three) are more like short concrete tunnels, i.e. open at both ends, though a couple of others are blocked and hence inaccessible. Making your way to the other side of the open ones doesn’t reveal all that much, though I found some intriguing and mysterious wooden structures, including one that looked like a large box. But what may be inside remained elusive. Otherwise there’s plenty of graffiti around, but nothing else. How exactly these tunnels/bunkers would have been used in test explosions is left entirely to your own imagination. No explanations are given.
Carrying on you come to a set of buildings at the head of the bay which are these days occupied by some artists’ studios and not regularly accessible to the public. A tall brick chimney may be a remnant of the Nobel factory, but I cannot be sure of that.
Anyway, behind this complex, a path leads up to a commemorative plaque with an image of the bearded Alfred Nobel and some text in Swedish only that included the years 1865 (see above) and 1930, which may have been when this plaque was installed.
Across a wide grassy field you can see some red-brick buildings that once formed part of the Nobel explosives factory, but these days function as an event centre and restaurant. There is no further commodification.
And so that’s it. As I said, not much at all. But the associated history may make it worthwhile coming out here – at least for some dark tourists (but probably not all).
Location: a good three miles (5km) west of Stockholm’s city centre/Slussen, at the bay of Vinterviken, north of Örnsberg.
Google Maps locator:
blasting tunnels: [59.3106, 17.9862]
commemorative plaque: [59.31071, 17.98955]
former factory buildings: [59.3117, 17.9920]
Access and costs: quite a way out of the city centre, but reachable by metro and a decent walk; free.
Details: to get there first take the metro, red line (T13) from either Slussen, Gamla Stan or Central Station in the direction of Norsborg. Get out at Örnsberg and walk (ca. 15 minutes): first north, then bend left into Örnsbergsvägen, which is a pedestrian path. At the end of this fiddle round the back of the big white building and continue along the path towards the waterfront. Follow the boardwalk along the coast in an easterly direction all round the headland, past the Vinterviken sauna, until the tunnel entrances appear on your right. Afterwards carry on westward and walk around the artists’ studio complex to get to the memorial plaque and then towards the red-brick ex-factory buildings.
For the way back either retrace your steps or walk up the hill and through the residential district and then down Erik Segersälls väg towards Aspudden metro station to get the red line back to the city centre from there (that’s what I did).
Time required: not long, just a few minutes at the site itself – you’ll need disproportionally longer to get there and back.
Combinations with other dark destinations: nothing much in the immediate vicinity – though a slight detour en route back to the city centre could take you to the ex-prison on Långholmen.
See under Stockholm.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: The area of Vinterviken is anything but touristy, though for locals there are marinas, a sauna, and walks around the wooded hilltops. But for mainstream tourist attractions you need to head back to the city centre of Stockholm.
