Abstract
History was an important notion in constructing an industrial capitalist society in the nineteenth century. This article deals with the manifest use of history at the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897. At this exhibition, history was ubiquitous and was most fully expressed in the model of medieval and Renaissance Stockholm called “Old Stockholm.” The history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century exhibitions in general has been thoroughly studied in the field of humanities. However, the specific use of history and space has not attracted much interest. This analysis of the model of Old Stockholm is of the first archaeological study of remains of the great exhibitions ever to have been done. Even though the “Old Stockholm” pavilion was exceedingly popular in the summer of 1897, only very scarce documentation has survived. An archaeological excavation of parts of the temporary historical models, such as the “Hospital of the Holy Spirit,” showed convincing evidence of the hegemonic position which the use of history enjoyed at the exhibition and in the nineteenth century.
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Acknowledgements
The fieldwork of the “Djurgården-project” were conducted by Gunnar Andersson, Fredrik Svanberg, Katty H Wahlgren, and the author, together with representatives of The Swedish National Heritage Board. The project Search of the lost city was a co-project between The Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm, The Swedish National Heritage Board, Stockholm, Royal Institute of Engineering, Stockholm. I am indebted to Daniel Genberg and Adrienne Sörbom for comments on earlier draughts of the article. Alan Crozier has revised the English language.
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Nordin, J.M. Archaeology in the World of Display: A Material Study of the Use of History in the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897. Int J Histor Archaeol 15, 358–380 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-011-0146-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-011-0146-x