Karl Oskar & Kristina - Utvandrarmonumentet

Many people in Sweden have read Wilhelm Moberg’s popular series of novels The Emigrants. The protagonists Karl Oskar and Kristina left Sweden to seek their fortune in America and in the book, their ship embarks from Karlshamn. In memory of Karlshamn’s days as an emigration port, the Emigrants Monument was erected in 1959, created by painter and sculptor Axel Olsson. The statue was sited beside the sea and near to the park area in the south of Karlshamn with its colourful flowers. Karl Oskar is gazing out to sea towards their new future, while Kristina is looking back at the people at home they are leaving behind. There is a similar statue on the other side of the Atlantic in the town of Lindstrom, Minnesota. The monument is sited in the harbour area of Karlshamn near to the comfortable Innergårdens Bed & Breakfast where you can spend the night. Source: VisitBlekinge