Information about Pärevägen, Insjöslingan

Pärevägen – the potato route to the distillery

Pärevägen is the original road between Tångarne and Taxås. It got its name after its original use – as the road for potatoes. "Päre" means potato in the Småland dialect.

The potatoes that the farmers did not need for their own survival were driven by horse and cart to Taxås to then be transported by boat to buyers in the town. Right up until the mid-1850s, there was a brandy distillery on Taxås farm, one of three farms in what was then Taxås, which was probably also supplied with Småland potatoes.

Back then, significantly more alcohol was consumed in Sweden. During the 1830s, well over 100 million litres of spirits were produced annually. At the same time, the population consisted of 3 million people. For comparison, around 23 million strong spirits are consumed today in Sweden with a population of 10 million people.

The member of parliament, Medin, turned three farms into one

The three farms in Taxås were later bought by the member of parliament Anders Medin from Moheda, who had all three of them demolished to build a modern manor-style farm. This was done shortly after household distilling was banned in the later 1850s and the production of spirits was taken over by the state.

The long stone walled farm in Taxås consists of stone from the building foundations of the three farms, as well as the present-day barn’s magnificent stone footing on Taxås farm.

The map shows the
approximate location of the information sign.