Norra begravningsplatsen, Ingegerdsleden

NORTHERN BURIAL PLACE, God's field.

On June 9, 1827, Epiphany Day, Johan Olof Wallin, pastor primarius in Stockholm and former vicar of Solna, inaugurates the New Cemetery, now the Northern Cemetery, in Solna. His inauguration speech is still considered a rhetorical masterpiece. Here is the first sentence. "This land, which you have now cleared and fenced, will from this day be a field of crops that never fail, that all years and all seasons will yield their rich harvest." Ten years later, Johan Olof Wallin is appointed Archbishop, but he will never move to Uppsala. Two years after his appointment, he died and was buried in the New Cemetery. In Wallin's life's work, the 1819 hymnbook, he wrote, translated or adapted 226 hymns out of 500. The 1986 hymnbook contains 39 hymns that he wrote himself. His grave is located in front of the Great Sepulchral Choir with the words: "The earth's concern is for the peace that lasts. The grave all unites, Heaven all explains." Notice that the initial letters of the first three words of the first line are the initials of his name. To get to the grave, we pass the big gate opposite Solna Cemetery and walk along Solregnsvägen to the right towards Stora Gravkoret. Where two roads converge into one, hidden behind a rhododendron bush, August Strindberg rests under a simple black wooden cross. The inscription, O Crux Ave Spec Unica (Hail Cross, my only hope), he had seen in the cemeteries of Paris, where he often wandered during the difficult years (the Inferno crisis) of 1894-96. It is a drama of reconciliation, in which he comes to terms with God, everything and everyone. The final line of the drama bears witness to an already old and sick man: "Bless me, your humanity that suffers, suffers from the gift of life! Me first, who suffered most from the pain of not being able to be what I wanted." In the old days, Stora Landsvägen was the name of Norrtullsgatan, the road out to and past Norra Begravningsplatsen. Three years later, Strindberg's coffin is to be taken along the same road, which is then lined with 60,000 people. After another couple of hundred meters, we arrive at Stora Gravkorets väg. We walk around the choir of graves and see in front of us a parade street with Wallin's grave as a landmark for converging roads. Among the more famous graves on our walk we see the founder of Aftonbladet Lars Johan Hiertas, and at the bottom right under an arched green spire lies the writer and Stockholm painter August Blanche. On November 30, 1868, Johan Peter Molin's statue of Karl XII was inaugurated in Kungsträdgården, 150 years after the king's death. August Blanche is on his way to attend the unveiling when he suffers from dizziness. He seeks help at the Ugglan pharmacy on Drottninggatan but dies on the spot. Molin and Blanche are now lying on either side of the wide parade street. We return to Stora Gravkorets väg by walking up the winding avenue to the left between Molin's and Alfred Nobel's tombs. Once out on Stora Gravkorets väg, we turn right past the Catholic burial choir and Solglimtsvägen, which leads us out of the cemetery. O cross my only hope. August Solglimtsvägen - what a comforting name! The sun shines even on God's field.

From "Ingegerdsleden: Pilgrimage route for spirituality, culture and peace" published by the Church of Sweden. Available as PDF: https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/Ingegerdsleden\_bok.pdf