Unspecified/General

Sweden's long and complicated affair with alcohol is the theme of the Spritmuseum, the Museum of Spirits, set in a pair of eighteenth-century former naval buildings on the Djurgarden waterfront in Stockholm. The museum examines how drink has shaped, and been shaped by, the life of the nation, from the production of spirits and the customs of the festive table to the heavy taxation, the powerful temperance movement and the state monopoly on alcohol sales that remains a distinctive feature of Swedish society. Its galleries trace the history of distilling, the place of the flavoured spirit aquavit in Swedish ritual, the drinking songs and the social anxieties that surround alcohol, and they include playful interactive features, among them a room designed to evoke the sensations of a hangover. The museum also holds the notable art collection assembled by the makers of Absolut vodka, with pieces by Andy Warhol and other artists created for the brand's celebrated advertisements. Complete with a respected restaurant and bar, regular tastings and a harbour-side terrace, the Spritmuseum provides an entertaining yet genuinely revealing perspective on a subject that lies surprisingly close to the heart of Swedish culture and history. The Swedish struggle between the pleasures of drink and the urge to control it runs through the museum, which recounts with both gravity and wit the growth of the temperance movement, the years of rationing when each citizen carried a purchase book known as the motbok, and the founding of the state monopoly that still governs the sale of wine and spirits. The galleries follow the craft of distilling and the central role of aquavit, the caraway-scented spirit, in Swedish celebration, from the drinking songs of the festive table to the great seasonal gatherings of midsummer, Christmas and the late-summer crayfish parties. Lighter, interactive and sensory touches leaven the experience, including a much-talked-about room that playfully simulates the wretchedness of a hangover. The museum also holds the Absolut Art Collection, with pieces made by Andy Warhol and others for the vodka brand's iconic bottle-shaped advertising. Equipped with a harbour-side terrace, regular tastings, a shop and a restaurant praised for its traditional Swedish cooking, the Spritmuseum is as much a place to savour the culture of eating and drinking as to learn about it, and its position on Djurgarden sets it within easy reach of the island's many other museums and attractions.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 9 Djurgardsstrand, Stockholm, Sweden

Website: https://spritmuseum.se

Opening Date: 31/05/2012