Märta Helena Reenstierna

Märta Helena Reenstierna. Painted in 1796 as a miniature portrait by Jacob Henric Rönngren

Märta Helena Reenstierna (born September 16, 1753 in Håkantorp , Hov förs, Älvsborgs län ; † January 12, 1841 in Årsta , Brännkyrka), married von Schnell , was a Swedish landlady who worked under the name Årstafrun ( mistress of Årsta ) as an author became known from diaries that were printed posthumously from 1946 . These contemporary documents are of great cultural and historical interest today because they give a realistic and realistic portrait of everyday life in Sweden at that time.

Life

In September 1772 the 19-year-old Reenstierna came from Småland to Stockholm and shortly afterwards became acquainted with the rittmeister Christian Henrik von Schnell, who was twice his age. They married a year later and Reenstierna moved into Årsta Manor , which was located in what is now the southern Stockholm district of Årsta . Of the four daughters and four sons born over time, only their son Hans Abraham reached adulthood. Christian von Schnell died in 1811 and her remaining son was only 32 years old when he was drunk in an accident in 1812. After these tragic events she was forced to run the farm alone until her death in 1841.

In 1793 Märta Helena began to keep her diary. From 1793 to 1839 she wrote almost every day about life on the Årsta manor. She reported on holidays and everyday life, the course of the year, joy and sorrow. There are notes on meetings with friend Carl Michael Bellman and comments on the French Revolution . In the last few years of her life, her eyesight deteriorated and eventually she was almost blind, forcing her to stop writing in 1839.

The Årsta diaries comprise several volumes (approx. 5000 pages) and were given to the Nordic Museum by her family in 1946 . Copies of the diaries are available to the public in its archive and library. The diaries were initially published by Sigurd Emanuel Erixon from 1946 onwards . They were the basis and inspiration for several historical novels by the writer Lars Widding , including På Årstafruns tid (German: At the time of the mistress of Årsta) from 1969.

diary

• Arstadagboken; journaler från åren 1793-1839 (Sigurd Emanuel Erixon (ed.)), Stockholm, Generalstabens litografiska anstalts förlag, 1946–53

literature

• Kristina Ekero Eriksson, Årstafruns dolda dagböcker , Norstedts 2010 ISBN 9789113024516
• Sara Rönn, Årstafrun och hennes böcker , Uppsala: Avd. f. litteratursociologi, 1998 (Litteratur och samhälle; 33)

Web links

• Sunny Börjesson: Möte med Årstafrun. October 21, 2003, accessed October 17, 2016 (Swedish). 
• Den här sedelboken med sirliga metallspetsar och broderier har tillhört Märta Helena Reenstierna, "Årstafrun" (1753–1841). Nordic Museum, January 29, 2015, accessed on October 17, 2016 (Swedish). 
• Märta Helena Reenstierna. worldcat, accessed on October 17, 2016 .