Marbacka
The Manor Home Of Selma Lagerlof, The First Woman To Win The Nobel Prize In Literature, Kept As She Left It And Seen On Guided Tours In Summer · Sunne, Varmland County
Marbacka (in Swedish Marbacka, with a ring over the first a) is the manor in the Fryken valley of Varmland where Selma Lagerlof was born in 1858 and where she died in 1940. She wrote Gosta Berling's Saga and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson, and in 1909 she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her family lost the farm when she was young; she later bought it back and, in the early 1920s, is said to have rebuilt the plain old house into the white manor with columns seen today. The house is kept much as she left it, with her library, study and furniture, and it is shown on guided tours in summer. Around it lie the gardens, the farm buildings and the lake country of Fryken and Sunne that fills her stories. The honest caveat: it is a small, charming literary visit, most loved by Swedes and readers of her books; without that interest, an hour is enough, and it is closed for most of the year.
Marbacka manor, about 10 km south-east of Sunne and Lake Fryken, in Varmland, Sunne, Varmland County, Sweden
The grounds and the outside of the manor can usually be seen at any time of year. The house itself opens only on guided tours in the summer season, roughly late May or June to August, most often daily in July and on fewer days at the edges of the season, with little or no regular public opening in winter apart from booked groups and special events - check the current schedule before you travel, as it changes from year to year. The summer cafe usually keeps the same season. Tours are small and can fill in July; book online through Marbacka's own booking where offered, or arrive early. Getting there: Marbacka is about 10 km south-east of Sunne. Sunne has a station on the regional line between Kil and Torsby run by Varmlandstrafik, but there is little or no public transport to the manor itself, so plan on a car, a taxi or a bicycle. Karlstad is about an hour away by car. Parking is at the manor.