Sturehofs Slott byggdes av en man vid namn Johan Liljencrantz, finansminister vid Gustav den III:s regering. Han lät bygga sitt slott 1778-1781, samtidigt som Stockholms Slott byggdes färdigt och det innebar att det fanns gott om duktiga hantverkare i närheten som kunde anlitas. Liljencrantz, som både var stormrik och ganska nyadlad, ville låta uppföra ett riktigt imponerande monument över sin egen storhet och så blev det. Faktum är att det blev så vackert på Sturehof att till och med själve Kungen rynkade på näsan och tyckte att det var ett väl tjusigt hem som Liljencrantz hade uppfört, lite väl "kungligt”, och det anstod ju förstås ingen annan än de kungliga att leva så lyxigt.
It was Gustav III who was king in Sweden at this time, and it was the Gustavian style that applied. It followed Rococo, which was after all ornate and frilly with all its bulging forms and lavish decorations. The Gustavian style was characterized by functionalism and meant a substantial tightening of the style expression. (Read more about the different period styles here.)
When it came to furnishing the castle with fireplaces, Johan Liljencrantz had a very special advantage: he owned Mariebergs Porslinsfabrik. The factory had not made tile stoves before when they received the large order to make all the tile stoves for Sturehof Castle, but they proceeded in the same way as when they made porcelain tableware and they quickly became the most skilled tile stove makers in the whole country. But if it cost, it tasted... Converted to today's monetary value, each Marieberg tile stove cost SEK 200,000-400,000!!! This meant in practice that the only people who could afford a "Mariebergare" were basically those who themselves had ownership interests in Marieberg's tile kiln factory.
Today, only a few tile stoves are known, recent findings point to around ninety, which were manufactured by Marieberg during this time, and of these there are as many as 20 at Johan Liljencrantz Sturehof. In other words, it makes the castle a unique place where the beautiful tiled stoves from Marieberg can be seen in almost every room. Read more about Marieberg's tile kiln factory here!
None of the tiled stoves at Sturehof Castle can be fired in anymore because they leak, but must stand as they are and adorn their place only as beautiful time documents of superb craftsmanship.Dessa gamla kakelugnar sattes med blålera. De höll inte så länge, utan fick sättas om ungefär med 15 års intervaller. Man ska – som betonas flitigt på den här sajten! – alltid elda försiktigt i en kakelugn och inte pressa den för hårt. Den regeln var i högsta grad aktuell även på 1700-talet. Men man skulle heller inte elda för sällan. För att citera en guide med glimten i ögat på Sturehof: ”Det är som med det mesta här i livet; för mycket och för lite skämmer allt!”
Med så dyrbara och vackra kakelugnar så utgick man förstås från kakelugnen när man skulle inreda rummet, vilket syns tydligt på Sturehofs Slott. I exempelvis det gröna förmaket står en storslagen vit kakelugn med ett mönster av rosa/röda rosor och gröna blad. Där plockade man mycket medvetet upp den gröna färgen i sidentapeterna och möblernas klädsel så att helheten harmonierar mycket vackert.
Surely it may seem unnecessarily luxurious that Sturehof Castle even has a Marieberg tile oven inside the pantry in the kitchen!?! Even if Liljencrantz spared nothing when the Sturehof was built, even he probably wouldn't have placed a Marieberg in the pantry. No, the explanation lies in the fact that at this time they did not want to place the kitchen inside the main building because the kitchen was usually the place where fires started. The kitchen at Sturehof was therefore originally located in one of the wings and the food had to be carried across the yard and into the main building. But at the beginning of the 20th century, fire safety had improved and it was considered an unnecessarily complicated solution to have the kitchen outside in a side building. Then a new kitchen was built in a former social room inside the castle building itself - whereby the Marieberg tile stove ended up inside the pantry!
Here you will find more examples of the magnificent Mariebergs tile stoves at Sturehof Castle.