Fredrik Nycander 1867-1944

One of Åby’s tenants in the 19th Century was Axel Reinhold Nycander, a lieutenant in the Bohus regiment who lived on the estate from 1856 to 1903. Axel and his wife Augusta Lovisa Nycander (née Kihlman) had six children, who grew up on the Åby estate. One of their sons, Fredrik Nycander, born on December 19, 1867, became an author, journalist and actor and was known as ‘the Bohus poet’. In several of his texts and poems, Fredrik describes his childhood at Åby.

The Nycander family selected a site north of the manor to inaugurate a family cemetery, one of five private graveyards in Bohus county. The poet Fredrik Nycander, who died on April 17, 1944, lies buried here.

The wallpaper in our Nycanderska conference room commemorates Fredrik Nycander’s time on the Åby estate and shows how the manor house would have appeared at the end of the 1800s. The wallpaper was designed with support from Region Västra Götaland.

Den kära vägen

Den kära vägen, säg vilken är den bland alla vägar i världen gå?
Jo, genom landet mot väster bär den, mot havets vidder de böljeblå.

Den kära vägen, säg huru går den från havets vidder de böljeblå?
Jo in i fjorden, jo hem till gården, där barndomshusen på berget stå.

Den kära vägen, säg om den slutar, där barndomshusen på berget stå?
Nej, först i liden vid hemmets knutar, där jag bland lindar min grav skall få.

From Fredrik Nycander’s 1941 poetry collection Bohusresan (Bohus Journey)