Life at Gräfsnäs wasn’t only about power and prestige. Traces of everyday struggle remain – like this modest log cottage.

This was once the home of a soldier assigned to croft 326 under the Västgöta-Dals Regiment. The cottage was relocated here from the Torps rote in Erska parish.

We are now in the late 1600s. The king has introduced a new military system – the indelningsverk.
Farmers are organized into groups called rotar. Each rote is responsible for one soldier: they must build his cottage, supply him with firewood, food, and a small salary. In return, the soldier stands ready to defend the realm.

The cottage was built according to the designs of General Erik Dahlbergh – always with the note: “adapted to local custom.” It was meant to blend into the landscape, to look like any typical peasant home.

Every three years, the soldier is entitled to a syn – an official inspection. The captain, the rote farmers, and a clerk walk around the croft, checking what needs repair. The soldier’s home is the responsibility of the entire rote.

The first soldier who lived here was Lars Svan, enlisted in 1694. The last was Johannes Carlsson Holander, accepted in 1883.

When the indelningsverk was abolished in 1901, these crofts lost their military purpose. But many still stand – silent witnesses to a time when every village had its own soldier.

This particular cottage was purchased in 1935 from Molanders torp and moved here the following year. It was furnished with items from the local area – and still today, it offers a glimpse of how a croft soldier could live, year after year, in times of peace.

Photo: Solveig Areschoug Pettersson