For centuries, people have met in the buildings of the Klosterhotel for feasting and work - they have also come together to heal body and soul, for quiet, secluded contemplation, and to gather for great, important councils.
In the 14th century, King Magnus Eriksson and his wife Blanche held such lavish parties in the palace that the courts of Europe spoke of the luxury of the Swedish royal house with envy. Birgitta Birgersdotter (Saint Bridget) was of the opposite nature. She transformed the royal palace into a monastery of the Lord. Spartan monastic life was centered around prayer and work. Morning prayer lasted four hours and warming fires in winter were strictly forbidden.
During the Swedish wars against Russia and other major powers in Europe, Gustav II Adolf established a Warrior House in the old monastery buildings. It was a nursing home for wounded and disabled soldiers and their families.
It now houses a comfortable hotel and a renowned restaurant: Vadstena Klosterhotel with Restaurant Munkklostret. Vadstena Klosterhotel combines the old with the new. As before, this is a place for meetings, parties, hard work and exciting events. If King Magnus or Birgitta came to visit, they would recognize themselves and be at home, and at the same time be amazed at how such old premises could be made so modern and comfortable.
The only building that remains from the former monastery is the house in which the Restaurant Munkklostret now operates. During the monastic period from 1384 onwards, the house was only one storey high. In the middle of the 17th century, the house was put to a new use when Vadstena Krigsmanshus was established.
The Warrior's House was a kind of retirement home for returning wounded soldiers. In the 1760s, the house was rebuilt with a second floor - what we call the 18th century floor (10), according to drawings by the superintendent C. J. Cronstedt. The house then got the exterior you can see today with an intermediate blind floor towards the entrance side. The monastery's building was mainly used for the staff of the War House. The inmates of the war men's house, the gratifiers, lived in the west wing of the nunnery (today's hotel building). Today there are conference rooms and lounges with a bar in the 18th century floor.
The Afzelius Salon was named in honor of one of the largest donors, Mrs. Märta Afzelius. The western gray wing of the magnificent building that Birger Jarl had erected in the mid-13th century is now a hotel building. The house had an important function in the nunnery that was established in 1384. Since the closure of the monastery in 1595, it has been used for various purposes: as a war house, a correctional institution and as part of Vadstena Hospital.
Thanks to a series of donations, the house was converted into a guest house for the Birgitta Foundation in the 1960s. The name of the salon was chosen in honor of one of the largest donors, Mrs Märta Afzelius. During the monastery period, the salon that is now called the Afzelius Salon was part of the nunnery's winter dining room. The winter dining room could be heated by a hot air system that is preserved under the entrance altar. Vadstena Klosterhotel now uses the salon as a lounge for hotel guests.
When you walk out of the glass door of the main building, you enter the grassy garden named after St. Bridget. Here they had planted the most beautiful flowers, the most fragrant herbs and some shady trees that would attract birds and butterflies. The purpose of the garden was for the nuns to spend time in this enchanting environment and think: If it is this beautiful on earth, how beautiful should it be in heaven?
From the courtyard, you can also see the large brick house, which doesn't look very remarkable, but is indeed remarkable. This is Sweden's oldest non-religious building, originally a royal palace! Here you will find the King's Hall and the Nuns' Chapter House.
The monastery café is located in a small house on the banks of Lake Vättern, sometimes called Hjertstedtska villan. The house was built in the 18th century as a priest's residence for Vadstena Krigsmanshus, i.e. the soldiers' home that was built in the middle of the 17th century in the former monastery premises.
The warrior house was closed down in 1783 and in 1795 a health resort for venereal disease patients was opened in the former monastery. The villa was then used as a doctor's residence and is named after Ludwig Magnus Hjertstedt, who was the town doctor in Vadstena from 1840 to 1849 and chief physician at the spa and Vadstena hospital from 1846 to 1868. Vadstena Klosterhotel runs Vadstena Klostercafé in the building and in the surrounding garden.
The Convent Room is one of the original rooms from the early days of the nunnery in the late 14th century. At that time it was used as an assembly hall and summer dining room. This dining room was not connected to the hot air system that heated the winter dining room in the northern part of the building.
In the second window recess facing west in the convent's cottage, impressions can be seen in the bricks from both animals and humans. The imprints were made in the clay before it dried during firing. The person who once built the wall could not have failed to notice the mistake, but nevertheless chose to insert the stones in a clearly visible place. With a little imagination, we can hear the mason laughing with delight at our wonder at the imprints. Today, the convention hall is used as a conference hall but also as a party room.
The cloister was the covered walkway that ran around the inner courtyard of the nunnery, the so-called grass courtyard. The passageway could be used as a connecting passage between the various buildings around the courtyard. The crossing was equipped with arcades open to the courtyard. There are theories that the passage was completely covered towards the southern part of the building and that it was made of wood towards the former royal palace, the Bjälboätten palace.
The corridor in the hotel building facing the courtyard is the only part of the original 14th-century enclosed cloister that is still somewhat preserved. This part of the cloister was built into the house when the building was widened in 1646, when the west wing was converted into a war men's house for retired war invalids.
Today the building is commonly referred to as the People's Royal Palace, and Birger Jarl had it built for his son Valdemar when he was elected king in 1250. At that time the building was much grander than it is today, built of brick, which was the finest material imaginable. Now imagine that the roof started roughly where the ridge of the roof is today, that there was a loft corridor running the length of the palace on the second floor, and that there was a large knights' hall and a church on the second floor. The entire lower ground floor was the king and queen's private quarters. The newly elected King Valdemar and his Queen Sophie, aged 17, were the first to live here. When they were not allowed to rule, as their father Birger Jarl did for 16 years, they spent their time transforming the area into the largest entertainment center in Northern Europe with balls, parties and jousting.
Valdemar was overthrown in 1275 by his brother Magnus Ladulås. His grandson, King Magnus Eriksson, was a contemporary of Birgitta of Ulfåsa. During King Magnus' reign, the King's Hall served as an audience hall for receptions and judgments. During the monastery period, the building was rebuilt several times and the former audience hall was used as a workroom, possibly also as a dining room. Birgitta wanted Magnus to donate the palace to the monastery for monks and nuns that she wanted to build. In 1346, he donated the palace to Birgitta's future monastic order.
Vadstena Klosterhotel uses the hall as a banquet hall and breakfast room.
In the southern wing of the monastery is the Monks' Chapter House, used by the monks as a meeting and prayer room. The hall is the best preserved part of the monastery building from 1384 in its original state.
The chapter house was the place in the monastery where a section (capitulum) of the monastic rule was listened to every day. Everyone in the monastery had a designated seat. This is where the deceased were remembered and their souls prayed for. It was here that the affairs of the monastery were decided, letters were issued and violations of the rule were denounced. Here they went to confession to confess their sins and shortcomings in strict secrecy and receive forgiveness. After the church, the chapter house is usually the most richly decorated room in a monastery. We use the hall as a dining room for parties and weddings and for weddings.
The corridor, where some of the monks' sleeping cells were located. The monastery built in Vadstena according to Birgitta's instructions was a so-called double monastery for both monks and nuns. What remains today of the monastery is the building in which the Restaurant Munkklostret operates. During the monastic period from the end of the 14th century onwards, the building was only one storey high. Almost the entire building served as the monks' dormitory, with sleeping cells in two rows, separated by a corridor in the middle.
The spaces on either side of the corridor where the monks' sleeping cells once stood are those that now contain toilets, cloakrooms and storerooms, as well as the staircase to the 2nd floor added in the 1760s.
The monks' dormitory is where the Restaurant Munkklostret is today and contained six sleeping cells. The monastery built in Vadstena according to Birgitta's instructions was a so-called double monastery, i.e. for both monks and nuns. The only building that remains from the former monastery is the house in which the Restaurant Munkklostret operates today.
During the monastic period from the end of the 14th century onwards, the building was only one storey high. Almost the entire building served as the monks' dormitory, with sleeping cells in two rows, separated by a corridor in the middle. There were two cells under each cross vault, which means that there must have been six sleeping cells in the area now occupied by the restaurant's dining room. The left wing, which contained the monks' kitchen, was demolished in the 1760s and replaced by a new wing with a kitchen. Today there is a modern kitchen in the same wing, adapted for today's high demands on storage and cooking.
The chapter house is a large room or house in a monastic complex where the ruling assembly (chapter) meets. As far as art production is concerned, it was very extensive at Vadstena Abbey. Embroideries and book paintings were made, but it is mainly the wall paintings that are relevant.
There were probably no murals in the abbey church, as there are fragments of the original frescoes in the nuns' chapter house. Scenes from the childhood of Jesus, the Ascension, the Coronation of Mary and the so-called Mercy Seat, the image of God giving the world his son as a gift.
The so-called "Vadstena Master" painted the murals in the chapter house in 1385 at the earliest, depicting events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. The paintings are characteristic of the beautiful style where body shapes are rounded and ornate. Today, the chapter house is mainly used for weddings.
The herb garden dates back to the time of St. Birgitta. At Vadstena Abbey, garden culture was highly regarded. Medieval herb books and other writings from the monastery are rich sources. Saint Birgitta herself provided the first information about a garden at the future monastery, and Johan Päterson - Sweden's first known gardener - was Birgitta's squire in Rome. He was a gardener by profession, but he also started building the monastery in 1369 (there is a memorial statue in the Herb Garden). He introduced many new plants to our country and many plant relics remain from the monastery era, such as the Monastery Lily (Leucojum vernum), which is the most famous and the symbol of the Herb Garden.
The plants in the Herb Garden date back to the time of St. Bridget. There are herbs, medicinal plants, poisonous drugs, historic roses and ornamental shrubs. Adjacent to the Herb Garden with its spices and medicinal plants, there is also a perennial bed, Lustgården, where old croft and grandmother's plants grow. There is also a Rosarium with historic shrub roses, Skogsbryn and Surhåla with flowering wild shrubs and perennials.
In the Monk's Garden, next to the Herb Garden, the unique and beautiful monastery lilies bloom in the spring and there are also about 100 fruit trees of varying ages.
At weddings, it's nice to gather in the Herb Garden and soak up the scents and enjoy a glass of champagne with snacks with the guests. Restaurant Munkklostrets also has a Kitchen and Spice Corner in the Herb Garden that the chefs use in cooking.
The ruined park was created after an archaeological excavation in the 1920s revealed the medieval convent walls. The walls are the remains of the convent's oratory, brewery and bakery. The brewery house was demolished as late as the early 19th century.
Founded by St. Bridget at the end of the 14th century, the monastery was set up for both monks and nuns. They lived completely separately, but in the Speech House they were able to communicate with each other through dense wooden grilles. There was also a spinning barrel and a draught box and through these they could exchange things with each other, all without visual and physical contact. The spinning barrel and the draught box have now been recreated so that visitors can see how the bartering took place. The different rooms of the monks and nuns at the monastery have been marked with shingle and gravel in different colors.
The monastery's brewery produced almost 90,000 liters of beer per year for the brothers and nuns of the monastery.
Under the ground floor of the southern part of the monastery is the wine cellar. The thick vaults have supported the monastery building since the end of the 14th century. As the monks brewed their own beer, a large and cool space was needed for storage. Other products, such as cheese and wine, were also stored in the cellar. Restaurant Munkklostret has built up a well-stocked wine cellar under the old vaults, with a range that is one of the best in Sweden.
