Town Houses and Country Estates – Dutch Architecture in Sweden

In the seventeenth century, the Dutch Republic became Sweden’s main trading partner. The countries were very different in many respects, but it was precisely these differences that sowed the seeds of a common economic interest. Lively cultural relations grew up in the wake of these commercial contacts. This book examines Dutch architecture in Sweden in this period – the country mansions, great town houses and gardens designed by a Dutch architect or built for a Dutch client – and explores the stories of the people who had them built and who lived in them, because they had an immense influence on their design. Perhaps the most important of these clients was Louis de Geer. The book also describes the role of the Dutch in the establishment of Gothenburg and the development of the city in the seventeenth century, an age when the close ties with the Dutch republic were of great importance to Swedish trade, culture and science.