Hermas Museigård Enklinge

Hermas Museigård

On Enklinge, a short ferry hop from Kumlinge, Hermas is the last fully preserved farmstead in the Åland archipelago. Its twenty or so log buildings, an old smoke sauna among them, have been left much as they were when the last resident, Sven Karlsson, died in 1973.

Sven was born in 1897. He lost a leg in his youth and still worked as a shoemaker, boat builder, carpenter and fisherman. Like the generations before him, he lived from the farm and the sea, and made almost everything else by hand. Walking through the rooms, workshops and old gardens, you notice the textures first. Then you start to see small hints of modern life worked into the patina of a much older one. It’s a museum of tools, and of a life.

We took friends here during a summer concert visit and made an afternoon of it: a quick ferry, a picnic lunch, and a slow wander through the buildings. It’s one of our favourite half-days to suggest.

The ferry to Enklinge needs booking in advance, and we’re happy to help arrange it. For opening times, contact details and more photographs, see the museum’s website.