Inns and Stage Services

Introduction

When traveling on land in the past, there were only two ways to do it, either on foot or by horse. Going back a long way in time, there were no taverns or places to stay overnight. Travelers often had to beg for overnight accommodation, usually with a farmer, or in the worst case sleep outside. Persons of high rank usually stayed with clergymen.

The Middle Ages and the Vasa Period

The king was the only person with the right to demand food and lodging from whomever he and his entourage sought. As early as 1280, the Charter of Alsnö stated that the king and his envoys had the right to demand food, lodging, and horses when traveling through the country. In King Magnus Eriksson's National Law Code from 1335, there are proposals for the establishment of taverns along the main routes. This was repeated in the 1442 General National Law Code. In practice, almost none of this was realized. In 1561, King Erik XIV issued a statute concerning taverns and now added the obligation to keep stage horses as well as supplies of food, drink, and hay to feed the horses. A village was appointed in each county district (Swe: härad) to be responsible for the inn-keeping. It was not uncommon for several villages to share this obligation. In 1615, the next statute was passed and now all county governors were obliged to ensure that inns (Swe: gästgiveri) were located along all highways at 1 ½ Swedish mil (9 mi) intervals, much more frequently than before. It was still common practice for the stage-keeping farmers (Swe: skjutsbönder) to manage their inn-keeping duties together. As there were no other means of transport on land other than horse-drawn vehicles, farmers, i.e. horse owners, were obliged to carry out horse transport on land but sometimes also across waterways, i.e. ferry transport. This primarily concerned transport for the Crown and the armed forces, transport for Crown officials. However, private transport was also to be provided by the stage-keeping farmers. As Sweden gained new roads that could be used by carriages, the stage transport system and service to travelers expanded.

Queen Kristina’s Innkeepers’ Ordinance

With Queen Kristina's Innkeepers' Ordinance of 1649 (Swe: gästgivarordningen), innkeepers were generally appointed in the country. These conditions were regulated by the 1723 Innkeepers' Ordinance. The distance between the inns would be a maximum of 2 Swedish mil. Prior to 1649, the provincial mil was used in Sweden and varied in length in different parts of the country. Now 1 mil was set at about 10.7 km (6.6 mi) and became uniform throughout the nation. Please note that a Swedish “mil” is not the same as an English mile. At the same time, the homesteaders were exempted from the obligation to keep a stage horse but instead had to pay a tax, the stage driving tax (Swe: skjutspenningen). However, the farmers were still obliged to lend horses to travelers in return for payment if the inn was temporarily unable to meet its stage driving obligations. It was soon realized that this regulation was inadequate as traffic on the roads was increasing rapidly. The 1651 instructions of the county governors, among others, therefore strongly emphasized the necessity of appointing innkeepers. In 1696 the stage drive service (Swe: hållskjutsen) was introduced, which meant that farmers, in turn, were obliged to keep stage horses and vehicles at the innkeeper's disposal. This obligation was also written into Chapter XXVIII of the Agriculture Code (Swe: Byggningabalkens) in the 1734 Act.

Inns / Stage Services (Skjutshåll)

An inn (Swe: gästgiveri) was an establishment for travelers on the roads, where food and accommodation would be provided, as well as the possibility of exchanging horses for the carriages. This was regulated in the Innkeepers' Ordinance. For each inn, there was a special stage transport order that regulated how many horses that must be there. The stage-keeping farmers (skjutsbönderna) who were attached to the inn would bring stage horses to be offered to the travelers. However, in places where there was a large number of stage transports, there were also reserve homesteads to help out when both the innkeepers' and the stage-keeping farmers' horses ran out. When it was their turn to drive, the stage-keeping farmers had to report to the inn and wait there for any transport driving assignments. Usually, the stage-keeping farmers would arrive at six o'clock in the afternoon one day and stay until the same time the following day. It happened that they had to wait for a whole day idle at the inn without any compensation, as payment only accompanied the drive. In order not to take too much time away from farm work, farmers often sent those who could be most easily spared to the farm. It could be farmhands or sons/daughters who were sent in the farmer's place, even wives, and the stage drive became very much a woman's job, but even more so a child's job. The authorities tried to ban stage driving by children."Small children must not be sent to drive, as this may cause accidents". But the ban was of no use and accidents were common. For example, carriages could overturn or lose a wheel when the carriages were traveling at high speed down the hills when young boys or tired horses could hold back. The stage-keeping farmers in the reserve, on the other hand, could stay at home and do their chores until the messenger arrived. Then they would hitch up and drive to the inn, and after completing their driving mission they would return home with a little extra money in their pockets. In general, the travelers had their own carriages or sleds. This was particularly true of noblemen and senior officials. These carriages were often heavy and clumsy and required at least three horses to pull. The traveler often had his own coachman. However, there were travelers who could not afford to keep their own carriage. They had to make do with the carriages the innkeeper or the stage- keeping farmer could provide. The carriages were often of the simplest kind and caused the travelers a great deal of inconvenience. Farmers' carriages were simple, sturdy devices without suspension, designed primarily to carry grain and other goods, not passengers. A two-wheeled gig without springs seems to have been particularly troublesome. A gig is a light two-wheeled wagon pulled by a single horse. The image shows travelers in a two- wheeled cart in Småland, Sweden. The image also shows a milestone and a closed gate across the road. Drawing by Fritz von Dardel (1817-1901). Riding in a carriage or cart without suspension was not a pleasant experience. The slightest unevenness in the road propagated through the wheels and the cart, which was a nuisance for the passengers. In order to reduce the waiting time at an inn, the traveler could pre-order horses for a certain time by a stage boy or his own messenger. The innkeeper who received such a pre-order was then obliged to have healthy and rested horses on hand when the traveler arrived. In the towns, where food and shelter could be obtained elsewhere, the inns were replaced by stage stations. In some counties, on difficult hilly routes, the innkeepers' stage transport services were divided into three classes with different fares. Those traveling in the first class were allowed to remain in the carriage regardless of the road conditions. Travelers in the second class had to walk uphill, while those in the third class had to push uphill.

Innkeeper Register

With the ever-increasing flow of travelers, some control of both travelers and inns became necessary. A first measure was to have the innkeepers keep a register, a precursor to today's hotel registers. The innkeeper registers began to be kept in 1762 following a royal decree. The traveler's name and profession were recorded. Not only the name and profession were recorded, but also the title, the inn from which they came and the next inn on the journey, etc. It was not necessary for the traveler to spend the night at the inn for his name to be recorded, but each person who had a horse changed at the inn was recorded. Travelers could also note in the register any complaints they had about the service. The innkeeper was not defenseless against accusations. He had the opportunity to explain in his register any shortcomings in the service. This was important because the register had to be sent to the county bailiff every month for prosecution of the offender. The registers were then sent to the County Administrative Board to be kept in the archives. The image shows the interior of an inn in Småland, Sweden, in 1844. Painted by Fritz von Dardel. Photo: the Nordic Museum. There is not much space inside the inn and you can see two or possibly three travelers sharing a bed. In the same room as the sleepers, two newly-arrived travelers are welcomed, one signs the innkeeper's register while the stage driver warms his hands by the fireplace.

Domestic Travel Certificates

Domestic travel certificates (Swe: inrikespass) was a passport-like document that was required for travel or stay in public places in Sweden from the 16th century until 1860. In 1603, innkeepers and farmers were forbidden to rent horses to wayfarers without travel certificates. Anyone traveling without a such travel certificate could be arrested for vagrancy. A domestic travel certificate was issued for one journey at a time and to a specific place. Even the route was written in detail. In 1814, a royal decree ordered innkeepers to record in their registers whether the traveler had a travel certificate or was “known in the locality”.

Stage Drive (Hållskjuts)

In 1696 the "hållskjuts" (stage drive) was introduced, which meant that farmers, in turn, were obliged to keep horses and vehicles at the disposal of the inn. From each of the inns, there were to be stage drives to the nearest inn. The farmers in the stage keeping district to which they were assigned were required to present themselves with horses on certain predetermined days at the inn, to "lie in wait" (on-call) as it were, in order to make the stage drives (hållskjuts). For each number of the mantal-set land or seland within the district, the farmer was allocated a certain number of days on which he had to make stage drives. These on-call days were called 'håll'. In order to keep track of each farmer's obligation to drive, the crown bailiff with the County Administrative Board (Länstyrelsen), with the assistance of parish representatives, drew up a stage drive list (Swe: hållskjutslängd), which indicated the number of estimated stage drives for each day and who was to carry them out. The rule was that first of all the farmers' stage drive horses should be used by the travelers. Once the farmers' stage drive horses had been hired, it was then the turn of the innkeeper to drive with his own horses. When both the farmers' and the innkeeper's horses were rented, the "reserve farmers' horses" had to be used. The stage-keeping obligation and all that it entailed was considered one of the worst scourge of the homesteaders. Especially during the busy harvest season, the obligation to do stage drives caused farmers both inconvenience and financial loss. Farmers might refuse to appear at the inn because they had been on-call there time after time without receiving an order. Although the stage stations were called inns (Swe: gästgiveri) at this time, they were generally not inns in the late sense. Food and lodging were provided in the innkeepers' homesteads, and there were rarely any special buildings for this purpose. However, the county administrative boards tried to work for the establishment of real inns with travel rooms and proper service and not just what happened to be on the stove at the innkeepers' homes along the roads, but often the cost of this was too high for the farmers. Lodging was usually provided in the kitchen of the farming families, usually also in the same bed as the people on the farm, if not on the floor or in some outhouse. The stay at an inn in those days was not so pleasant that, despite the low price of accommodation, people stayed there longer than necessary. In most cases, they only stopped to change horses. The most important task of the innkeepers was to provide transport for the travelers. Only around 1700 did special inns become more common. The image to the right shows a two-wheeled cart with room for two people on the coachman's seat, 1880s. Photo: Postal Museum, ID: POST.045594.

The 1734 Innkeepers' Ordinance

The 1734 Innkeepers' Ordinance established and clarified the inn-keeping obligation and now forced inns that did not yet have a dining room and overnight accommodation for travelers to build them. The inns were also required to have stables and coach houses. In other words, the inns had to have the necessary buildings for a traveler, such as a hall or guest house with chambers, and stables, and coach houses. If the inn-keeping farmer could not afford to build it himself, the county district would help. If the premises were not sufficient, he would accommodate the guests in the neighboring farms. The innkeeper was also obliged to keep "necessary bedding, linen, tablecloths, and other household utensils, as well as candles, firewood, and wine, food, hard liquor, beer, as well as barley and oats, hay and straw for the horses". The price of lodging and food was regulated by a special tariff, set by the county governor. It was also stipulated that a stage drive board (Swe: skjutstavla) with distances to neighboring inns should be posted at each inn. Changing horses at virtually every inn made the journey long and cumbersome. The farmers' horses were often exhausted after working in the fields all day. Normally, the stage driving farmer had the right to ride with the travelers to the next inn, where he could take his horse home. Sometimes, however, distinguished travelers refused to have the farmer in their carriage and he then had to jog behind the traveler’s carriage the twenty kilometers (6 mi) to the next inn to pick up his horses, which greatly contributed to the dissatisfaction with the stage- keeping obligation. The image shows an inn board or stage drive board from Alsike Inn, Uppland. Photo: Upplandsmuseet, ID: UM10279. Text on the board: Alsike Inn: From here we operate a stage transport service with the number of horses shown in the register. To Upsala 1.6 mil, Sigtuna 1.9 mil: Märsta 2.1 mil, Marma 1.6 mil, Knifsta 0.9 mil. According to information, the board was placed on the wall of the main entrance to Alsike Inn, Alsike parish, Uppland until 1927 when the inn was closed. 1 nymil = 1 mil = 10 km = 6 mi.

Caring for the horses

Of course, it was cheaper to get a ride in a cart after one horse, than in a wagon after two horses. This meant that travelers usually chose the smaller carts, which were therefore often overloaded, which was a common problem. But there were animal welfare concerns at the time too. The 1734 Act contained strict loading regulations to protect farmers' small horses. According to the regulations, the horse could not be burdened with more load "than it can comfortably carry". A cart harnessed to one horse was not allowed to pull more than about 170 kilos. A wagon with two horses could carry twice that amount. A cart drawn by one horse could carry a maximum of two people, but a wagon drawn by two horses could carry three people, "under which three the coachman or servant of the traveler, but not the driver, is understood". The amount of luggage was limited to "a moderate bag, or a small box or trunk". In addition, to protect the horses, the speed at which the carriages could be driven was limited. A stretch of 10 km (6 mi) could not be covered in less than 1 ½ hours, which corresponds to a speed of just under 7 km/h (4.3 mph). Now the supervision of the speed of the carriages was not the best. If the road was in good condition and the horse was well- rested, the speed could be higher. It was not uncommon for travelers to have both their own carriage and coachman. On these occasions, it was customary for the travelers not to want the stage-keeping farmer on the wagon, who then had to jog behind the carriage to the next inn to take the horse home. If the travelers were in a hurry and with the horse-owning farmer behind the carriage, the coachman could push the horse more than was good for it. It was easy to see from the horses that had just arrived at an inn if they had been pushed too hard. The horses were then white with lather and exhausted. It was not uncommon to have to put down a stage horse that had dropped down from overexertion. Sometimes there would be quarrels and disagreements if a horse and carriage had been driven too hard, and the new stage-keeping farmer, whose horses were to be used until the next inn, would take a stand and refuse to rent his horses. Read more about a Stage Drive with Murder, Fines, and Imprisonment.

Related Links

• Stage Drive with Murder, Fines and Imprisonment • Road History, page-1 • Road History, page-2 • Summer Pasture • The Conception of Socken (parish) • Domestic Travel Certificates • History of the Swedish Police • History of Railways in Sweden • History of Göta Canal • Old Swedish Units of Measurement • Agricultural Land Reforms, Sweden • Postal Services Formerly

Source References

• Vägen i kulturlandskapet, vägar och trafik före bilismen, Vägverket, 2004 • Det gamla Ytterlännäs, Sten Berglund, 1974. Utgiven av Ytterlännäs hembygdsförening. Kapitel 39, sid 368 och framåt. • Hur klövjestigen blev landsväg, Gösta Berg, 1935. (Svenska kulturbilder / Första utgåvan. Andra bandet (del III & IV), sid 269 och framåt.) • Gästgiveri och skjutshåll, Ur det forna reselivets krönika, av Sven Sjöberg. Ur årsboken Uppland, 1959. • Stigen av Lars Levander, 1953 • Skjutssystemet i Sverige: Hjultrafik. Artikel av Carolina Söderholm, publicerad i Populär Historia 4/2001. • Svenska Akademins Ordbok, SAOB (The Swedish Academy Dictionary) • Wikipedia • Lantmäteriet (The National Land Survey of Sweden) Top of page

The 1800s

In a stage drive list (Swe: hållskjutslängd) drawn up in 1819 in Ytterlännäs parish in southern Ångermanland, the number of "on-call" (håll) days was estimated at 575. Since each "håll" corresponded to 1 seland of land, a farmer who had a homestead of 5 seland had to go to his assigned inn and make 5 stage drives (hållskjuts). In the 1870s, the stage transport fare was 1.60 SEK per 10 km. The farmers were then compensated for the drives at 3.60 SEK per seland. The innkeeper was thus obliged from 1734 to provide food for the travelers. This and other things were regulated in the Innkeepers' Ordinance (Gästgiveriordningen). The innkeeper was appointed by the county administrative board. If more than one person wanted the job, it was contracted out. New means of communication eventually replaced horse- drawn stage transports. During the 19th century, it became increasingly common for innkeepers to contract out all stage transportation. The image shows Rotebro Inn in Sollentuna. Image: From “Gästgiveri och skjutshåll”, 1959. In the mid-1600s, Rotsunda landed estate was granted permission by Queen Kristina to operate a tavern, lodging, and stage transport service "for a cheap and reasonable payment". Rotsunda Estate was then owned by County Governor Johan Berndes. Rotebro Inn was located at the bridge over the Ed River (Edsån) and next to the important highway between Stockholm and Uppsala (Uppsalavägen). From here you could take a stage drive to Kimsta, Märsta, Barkarby, Stockholm, and Ås Husby. Rotebro Inn is known from the painting "Grindslanten" by August Malmström. In the background of this painting is the now lost inn where Malmström lived for a few summers in the 1880s. When stagecoach services were established in some parts of the country, travelers were able to plan their journeys better and departures were made at set times. In 1831, a stagecoach line was established between Stockholm and Linköping, seating 8 people, and the journey took 15 hours between these cities, which was faster than with the inns' stage transports. The first steamboat lines also meant a lot to more affluent travelers, who were able to avoid the often rather humble inns. The railways were to play an even greater role in reducing the need for inns. With the 1878 stage transport statute, farmers were finally freed from most of the stage-keeping duty, and travelers were forced to get horses and lodgings where they could buy them themselves. A distinction was also made between the obligation to provide food and accommodation and the obligation to provide stage transports, and the County Administrative Board allowed the possibility of transforming an inn into a stage transport station only (Swe: skjutsstation). In Sweden, a stage station was an establishment for travelers on the roads where horses could be exchanged for stage drives, but not, as in an inn, where food and lodging could be obtained. It was not until 1911 that the stage-keeping obligation disappeared completely. In 1933, the entire institution was abolished as a matter of public concern. The image shows an inn in 1838. Drawing by F. von Dardel. Image: Örebro County Museum, ID: OLM-91-102- 1760.

Captive Transports

Occasionally, a prisoner transport would stop at the inn to change horses. These were usually prisoners on their way from the remand prison to the jail or the whipping place. The transport of prisoners was called deportation (Swe: förpassning). Often the prisoner wore both hand and leg cuffs of iron. Prisoner transport could take many days, depending on the distance, in a shaky wagon that made the cuffs chafe on the skin. To see these chained criminals was a distressing sight. At the inn, a short stop was made for changing horses and a meal. With their chains rattling, the prisoners were led into the kitchen where they were served hot milk and bread. It was not with great enthusiasm that the stage- keeping farmers carried out such commissions. They never knew what might happen on the journey through the miles of forest. For the horses, however, these transports were of a light nature. The prisoners did not carry any packs, nor were they in any great hurry to get to the prison or the whipping pole. The image shows a guarded prisoner transport in the 19th century.

Stagecoach Service

The first to start stagecoach service (Swe: diligenstrafik) in Sweden was Jakob Wallrave in 1722. He arranged postal services with stagecoaches that also carried passengers. The service began between Stockholm and Uppsala, but after a while was extended to Gävle. Wallrave wanted to make use of the stage-keeping farmers' horses, but the proposal was rejected by the Peasantry in the Estates of the Realm in 1723. Wallrave was therefore forced to cease operations in the fall of 1723. It was now more than 100 years before a new private stagecoach service was resumed. This time it was again the Stockholm - Uppsala route on which the service began. This service continued until 1866. The Stockholm - Linköping route was opened in 1831. The service was soon extended to Jönköping. Soon most of the country was covered by stagecoach service. The image shows a Swedish Post Office stagecoach from around 1860 with a fully covered compartment and room for four passengers inside. Two passenger seats on the rear trunk. Image: Postal Museum, ID: POST.047121. The Post Office itself also started a stagecoach service in 1831 on the Stockholm - Ystad line. There was one departure per week in both directions. The horses had to be acquired by contract and could be used for a maximum of 30 km before being changed. The entire route was 560 km. The trip started in Stockholm at 6 o'clock on Saturday evening and arrived in Ystad on Thursday afternoon (5 days). They spent the night in Nyköping, Linköping, Jönköping, Växjö, and Kristianstad. However, it was not always possible to arrive on Thursday afternoon, especially when it was raining heavily and the road conditions were terrible. Then the journey could take a week or more. Competition on the passenger side was fierce from the private stagecoach lines, which had much more comfortable carriages. In 1834, passenger traffic on the Post Office's line therefore ceased. It was not until 1850 that the Post Office resumed passenger services. The image shows a simpler Post Office stagecoach on the line between Jönköping and Halmstad. Photo: Halland Art Museum, ID: T011326. Stagecoach traffic had its greatest boom between 1861 and 1875. This was partly to replace the post- keeping farmer's establishment, which was gradually withdrawn from 1860. In 1859 there were 746 postman's homesteads. By 1866 they had fallen to 314 and by 1870 they had disappeared completely. The decision to dismantle the service of the post- keeping farmers and replace it with a stagecoach service was taken at the 1860 Parliament meeting. See also Postal Services Formerly

The Railway

The heyday of the stagecoach services coincided with the expansion of the railway. The railways now increasingly took over the postal service. In 1888, the last stagecoach service was withdrawn. It was now possible to travel by train between Stockholm and Gothenburg in 12 hours, compared with a week by horse-drawn stagecoach. The first Swedish railway line was opened in 1856. The greatest expansion of the railway took place in the 1870s when most towns in central and southern Sweden were connected by rail. The northern lines were then expanded. The government built the broad-gauge main lines and private companies built the narrow-gauge lines. The main lines would connect the different parts of the country and the private lines within a region. This division remained until the 1930s. The Post Office now began to use the railway as a means of transport, and after a few years, it also began to sort the mail on board the trains in special mail coaches. The first mail coaches began to be used in 1861. In the north, where the railway was less well developed, special mail buses were used. The number of Post Office bus routes increased. They connected the railway lines in the northern countryside. The Innkeepers' registers provide clear evidence of the decline in horse-drawn carriage travel following the extension of the railway. After the Uppsala-Gävle railway was built in 1874, the number of travelers stopping at Mehede Inn fell from 150 in January to 34 in April, and the number of horses leaving the inn during the same period fell from 254 to 42. The decline is even more marked in 1880: the number of travelers in January was only two, and ten years later the inn register for the same month does not record a single traveler. Mehedeby is a village in northern Uppland in Tierp parish. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, there were still many inns in areas without railway connections. But as the number of cars increased, these inns were also affected by modern demands for faster connections and were closed down one by one.

Images - Inns & Stage Services