Buketten
© Jan Jörnmark
Urban Exploration

Hidden parts of Sweden you’ve never seen before

Experience some of Sweden’s most unique hidden sites with the urban explorer Jan Jörnmark.
Written by Jan Jörnmark
5 min readUpdated on
The Red Bull TV documentary series Urbex explores some of the world's most forbidden places by foot, navigating a myriad of off-limit structures.
Urban explorers, also known as the UrbEx community, have been around in the US and Europe since the 1960s. There has been a surge in the last dozen years and urban exploration is now a global underground movement connected via websites and forums sharing info, photos, films and experiences. Urban explorers discover the forgotten and hidden parts of their community.
Sweden's UrbEx scene might not be the biggest, but it's definitely got some cool sites worth a peak. Jan Jörnmark is one of Sweden’s best-known urban explorers and has visited his fair share of unique spots over the years. His background as an associate professor in economic history gives him the ability to add an extra dimension to his stories behind places and pictures.
Below Jan's lists his top eight spots for new urban explorers in Sweden and describes their story, mystique and attraction.
01

Buketten

Buketten

Buketten

© Jan Jörnmark

If I had to rate Swedish UrbEx sites, Buketten (“The Bouquet”) would come first. It was an extraordinary place, built by one of the country’s foremost entrepreneurs. Bengt Nygren was a professional gardener who started to produce flower bouquets in an industrial scale, which turned his fast-growing chain of stores into the flower business version of IKEA or H&M. His success was monumental, which made it necessary to build a new head office close, in turn being attached to his own luxury home, complete with swimming pools and sauna. He sold the chain when business peaked, but the new owners were unable to sustain the development. They were forced into bankruptcy in the early 1980s. Twenty years later, the decay could only be described as exceptional.
02

Fredriksberg

Fredriksberg

Fredriksberg

© Jan Jörnmark

Paper mills are the country’s most spectacular industrial ruins. The best ones I’ve seen have been Fredriksberg and Deje. The picture is from the first of these two. The first time I entered the huge room, I can remember thinking: "This is where the trolls live".
This is where the trolls live
Jan Jörnmark
03

Dinglevik race track

Dinglevik

Dinglevik

© Jan Jörnmark

There are a number of abandoned racing tracks in the country. What makes them spectacular is their history. Sweden had one of the worlds’ most successful racing drivers during the 1970s. Even though Ronnie Peterson never won the championship, he was widely considered to be the fastest driver on the Formula One circuit. The asphalt trails that can be found in Dinglevik, Älmhult, Munkedal and Askersund are the last traces from the early days of his career.
04

Ljusne, Bergslagen

Ljusne

Ljusne

© Jan Jörnmark

Bergslagen was the industrial heart of the country, but starting in the 1970s the effects of globalisation hit the region remorselessly. In many parts of the district, population has declined by a third. Industries have closed and apartment blocks emptied and razed. A large number of communities and small towns seem to be on the verge of disappearing. The picture is from Ljusne, on the outskirts of the district.
05

Hotel Tänningen

Tänninge

Tänninge

© Jan Jörnmark

I had to go further north than ever before to find the hotel in Tänningen. Built in 1964 by a successful bus charter entrepreneur, it quickly became the hospitality and skiing center for the surrounding parts of Norrland and Norway. Things started to change when cheap jet flights to Austria were introduced. After several bankruptcies, the hotel was closed for good and when I got there it had been frozen in time for almost two decades. As I was walking around alone in there, a creeping feeling of The Shining was unavoidable.
06

Täljöviken conference center

Täljöviken

Täljöviken

© Jan Jörnmark

The story was almost the same at Täljöviken conference center. It had been built by the Swedish Trade Union in 1969, almost as a monument to the triumphant cooperation between the Unions and the Social Democratic Party. But even though the government used it for its official plenary sessions, it was evident after just a few years that the luxurious center was in deep trouble. Competition in the conference business was increasing, at the same time as the long social democratic political monopoly was broken. By the start of the new millennium the loss-making facility was eventually closed down. When I visited last year it was one of the most amazing places that I had seen in many years.
07

Medeltidens värld, Götene

Götene

Götene

© Jan Jörnmark

Abandoned amusement parks are often the most spectacular UE-sites. I can think of several great ones that have existed in Sweden, and the best was probably 'The World of the Middle Ages' (Medeltidens Värld) in Götene. It was the small local county government that constructed the park, which quickly became a financial millstone. The project turned into an ever-growing disaster, in the end turning the small community into a national laughing stock. And indeed, having visited hundreds of places such as this. Götene was truly absurd in every angle of its appearance.
08

Aga Lidingö

Aga

Aga

© Jan Jörnmark

Finally, there have been a few office palaces in Stockholm that have made the 'best of' list. Having to choose between a gigantic complex at Kungsholmen which used to house one of the nations’ largest energy companies, and AGAs office in Lidingö I would stick to the latter. The leaking roof had turned the exquisite board room into a decaying museum for electronic devices that had been show pieces in the 1980s and '90s. A decade later, technological change and globalisation had transformed all of it to cheap junk.
Can’t get enough of stories like this? Don’t worry. Coupled with extreme action, a beautiful first person perspective, and heartfelt personal stories, Urbex brings you another understanding of why people are driven to explore – a drive that proves to be borderless. Check out over on Red Bull TV.
Excited? If you want se more amazing hidden places Jan Jörnmark told us about his top sports all around the world, click here and enjoy.