Who is a pirate?

There is currently an exhibition about piracy at Sjöhistoriska museet, the Maritime Museum.

 

How does piracy happen and who becomes a pirate? Follow us to the Baltic Sea of the 14th Century and to the Bay of Aden of today.

There have been pirates as long as humans have sailed the seas. Poverty, wars and political unrest have caused pirates to pop up in different places throughout the centuries. But history shows that piracy depends on geographical, political, social and economic conditions. This exhibition, Who is a pirate?, tells us about these circumstances - in historical times and today.

Somalia

The Somalian pirates are living proof of this: they inhabit a coastline in proximity to shipping trade routes where merchant vessels are poorly protected. They have harbours where water and food can be stored and their boats serviced. The pirates have contacts who convert ransoms from captured ships into commodities. And finally, they live in an area marked by poverty and political conflict.

We show documentaries and pictures of the complex roots to the events in the waters around the Horn of Africa. The present day part of the exhibition focuses only on Somalia as that is where the problems are vast and recent.

Sweden

There have been similar conditions at other times and in other places. The Victual Brothers wrecked havoc in the Baltic Sea during the 1390s. They were privateers on king Albert of Sweden's (Albrekt av Mecklenburg) side to begin with. They lived in troubled times and they assaulted everybody and anybody on principle, took possession of goods and killed the crews. This piracy continued despite peace agreements. The Victual Brothers had their base on Gotland and they made life uncertain for the crew on the cargo vessels of the German Hanseatic League towns.

The exhibition shows many examples from Sweden and the Mediterranean on where, when and how piracy has arisen. Ålands sjöfartsmuseum, the Åland Maritime Museum, has one of the few surviving, allegedly authentic, pirate flags in the world, and this flag is on loan at the exhibition.

The pirate flag from the Åland Maritime Museum. Photo: Anneli Karlsson, Statens maritima museum

The exhibition is open from 5 December to and including 31 May 2011.

Practical information

  • Opening hours: Monday-Sunday 10-17
    Closed: 23, 24, 25, 31 December, 1 January
  • Free admission on mondays, other days admission: 50 SEK
    Children and young people up to 18: free of charge
  • The Café i Lä offers simple lunches and hot and cold beverages and cakes


Travel information:

  • The Maritime Museum is at Gärdet, Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen 24.
  • Bus No 69 from Centralen stops right outside the museum.
  • A walk from Djurgårdsbron to the museum along the beautiful Djurgårdsbrunnsviken (15 minutes) is also recommended.
  • The closest tube station is Karlaplan or Gärdet.


Any questions? Call us on 08-519 549 20.