An impressive hotel, established by the seaman\u2019s mission. Stora Hotellet will always be associated with Ume\u00e5\u2019s long history as an important seafaring centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite its location far from the world\u2019s major oceans, Ume\u00e5 owes much to its links with the sea. The town was given seafaring rights in 1760 and as the sea trade blossomed in the nineteenth century, Ume\u00e5\u2019s growth paralleled the performance of the great sailing ships as goods and people travelled from V\u00e4sterbotten to harbours all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ume\u00e5 seaman\u2019s mission was established in 1844. It was a form of trade union and social insurance for seamen. In 1892 the mission acquired two plots of land next to Ume\u00e4lven river and local architect Viktor \u00c5str\u00f6m was asked to design a combined seaman\u2019s mission building and hotel. \u00c5str\u00f6m\u2019s design mixes grandeur with sea influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stora Hotellet was completed in October 1895 and soon became a centre of entertainment in Ume\u00e5 as well as a site for official ceremonies. There were bedrooms, the largest banquet hall in town, a dining room, bar, billiards room and a terrace next to the river with a bandstand and refreshment stall. A few years later a music pavilion and theatre were added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the same building the Ume\u00e5 seaman\u2019s mission looked out over the river. At the mission seamen enlisted into the trade, jobs were advertised, crew lists and ship registers were archived, fees, subsidies and loans were paid out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus two different worlds mingled at Stora Hotellet. Weatherworn seafarers, captains and ship builders met royalty and the elite of Ume\u00e5 society. When the big wide world came to Ume\u00e5 it stayed at Stora Hotellet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Prior to the opening of Stora Hotellet, the mission leased the operation of the hotel business. The first hotel manager and restaurant owner was Gotthard Zetterberg, a man who knew all about life at sea as well as the hotel trade. As a twenty-year-old in 1883 he sailed with Adolf Nordenski\u00f6ld on the latter\u2019s Greenland expedition where he served as a steward aboard the steamship Sofia. The big question that Nordenski\u00f6ld wanted to answer was whether the interior of Greenland was covered with ice or, in fact, green. The expedition wasn\u2019t a big success. All they found was ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After his adventures at sea, Gotthard arrived at Bolln\u00e4s where he worked at the railway hotel in the service of the legendary Wilhelmina Skogh who would later become the managing director of the mighty Grand Hotel in Stockholm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1895 Gotthard Zetterberg turned up in Ume\u00e5 and the managers of the seaman\u2019s mission welcomed him with open arms. Gotthard became the first manager of Stora Hotellet with a staff of almost 150 people. He held court at Stora Hotellet for almost 18 years as \u201cthe punch flowed in steady streams\u201d and his generosity and sincerity forged enduring links between the seaman\u2019s mission and the festive hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gotthard became a central figure in Ume\u00e5, fully committed to his new home town. For several years he was the chairman of north Sweden\u2019s restaurant association. He was a member of the town\u2019s tree-planting committee where he worked to keep the local parks in bloom. After he died on 7 January 1913, local residents left their homes to follow him on his final journey to the cemetery on Storgatan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Gotthard\u2019s death the hotel was managed for two years by his wife, Fredrique. When Magnus Dahl succeeded her, an epoch was over. Stora Hotellet would continue to dominate night life in Ume\u00e5 for many years. Gotthard and Fredrique Zetterberg had set the tone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An impressive hotel, established by the seaman\u2019s mission. Stora Hotellet will always be associated with Ume\u00e5\u2019s long history as an important seafaring centre. Despite its location far from the world\u2019s major oceans, Ume\u00e5 owes much to its links with the sea. The town was given seafaring rights in 1760 and as the sea trade blossomed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-561","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n