ST BARTH – SWEDEN’S ISLAND IN THE SUN

A SMALL GUIDE TO A PARADISE ISLAND IN THE CARIBBEAN THAT SWEDEN UNFORTUNATELY SOLD

If your mind sometimes wanders to a small island in the sun, read on. If you are looking for a really friendly, safe, clean, crime-free, and culturally interesting vacation spot with miles of unspoilt, uncrowded beaches, perpetual sun, tax-free shopping and fabulous French restaurants, this may be it. St. Barthelemy is a small gem of an island (9,6 square miles) in the French West Indies, just off St Marten. Everything on this island is miniature: the largest hotel has 80 rooms, the biggest aircraft that can fly in is the 19-seat Twin Otter and the total population of the island is 3 500.

If St Barthelemy is so great, w haven't you heard about it? Right now St Barth is a bit like St. Tropez was before the rest of the world discovered it. The Rockefellers, the Biddles, the Rothschilds and other jet setters who have kept vacation homes here for years have tried very hard to keep the island a secret.

St Barth was first discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus, who named it after his younger brother Bartholomew. The French annexed the island in 1648 and 50 Norman settlers tried to make a living where no "green gold" (sugar cane) would grow and where there was no silver or gold. All 50 were butchered by passing Caribs. It was only when the West Indian trade took off that St. Barth could provide some kind of a living, supplying sailors and pirates with necessities.
The French state took little interest in the island, until Gustav III of Sweden (left) passed Paris on a European shopping trip in 1785. He negotiated a swap with Louis XIV of France who got warehouse space in the port of Gothenburg against St Barth with its population of 458 whites and 281 blacks (read slaves). On March 7, 1785 St Barthelemy became Swedish. For fifty years the island prospered from the trade and law the Swedes brought to the island. Forts, houses and paved roads were constructed. The new capital Gustavia, named after the King, with 800 new houses erected in just 15 years, became Sweden's sixth largest town. Only Stockholm Gothenburg, Karlskrona Abo and Stralsund were bigger. By the mid-19th century there was a decline in trade. The Swedish parliament wanted to sell the island and King Oscar II obliged. St Barthelemy was handed back to the French on March 16, 1878. A referendum on the handover was actually held on St Barth and 351 out of 352 voters were in favour of reattachment to the French republic. Yet, to this day, the islanders are fighting for one of their rights from the Swedish period: Freedom of taxation.

COROSSOL is a small fishing village with a quaint beach. Here you can still see ancestors of the Normans, mostly older women, wearing traditional "Quichenotte" (or "kiss-menot" as they were protection from hotblooded Swedes and Englishmen). Here you can also buy the island's traditional straw-work that together with cotton was St Barthelemy's only export. In 1872 there was an alarming report that the straw hat export had sunk to 312 dozen!

PELICANS There are many hundreds of pelicans in St. Barth - and two of them are on the island's crest. You see the large and ugly bird everywhere and can enjoy its fantastic high dive technique even at the harbour in Gustavia.

THE SWEDISH CHURCHYARD
There is not much to see, but read the tombstones and fantasize about the fascinating lives led by the Swedes so far away from home. The graves are covered with shrub and are a stark contrast to the welltended local graves nearby. The last Swedish clergyman on the island was Carl Adolf Carlsson from Östergbtland (18311833), a racist on an island where racisr,i~ has not been an issue to this day.

MAISON SUEDOIS There are actually two lived-in houses from the Swedish period left. The white "Brigantine" which also doubles as a pension is inhabited by a Swedish lady, a newcomer. The "ancien Maison Suedois" was built with bricks transported here all the way from Sweden. The house that may one day become the Swedish House is now a ruin, but the St Barthelemy Association is raising money to turn it into a permanent Swedish cultural center. (If you are interested in St. Barth, you should become a member of the Association ,St Barthelemy Sällskapet c/o Inger Eklöf, Nyborgsgatan 6A, 5-114 45 Stockholm)

LORIENT
is one of the island's prettiest spots. There is a small beach and a pretty church yard next to the newly renovated church. In the churchyard lies one of the last Swedish governors of th.e island Johan Norderling (178-1828). He is described as a wellliked jovial Man who stayed in the island after he had retired. He had a Catholic church built here even though he himself was a mcthcxíist. He died tragically when Fort Gustave fired a canon causing his horse to rear and making him fall.

THE NYMAN MOUMENT Where once the Swedish flag proudly waved at the Fort Gustave, there is now a beautiful viewpoint and a rather ugly monument. The Nyman Monument was erected in memory of a Swedish sergeant-major who saved Gustavia and its inhabitants in 1810, by ref using to aim the canon at the city where a rebellion was taking place. When t11e rioting was calmed, the commarndin~ officers were exalted and August Nyman became a local hero. His prettily decorated marble urn stood for a long time on top of the monument, but will likely get its final resting place in the future "Swedish House".

VILLA LE PELICAN
is situated on the cliffs of Point Milou where there are lots of pelicans. The Swedish Royal family stayed in this Swedish-built prefab house when they visited the island in January 1988. It was on this visit that the King declared "We should never have sold this island". Ironic because the royal family, through a special agreement, was the only to profit from the return of the island to the French state.

AIRPORT
In 1984 Swedish Minister of Communications, Hans Gustafsson inaugurated the terminal building of the Gustaf III Airport. Here local St Barthians check the comings and goings of the island from 8 in the morning till darkness at 6 o'clock when the airport closes. ( St Barthians are divided on the issue of lighting at the airport for emergency purposes. There is a risk then that the traffic to the island would increase). At the airport you can rent your car.

LITERATURE If you want to know more about St. Barth the guide to read is Bonjour St Barth! (Les Editions du pelican) especially the 1984 edition with its special on the Swedish years. In Swedish Jan-Öjwind Swahn/Ola Jennersten's St Barthelemy (Wiken 1985), Göran Skytte's Kungliga Svenska Slaveriet (Askelin & Hägglund 1986), Bengt Sjögren's Karibien Med Óppna 0gon (Ordfront 1986).

BAR LE SELECT does not look like much from the outside and even less once you get inside, but it is "home" to locals, jetsetters like Bianca Jagger and all Swedes sailing in the Caribbean (check the guestbook!) Le Select is crammed with Swedish signs, pictures, dala horses and the edict that made owner Marius S tackelborough a knight of the Order of the North Star. Marius is by far St Barth's best-known citizen. and Sweden's man on the island. He has played host to the King and Queen and countless Swedes arriving to Sweden's ex colony in the Caribbean.