The De Geer Mansion

The De Geer mansion at the centre of Lövstabruk is one of the finest 18th-century manor houses in Sweden, rebuilt after the Russian raid of 1719 destroyed the original settlement. The De Geer family, Dutch industrialists who had made their fortune supplying cannon to the Swedish state, spared no expense in the reconstruction — the result was a formal baroque ensemble that turned a remote ironworks into something resembling a small palace complex.

The mansion contains one of the best-preserved 18th-century interiors in the country, including the original library with its full complement of books. Guided tours of the mansion and grounds are available in summer; check locally for current opening times. The formal gardens, the outbuildings, and the canal connecting the estate to the lake are part of the heritage walk through the village.

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A story
When future King Gustaf III visited Lövstabruk in the 1770s, he wrote to his mother that "if she had not seen Lövsta, she had seen nothing" — a striking compliment to a merchant's estate in rural Uppland. The mansion's library, assembled by the De Geer family over generations, is one of the finest 18th-century private libraries in Sweden, with thousands of volumes still on the original shelves.