Michel or Emil?

A Swedish idyll with a headbutt – A visit to Kathult, the setting of Emil i Lönneberga

If Bullerby is Scandinavia's sweet smile, then Kathult is its sharp elbow—warm, but with a punch. Deep in Småland lies this farm, which looks as if Astrid Lindgren herself had shaped the landscape with axe and pen. And that's exactly what she did.

Kathult—the real Kathult—is actually called Gibberyd and is located near Rumskulla. But don't mention that out loud to anyone making the pilgrimage here. For the generations who grew up with Emil, it's Kathult , period. The place where soup bowls became helmets and carpenter's sheds became refuges for childish anarchy.

Speaking of Emil: In the original, his name is actually Emil . Only in German-speaking countries did he become "Michel," presumably because "Emil" made German children at the time smell too much of Kästner. But the spirit remained the same—a blond child with the strategic skill of a guerrilla fighter and the talent for carving a wooden figure out of every disaster.

The carpenter's shop still stands, of course. Emil is said to have carved over a hundred figures there—all as silent witnesses to deeds that would have earned other children life imprisonment. Particularly lovely: the story of the figure that looked too much like the priest. When the mother discovered it, she discreetly had it removed—not for blasphemy, but purely for self-protection. We all know what priests are like.

Today, you can walk through the house, stand in the courtyard where Alfred almost bled to death, and watch as children lock their parents in the house. As revenge for a well-planned vacation full of "cultural highlights."

Conclusion: When you visit Kathult, you're not visiting a film set—you're entering a world where pranks were allowed, art was allowed, and childhood was allowed to be wild. And that's rarer today than a carved priest figure with unclear origins.