Eating One's Words

Peter I of Russia had occupied all the territories in eastern Sweden. Russia had officially won the Great Northern War, which had started in 1700 and was about to finish, 21 years later.

In Nystad, formally in Sweden, now in Finland, the Russian Tsar met with the king of Sweden, Frederick I. The Swedish king transferred three of four regions to Russia.

This treaty would mark the end of the Swedish empire and a power transfer in all of Europe.

Curiously, Russia had ceded the fourth territory, the majority of Finland, back to Sweden. This was so significant that a year later, a tavern was opened in Stockholm named “Den Gyldene Freden” (The Golden Peace) in honour of this event.

In 2025, the restaurant still stands, and it still serves traditional Swedish fare (meatballs with lingonberry jam, pickled herring, shrimp on toast, etc.). It never fully closed (even with a small takeover of the neighbouring tavern in 1891), and it attracted musicians, artists, and other cultural figures from the very start. It is the second-oldest restaurant to be continually at its original address and operating.

There is a very good chance it will remain that way, because in 1920, the restaurant was gifted to the Swedish Academy, the entity that awards the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Every Thursday, the academy members meet in The Bellman Room of the restaurant. Perhaps to discuss potential laureates, or, as it has been reported, to dine on pea soup.

(This is the Bellman’s Room, in which the Swedish Academy members meet weekly.)