Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Murder by Mistake

At the Cemetery

This is one of many graves belonging to the Upmark family, that you will find at the cemetery in Västerhaninge. There used to be a hedge surrounding this part of the cemetery, but for some reson it has been cut down. I was looking for the headstone of Herman Upmark, but couldn't find it. He was murdered by mistake. Back in 1871 two men, Konrad Petterson Lundqvist Tector and Gustav Adolf Eriksson Hjert murdered Herman Upmark and his chauffeur, Johan August Larsson near Malmköping. They had planned to rob a horse-drawn, two-wheeled mail wagon, but it was dark and they made a mistakee and Upmark, who was a rail road engineer, and on his way home, was shot to death together with his chauffeur. The two murderers were executed on May 18 in 1876. They were the last persons to be executed in Sweden. This grave belongs to Elisabeth Björkman from the same family, she lived between 1790 and 1851. The Upmark family comes from Tungelsta, and I have shown you many photos from their estate Hammar on this blog over the years.

Taphophile Tragics.

20 comments:

黄清华 Wong Ching Wah said...

I salute your courage to photography at the cemetery ! Beautiful !!!!

Kate said...

The cross is both beautiful and unusual. I find cemeteries fastinating and often discover some interesting facts about the person, family, or community. Upmark's story is sad; what a stupid way to die!

Julie said...

Well that is different from 'murder by candlestick, in the library'. But yes, distressingly modern.

That is an interesing wrought iron cross. Very definite, in a place that is full of the shadow, of the less definite.

Now you have something in this post which I did not copy. But a prefix to the name of your town, Haninge. What does that prefix signify, Steffe?

Thank you for your continued support of Taphophile Tragics. It means much to me.

Julie said...

Västerhaninge

mm ... at a guess, it is probably East or West Haninge.

Rae Walter said...

Fascinating story and beautiful photography Steffe.

Stefan Jansson said...

Spot on Julie. West Haninge and East Haninge were municipalities of their own for many years. The system with "kommuner" was created in Sweden back in 1863. And that's when Österhaninge and Västerhaninge became municipalities. My great grandfather was Mayor (although we don't use that term) in Västerhaninge Kommun for many years. In 1971 the two municipalities became one, namely Haninge Kommun.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Beautiful wintery image and excellent DOF Steffe, the cross is amazing..great shot for the theme.

Mike Laplante said...

Murder by Mistake... what a great title for a novel or a play!

Murder implies planning, deliberation which is completely at odds with the idea of a mistake.

Rebeccas.se said...

Väldigt intressant, håller med föregående talare om att din rubrik låter som en boktitel! Dock var detta den sista offentliga avrättningen i Sverige, den allra sista ägde rum på Långholmen den 23 november 1910 då Johan Alfred Ander avrättades med giljotin.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I'm visiting my fellow Taphophile Tragics. That was a fun romp through tragedy. Now if we could only get rid of Texan presidents and the death penalty.

Stefan Jansson said...

Så var det förstås Rebecca. Jag har läst om Ander i en av Ivar Lo-Johanssons självbiografier. Ivar bodde då i torpet Ådala i Ösmo och alla stannade inne och låste dörrarna då man trodde att Ander kunde finnas i närheten!

hamilton said...

That is a beautifully ornate cross. Is that usual to have this flower shaped points in Swedish crosses?

tapirgal said...

What a story! And an interesting old metal marker, too. The scariest part is the long names if those people you wrote about. I would hate to have to carve those in stone.

Ann said...

Very interesting cross.

Kathy said...

A classic case of being in the right place but at the wrong time! At least he got a beautiful iron cross on his grave! Not much consolation I'm sure!

Stefan Jansson said...

If you had read the post more carefully Karthy you would have seen that this is not his grave. As for the wrought iron cross itself it is very unusual, there's only one more like it on the cemetery.

Hilda said...

What a tragedy. Beautiful and unusual cross though.

Peter said...

An interesting story behind the steel.

Mark R said...

Really interesting photograph, with the splashes of red giving it vigour.

Interesting that the last execution in Sweden was in the 1870s. Here in the UK, the last execution was nearly a hundred years later in the 1960s.
I must try to find out why Sweden was so advanced compared to Britain.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

interesting story...gorgeous and unique marker.