This is a gem located in what was the entire university of the 1600's. There were dorm rooms and lecture halls in this one building with the copper sundial that still works on the roof!

In the 1400's education was a privilege for the rich and for priests and was run by the Catholic church. All of this came to a screeching halt in the Reformation until King Gustaf decided to educate farmers' sons as well as the rich in the 1600's

Olaf Rudbeck, the physician/engineer/architect/botanist who discovered the lymphatic system was a student here and his workbooks are saved in a case for you to see. I love the doodles in the lower left hand page...proves we all daydream!

As a professor, he designed the operating observation suite on the top floor which opened in 1663. There are many stories of Olaf going to the jails to pick-out his next autopsy body while subjects were still alive! Hanging was the preferred mode of death so that the organs wouldn't be damaged. This theater held standing room for 200 as Old Olaf removed all the the internal organs into buckets that were then passed around. One was expected to smell, feel, and taste the contents of each bucket. I guess that this was a big social hit, since many people were curious what happened under the skin of humans. After the autopsy, the university bought the funeral and buried the criminals in the churchyard, which wouldn't have been granted a regular crook back then.

In one room there is an amazing case of Knowledge that was given to Gustaf 11 in 1632 by the Lutheran Councilors of Augsburg. It contained over 1,000 objects each hidden in secret drawers with such things as a roll of human skin, a walking stick that hid a weapon, a flat picture that is spun to provide a 3-dimensional one, and all kinds of amazing little wonders!The case had to be x-rayed to be sure that all the drawers were found, since the Keeper of the Case died centuries ago.

Another room holds ancient lab equipment and tools. My favorite one was the "Laterna Magica" made in 1743 that was the beginning of slide projection with glass plates and illuminated by candle power.

The hall of Swedish Prehistory contains Viking items, including these amazing Rune Staffs that are "eternal Calendars." They could calculate the day of the year, the moon phases, the sacred Viking days, and the Lunar and Solar orbits within 1.5 hours of accuracy. WOW! So much for the barbarian stigma! there's also a really cool copper helmet and half face shield that ends in a false curly brown wool beard that you'll not want to miss!