Josepha Ahnfelt

in Swedish

Josepha Ahnfelt

1834-1921

Josepha was born in 1834 in Bosarp in the municipality of Eslöv. She had five siblings and her one sister, Hedda, we will say more about soon..

Her father was a preast and the family moved around to many different places in Skåne.

Josepha was a teacher, headmaster at the Elementary School for Girls in Landskrona - where Selma Lagerlöf was a teacher. Josepha Ahnfelt was a significant figure in the city's school system. Her tombstone ↓

In 1885 Selma Lagerlöf aged 26 came to Landskrona, as teacher at Elementarläroverket for girls. Josepha was what we today would call headmaster or principal.

Josepha traveled a lot in Europe in her youth and was a governess in French in England. In 1869 she became a teacher at the Elementary School for Girls in Landskrona and then principal between 1871 and 1901.

Josepha was a very determined woman. You could probably say that it showed in her charisma. She was very energetic and, among other things, was passionate about a strong Swedish defense (Selma Lagerlöf was a pacifist).

The school is said to have developed into a model school during her time and became a training ground for other prospective principals.

Joseph Ahnfelt fundamentally respected authorities. Selma was her polar opposite and one can easily imagine both hidden and open controversions.

1872 Sewing Association

Josepha had a sister named Hedda Rönne Olsson. Hedda and some of her friends founded a sewing association in Landskrona in 1872.

The first board also included Sofi Gullstrand, whose son Allvar Gullstrand received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1911↗ So far, he is the only Nobel Prize winner who was born in Landskrona and in Skåne. Something for the city to do more of!? There was a high school called Alvar Gullstrandgymnasiet, but it is now part of Öresundsgymnasiet.

Back to the sewing club. It was both a way to meet and to do charity work.

More about Selma Lagerlöf and her friends and time in Landskrona - she lived in Landskrona for 10 years and wrote there, among other things, the first chapters of Gösta Berlings saga - you can discover at Landskrona Museum↗ It is well worth a visit.

About the 1872 Sewing club and the Great World Exhibition

In Åke Jönsson's book about the history of Landskrona, there is a special chapter about the 1872 sewing club and the World Exhibition in Landskrona 1888. The exhibition was organized by the sewing club after inspiration from the 1888 World Exhibition in Copenhagen.

Men vare sig utställningen i Köpenhamn eller den i Landskrona var världsutställningar. Dagens Landskronabor kan nog inte ens anföra nedanstående trycksak som bevis.

The truth about the World's Fairs

If you don't want to know the truth, please skip the following paragraphs. But this is how it was ...

In 1888 there was a Nordic Industrial Exhibition in Copenhagen ↗ daW. Click on the link to read a good description in Danish of the entire event. The whole thing was a great success, but behind the scenes there were contradictions between the old days and a growing industrialism. Some wanted to unite the old crafts with machines - or master bloodless, as H. C. Andersen called them - and launched the concept of industrial art.

Selma Lagerlöf, the Ahnfelt sisters and the other ladies in the 1872 sewing club were not unaffected by the development and quickly decided to host a world exhibition in Landskrona. Selma wrote the official guide.

The sewing club collected money for the poor in the city and one of the bazaars in 1888 was given the grand name of the World Exhibition. It was housed in a room, but the guide also included a walk through the city. At the association's meetings, according to its statutes, there was always a reading of good books. Sewing associations were an important meeting place for women at that time.

Selma's friend Elise Malmros was one of the driving forces in the sewing association. She was also a bank teller and there was a high school in Landskrona called Selma Lagerlöf, now part of Öresundsgymnasiet. Incidentally, the sewing association from 1872 probably still exists, although the ambitions are not as broad as in Ahnfelt's time.

Her colleagues Anna Oom - block 4 - and Elise Malmros - block 15, are also buried at Landskrona cemetery..

Tombstone

The tombstone is beautifully decorated with a relief of a grieving woman..

The tombstone reads Josepha Ahnfelt 1834 - 1921. The inset bronze plaque is dated 1908. In a list it is said that the artist's name is M Geilmo, but this is not correct. The artist's name is Carl M Geiling 1874 - 1924, was from Düsseldorf and was active as a painter and sculptor..

The same bronze plaque is also found on at least one more grave in Sweden, Högbo cemetery in Gävleborg County. It depicts a grieving woman.

Since Josepha traveled a lot even after her retirement, including to Italy, it is not impossible that she saw this bronze plaque abroad and had it sent home. If so, it provides a relief in metal to some of the different aspects that were contained in her life.

Her gravesite is today a cultural grave, which means that it is managed by the Church of Sweden.

Her gravesite is at Landskrona cemetary in block 27.

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Cemetary map
• Åke Jönsson. Historien om en stad del 3:299
• Elisabeth Lundin. Kära Selma
• Erik Eliasson. Selma Lagerlöf i Landskrona
• Historiska bilder: Landskrona Museum
• Text/photo: Johan Schlasberg

Published: 2005.06 Updated: 2025.05.04

Kategorier 20 Historical persons 45 Landskrona 14

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