Skansen’s wolves ate my food

Jonatan Unge, 44, grew up at the Royal Djurgården.

It was a childhood filled with hungry wolves, freedom-thirsty seals and dizzy otters.

– When you went to school, you used to come across the elephants. They had a morning walk around Skansen.

For the first ten years of his life, comedian and podcaster Jonatan Unge barely left Djurgården. He grew up in a large yellow wooden house opposite Skansen – the French inn.

– Grandmother’s mother was a Bonnier and when her father died, the sons bought the daughters out of the company. A really bad deal, but for the lump sum she bought three houses on Djurgården. But in each succession it has become less and less. It has gone from three houses to one and a half.

Jonatan Unge’s mother, the well-known journalist Cecilia Hagen, still lives in the house, but he himself now lives in Malmö.

Like a small town

Today, many of the shop premises are empty, but when Jonatan was a child in the 80s, the wooden housing development around Skansen and Gröna Lund was a lively small town with a post office, police station, grocery store, craftsmen, small shops. And elephants.

– When you went to school, you used to come across the elephants. They had a morning walk around Skansen at six or seven o’clock. So they would get to come out and get some air.

There was also the small Djurgård School. Just like many of its more rural counterparts, it struggled with disappointing pupil numbers.

– Everything was so very small. We were 17 students in the whole school, of which five were in my grade. It was like a small village, but in the middle of town.

FACT Document: Djurgården

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In addition to the fact that a larger than usual proportion of the students were named Wallenberg and Bonnier in the last name, schooling was as usual with lessons, lucia trains in church and excursions in nature. Except the wolves, of course.

– We had a nature square. A man put his food sack on a rock. Then they walked away a bit and checked the nature box. When we got back, all the lunch bags were ripped open and my sausage sandwiches were eaten. Then it was Skansen who had gone out with his wolves on a leash. They had not managed to control them, so they ate our food sack.

It sounds like something the teacher made up? Or it’s not like you’re splicing now?

– No! We saw them walking later and they apologized. Hi, sorry. It was us.

Smelled of sweat

At Djurgården, the school went up to third grade. Then the students had to leave the safe island and cross the bridge to Östermalm. From village idyll to big city. A culture shock.

– They were so fucking scary and wore jeans. They thought we were so silly. We had a great gym at Djurgården, but no showers. So we never showered. After all, we got there smelling of sweat. We had softies, they had shirts and vests.

But out on Djurgården, the small town and the adventures remained when school was finished for the day. The evenings, when all the tourists had gone home and the island was quiet and still, were perfect for boys.

– Gröna Lund was closed after 11 o’clock in the evening. The cool thing was that you could get into the funny house in a place where there was like no door. You could walk right in. Nothing was running, but it didn’t matter. That flying carpet at the end could still be used.

The problem was that the security at “Grönan” was quite strict and the risk of detection was always present. It was better at Skansen.

– It was so peaceful, I got caught once. We stood and sang on the stage at Soliden. The guards heard it and came there. For some strange reason they asked if I had a Skansenkort. Then they just told us to go out, but they didn’t go with us.

Otherwise, it was usually Skansen’s animals that were in focus.

– The animals are much softer when there are no other people there. Then you can pet the moose. I woke up the otters and saw how they were doing. Then I went and made sure the seals hadn’t escaped. They are sickly prone to escape.

Huh? I’ve never heard of that? How do they manage to escape?

– They jump up, I’ve seen it happen! I was walking late one evening. Then a seal jumped up and started swaying back and forth to get over. Then I ran forward and shouted: What are you doing? Then it fell down again.

Residents’ struggle against pleasure

For most people, Djurgården is probably hard to imagine without Gröna Lund and Skansen. But in general, the residents have a divided relationship with the entertainment giants.

– I remember a meeting where they wanted to move Gröna Lund. It’s pretty cocky. Gröna Lund has been here for a damn long time. In addition, Djurgården has probably been some form of a pleasure island since at least Bellman’s time.

Where would it end up instead?

– They talked about the Slaughterhouse area.

But “Grönan” and Skansen remain, even though Jonatan Unge has long since left the island for Malmö. Whether the new generation of Djurgårdsungar slips in to pet moose, wake up otters and prevent seals with dreams of freedom is hard to say, but he thinks that Skansen owes him a thank you for his efforts.

– I have saved them, as I said. After all, I have made sure that their property does not escape.

FACT Jonathan Unge

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