Charity

Photo: Hilding Almen, Vanersborg Museum

Everyone has always been welcome at Gustafsberg. The lower classes of society were also to benefit from the health-giving water. Caring for the poor and sick was part of spa culture. Charity balls, theatre performances and concerts were arranged to raise money for people in need. First-class spa guests were expected to make a donation when they departed, and the amount was sometimes recorded in a special column in the spa registers.
However, poor visitors were not allowed to disturb the distinguished guests: they were to be neither seen nor heard.

Sjostugan was a bathhouse for poorer visitors, built in 1814, the same year as Stora Varmbadhuset. It is a simple wooden building reminiscent of the small red cottages of the countryside. In 1872, the small warm bathhouse was converted into accommodation. The extension at the gable was not added until the 20th century. Gula Huset, the Yellow House next door, was probably built in the 1820s as accommodation for poorer spa guests. Its glazed veranda was added later. Today, the kitchen and dining room in Gula Huset are used by hostel guests.

Sailing races draw a crowd. Spectators stand on the rocks beside the former bathhouse for poorer visitors to get the best possible view.
Photo: Hugo Hallgren, Bohuslan Museum, 1909.

The small steamship pier, around 1920.
Photo: Unknown, Bohuslan Museum.

Read the board’s 1820 appeal to spa guests:

Respectful Notice

The board of this institution has made a serious effort to give people of limited means, who wish to use the health spring and salt-water baths here to regain their lost health, easier access to them. With satisfaction, and partly through the construction of a separate bathhouse, it has been possible not only to provide free access to the baths but also free accommodation for a number of the poorest visitors.

To meet their other needs, we have been accustomed to relying on the generous contributions of benevolent people. As we take the liberty of bringing their circumstances to your attention again this year, we hope to enjoy the same gratifying generosity that has pleased us in the past.

Offering heartfelt thanks to a gracious Providence, which allows them some relief here from the double burden of need and suffering, these afflicted people will always remember their benefactors with gratitude. The contributions kindly entered on this list will be distributed conscientiously among them.