Doctor Saedén Trail

Doctor Saedén’s Trail at the former Kroppefjäll Sanatorium

The buildings in this area were originally constructed as a sanatorium – a hospital for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). To make patients feel more at home, many small red cottages were built instead of a large hospital building. The green building was built as staff housing and completed in 1949. The sanatorium opened in 1911 and closed in 1960. There was no effective medication until the late 1940s. Therefore, the treatment focused on strengthening the body’s own healing powers. In addition to rest and nutritious food, nature and culture were essential parts of the care.

The high elevation and clean air were key reasons for choosing this location. The air and beautiful natural surroundings greatly contributed to recovery – alongside culture – something still relevant today. At the sanatorium, Carl Viktor Saedén served as chief physician from 1916 to 1945. Like many of his time, he was a national romantic. In the enchanting and varied landscape around the sanatorium, he created walking paths for the patients. Along these paths, he placed symbolic monuments. The natural environment was to be disturbed as little as possible, and many of the logs used were from fallen trees, often placed with their roots upwards.

In the battles of old heroes against enemies, Dr. Saedén saw a parallel to the patients’ struggle against tuberculosis – a battle reflected in the monuments. Walking kept the lungs and body active, and the monuments and viewpoints offered space for reflection. At several monuments, small historical plays were also performed.

Today, most buildings in the park are privately owned and surrounded by the Mörttjärn Nature Reserve, managed by the municipality. The buildings now house a Bed & Breakfast, private residences, small businesses, and childcare services.

Join us for a cultural and historical walk through varied natural surroundings!

Along the paths you will find 24 monuments, each with its own symbolism. The entire route is about 2.7 kilometres long and marked with red signs with the double cross. You can walk the full route, or choose parts of it.

1. The Large Gate

The walk begins at the Large Gate, built from tree trunks turned upside down with their roots facing upwards. At the top of the gate, the rising sun symbolises hope and recovery, while above it stands the double cross, representing the fight against the disease.

2. The Great Double Cross

On the right-hand side, you’ll see a group of large stones forming a great Double Cross. Around it, more stones are arranged in the shape of an oval shield, the Shield of the Double Cross, a symbolic protection in the battle against tuberculosis.

At the base of the cross, on a separate stone, are the engraved names of people whose discoveries brought relief and healing to the sick:
Foremost among the fighters stood: Pasteur, Koch, Röntgen, Forlanini, Saugman, Jacobaeus, Brauer, Schmidt, Sauerbruch, Neander. The stones were raised in 1938.

Beside it are also the words:
Long is the battle line, hard the fight; brave men bleed, noble ones fall. Let stones stand. Hold the shield-mark in remembrance

Robert Koch, from Germany, discovered the tuberculosis bacterium in the early 1880s. Louis Pasteur, from France, showed how the bacteria could be killed by heating, a method later known as pasteurisation. Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays, and Forlanini developed a method of introducing nitrogen gas into the lungs to improve healing, a treatment that was also used at Kroppefjäll. The other names belong to doctors, professors and researchers who all played key roles in the struggle against the disease.

3. Vala’s Harp

Follow the path on the left leading upwards towards the scenic viewpoint Brattås. At the beginning of the trail stands Vala’s Harp. In Norse mythology, a vala or völva was a seeress or shaman believed to have answers about the future.

Perhaps Doctor Sædén was inspired by a verse from a poem of Viktor Rydberg:

Listen, listen deep from mountains,
Hear a tone not yet forgotten,
From the ancient Vala’s harp –
Song of warriors, song of poets!

The harp is also known as an Aeolian harp, named after Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds.

An Aeolian harp is meant to be played by the wind, something that was possible in Sædén’s time when the forest was more open. The original harp was also taller than today’s and had metal rods hanging between the logs.

Try playing the harp yourself – strike the logs gently with a stick. They are tuned like a piano: white keys to the right, black keys to the left, though the pitch may vary depending on the weather.

4. The Echo Temple

A little further along, on a rocky ledge to the right, stands the Echo Temple. Its domed ceiling is designed to create echoes if you stand directly beneath it and call out. Echo temples like this were very popular features in 18th-century romantic gardens.

5. The Fire Bowl

Just above the Echo Temple rises the Fire Bowl. Such fire bowls, or beacons, were common in romantic parks and gardens around the turn of the 20th century. They recalled the ancient signal fires once lit on mountaintops to send warnings between distant settlements.

Dr. Sædén would light a fire here on festive occasions or during one of his mythological plays. In those plays, the fire on the hill could symbolise a warning to the people that “enemies” were approaching.

6. The Thing Site and the Stone Table

A path to the right of the Fire Bowl leads to the Thing Site. A little further on, just above Vala´s Harp, stands a Stone Table made from an old millstone. In its centre, you can see a double cross and the year 1936. The place is inspired by how gatherings for debate and judgement – things – were held in ancient times. Both the Norse gods and our ancestors were said to meet at such sites, a parallel to today’s courts. Dr. Sædén imagined the chieftains sitting at the table while their followers waited on the open assembly place nearby, a parallel to todays courtrooms.

During the sanatorium era, however, the stone table served a gentler purpose: visitors came here to drink coffee and enjoy their picnics.

7. The Troll

Following the path back past the Fire Bowl and turning left, you’ll come to two wooden bridges, one smaller and one larger. If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the Troll – people say it lives just beyond the bridges, often perched high on a nearby rock, watching passers-by.

8. The Bridge over the Deep Ravine

Then cross the large bridge, known as the Bridge Over the Deep Ravine. Here, you can walk among the treetops and experience nature from a bird’s-eye view.

9. The Wide View

After the big bridge, you’ll reach The Wide View, the highlight of Brattås. On a clear day, you can see across Lake Vänern all the way to Kinnekulle.

Perhaps it was here that the patient F. O. Myrén found inspiration for the Song of Dalsland:
Did you see a land that rises gently from the shores of Lake Vänern towards Kroppefjäll? Then know that this land is Dalsland!

Beneath the half-millstone, you’ll notice three openings, “cannon mouths,” pointing in three directions, symbolically guarding against enemies.

Then follow the wide path downhill towards Kroppefjällsparken, crossing the road and passing the former stables and carriage sheds. At the southern end of the lake, the sanatorium once had gardens for flowers and vegetables. There was also a henhouse here that supplied the patients with fresh eggs.

10. The Island of Happiness

Now the path continues around the lake. Sædén called it “The Mountain Lake” and praised its beauty. To heighten the impression, he created an artificial island – The Island of Happiness, often shown on early postcards from the sanatorium. To make it look natural, moss was once laid around the small temple. Like good health, happiness can be difficult to reach – yet it remains there, waiting for those who finds their way.

11. The Memorial Temple and Hansehagen

On the shore opposite Kroppefjällsparken stand several upright stones and a temple, together known as Hansehagen, named after King Hans, who ruled the Nordic countries in the late 1400s. Inside the so-called Memorial Temple are iron oil lamps and outside stand two fire bowls. On ceremonial evenings, fires were lit here in memory of the departed.

During the sanatorium period, Hansehagen was sometimes used for Norse saga plays — mythological performances that might, for instance, tell of Vikings arriving in their ships to lay offerings on the flat rocks. Doctor Sædén even had a small Viking ship built, moored on the opposite shore.

12. The Eye of the Needle

If you turn off the path and go up to the left, you’ll come to The Eye of the Needle, a narrow passage in the rock that you can crawl through. If you prefer to take the stairs, you can do that instead.

According to old Nordic folk beliefs, a person could be cured of illness by crawling or being pulled through a tight opening.

13. The Gate of Humility

Above the Eye of the Needle, the path continues northwards and back down towards the main trail. Here you pass beneath The Gate of Humility, formed naturally by big rocks. To pass through, you must bow your head – a symbolic gesture of humility.

14. The Mountain Church

At the northern end of the lake lies the Mountain Church, a natural outdoor church with stone benches, choir gallery, altar rail, and pulpit. Above the altar stands a cross watching over the site.

During the sanatorium years, open-air services were often held here, a tradition that continues today. When the bishop consecrated the church in 1921, he remarked that he had never stood in a church with a higher roof – for this one has the sky as its ceiling.

15. The Dragon

A short distance beyond the church, you’ll find The Dragon, built of stones. With a little imagination, you can see it mid-battle, lunging at the knight while the poor maiden kneels in prayer on the rock above.The dragon symbolises tuberculosis; the knight represents medical science and the maiden stands for the suffering patients. According to Dr. Sædén, the creature also represented “evil speech”, gossip and slander among people.

On a slate plaque nearby, the following words are engraved:
The dragon crept around the mountain,
poisonous blood flowed from tooth and tongue;
never did a knight’s armour still the dragon’s power.

Even the knights could not conquer evil speech, and the “poisonous blood” continues to flow — in this case, literally. Water runs from the dragon’s jaws, fed by a hidden pipe from a spring higher up the mountain.

16. The Hill of Devotion

A simple staircase leads up to The Hill of Devotion marked by raised stones and extensive rock carvings. The text expresses gratitude to those who made it possible to build the sanatorium, and to those who dedicated their work there. In essence, the words honour the fighters against the people’s disease and the donors who gave fields, forests, and mountains to create Kroppefjäll Sanatorium.

Next to the text, another carving reads: Carved by a healed man, known as Black Karlsson.

On Walpurgis Night, the traditional spring festival, doctor Sædén would stand here and give his spring speech to the gathered crowd below. With a powerful voice he would declaim:
Awaken, all hearts of the North, from your long winter sleep!
Listen again to the voices that speak of noble deeds!
Awaken, awaken to life, you who have wrestled long with death!

From a poem, written by the poet Viktor Rydberg.

17. The Triple Spruce

Following the path down again and turning right, then left across a small meadow, you’ll find a staircase leading up to the Triple Spruce,a tree that likely fell during a storm but continued to grow with three stems. This remarkable tree is also a symbol of the sanatorium’s mission: helping the sick to rise again and grow strong. The tree also connects to old Nordic folk beliefs, where unusually shaped or giant trees were thought to possess healing powers. A common custom was to “transfer” illness to a tree: one would prick the sore spot with a wooden splinter or nail, then insert it into the trunk, believing the tree would absorb the disease.

18. The Observation Tower

Back on the main trail, a steep path on the left leads up tothe Observation Tower. Below it are the stone foundations of the original tower from the sanatorium period. From the top, the panorama stretches far and wide. On clear days you can see Lake Vänern, Kinnekulle and, in the far south, the twin mountains Halle- and Hunneberg.

19. East Towards the Sun

A bit north of the tower is a stone setting called East Towards the Sun. Here, you can sit and watch the sunrise, and in the large rock the rising sun is carved into the stone. The place reminds us that each new day carries the promise of light and recovery. It was once meant to balance another site, West of the Moon, a now vanished site on the far side of the lake. The names are inspired from an old tale: East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Together, the two places form a symbolic image of life’s rhythm, from night to day – from illness to health.

20. The Open-Air Stage

Further along the path back towards Kroppefjällsparken, the forestsuddenly opens up to reveal an Open-Air Stage, complete with rows of stone benches. The actors´ ”dressing rooms” were once located in the roomlike space behind the stage. Theatre and performance were considered part of the healing process. The joy of acting and watching helped patients and staff alike to forget illness and suffering, if only for a while.

21. Sundial

Next to the playground, by the main building, stands a Sundial from the sanatorium period. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow cast by the central rod indicates the hour of the day. Inside the wide ring, the sun god Helios travels across the sky in a golden chariot, drawn by four fiery horses, a symbol of the day’s journey from dawn to dusk. On the outer edge, the twelve signs of the zodiac can be seen.

22. Monument

Further down in the park stands a proud Monument, raised in honour of those who donated funds to build and maintain the sanatorium.

23. The Snöfrid Stone

By the parking area stands the Snöfrid Stone, carved with words meant to inspire reflection. Below this spot once stood the sanatorium’s mortuary, and the path leading to it began with these solemn lines:

For the runes of the brave life read thus: draw your sword against greedy giants, bleed bravely for the weak, gladly forgo, never complain, fight a hopeless fight, and nameless die.

From a poem, written by the poet Viktor Rydberg.

On the back of the stone, another inscription reads:
The doctor let the strong man Mod raise the stone in 1923,
in memory of those who suffered heroically.

Where the mortuary once stood, there is now a preschool, and the place is filled with life.

24. The Memorial Stone

Our walk ends at the Memorial Stone with a bronze relief of Doctor Sædén. It was created in 1995 by the artist Britt-Marie Jern. This marks the end of the trail he created, where nature and symbolic monuments helped to support patients on their way to recovery.

There are physical booklets available around Dals Rostock for 50 SEK.

The booklet is also available as pdf