While the Swedish list is lacking in terms of world class sites, they definitively have a few odd and peculiar sites well worth exploring, Grimeton being one of those.

During the first world war communication lines had been cut showing the need for cable less communication. Long wave radio transmission was a first try at this. Radio Corporation of America set up a network centered in Long Island, New York, to connect the world. Sweden joined the effort as during the war families were unable to communicate with their relatives who had migrated to the US.

Grimeton connected to the RCA network in 1924 and it was also the last site to do so. By 1927 long wave radio transmission was already deprecated and eventually replaced with short wave transmissions. As such, most of the sites were torn down. If other sites had remained the obvious choice would have been to inscribe the whole network.

The site in Grimeton remained in use for longer as long wave transmissions can contact submarines which short wave transmissions fail to do. The Swedish navy used Grimeton as a backup site and kept the site operational till the 80s. By then this was a historic landmark. Nowadays the still fully operational site is put into use three times a year, one being Christmas.

Getting There

The next larger town is Varberg and it’s well connected by train to both Copenhagen and Gothenburg. However, from Varberg it’s still quite a distance to the station in Grimeton. Knowing the scarce public transport options in Scandinavia on weekends I was a bit worried how to get there.

Google maps shows very infrequent busses (at least in winter) to the station. Those aren’t really all that helpful schedule wise. However, you can go to nearby Gödestad more or less every hour (bus 651 from the train station) and from there it’s a 40min walk through the Swedish country side to get to the radio station. You even pass a 5th century AD burial site and the huge antennas on the horizon will guide your way. Check google maps for schedules. And be mindful as there are no sidewalks.

Getting In

In general the field with the antennas can be visited all year. If you want to enter the main building you need to arrive when the site is officially opened. During the winter months this is only the case one Saturday each month. Check the website; I got lucky.

English tours are run at 13:00h which works well with catching the bus back from Gödestad at 14:40. The tour is helpful to actually appreciate the site. If you arrive on a day where the site is closed, you still can take peeks through the windows I would guess.

The larger site is still in active use, but for different frequencies. Our guide said seeing they already had antennas built in Grimeton getting more permits for new antennas was easier than elsewhere. As such only one of the original antennas is accessible and the rest are fenced off.

Notes

Ticket prices have gone up considerably since Els’ visit. I think I paid 130 SEK or so. The guide was pointing out that very little to no financial support was provided by the Swedish government for the country’s world heritage sites which may help explain the little progress on their list. In the case of Grimeton the funding is done via a trust fund whose main income is renting out the antennas on the site.

While you are there

I found Varberg rather pleasant and ended up staying an hour longer than anticipated. The castle and the coast line make for great pictures. If the sun is shining, that is. Be mindful of the strong winds, though.