Where the ridge meets the sea – the story of Norrvikens trädgårdar

A pomologist's dream that became a cultural heritage

The story begins with Rudolf Abelin, a pomologist and visionary, who in the early 1900s was in search of land for his apple orchard. When the Swedish railway laid its tracks straight through his property in Norrköping, he was forced to rethink. Rudolf moved in the society of his time in and around Båstad, and in 1905 he traveled to the Bjäre Peninsula to see what is today Norrviken with his own eyes. The following year, he bought the entire area and named it Norrviken.

His vision was as ambitious as it was poetic: apple orchards and hazelnuts embedded in a park where garden art could speak through contrasts. Wild plants next to shaped ones. Soft lines against hard ones. Style gardens inspired by different eras and countries – each with its own character. Rudolf designed most of it himself, and it is largely his sketches that are still visible in the park's structure today.

The apple orchard was to finance the dream, but nature had other plans. Crop failures and harsh storms hit hard, and Rudolf was eventually forced to leave Norrviken. By 1920, the park had opened to paying visitors – that was when Norrviken became a garden park. The shipping company Norrstjärnan took over, and since then the place has passed through several owners' hands.

Resurrected from decay

"It was in a state of disrepair ten years ago," says Maria Höjer, marketing manager at Norrvikens trädgårdar. She recounts it without drama, as a fact that makes the present all the more remarkable. Norrviken is today part of the Backahill group, and it is thanks to the generous investments of the Pålsson family that the site has been restored. Original paintings have been restored, and the gardens, which were severely dilapidated, have been worked back with respect for Rudolf's original vision.

"Cultural heritage is something we cherish and take care of, but we want it to move forward and develop – with respect for the heritage," says Maria.

It is a balancing act that permeates everything: to manage without conserving. To develop without losing.

The Contrast as a Guiding Principle

When I ask Maria what makes Norrviken special, she takes a small pause before answering. "It's this vague thing – the place itself," she says, meaning it as a tribute. Partly, it's about the physical aspect: the location where the ridge meets the sea creates a climate that is unusually favorable for cultivation and provides a vegetation that few places in Sweden can match. It is evident everywhere, in how the gardens change character with the seasons and in how the wild and the cultivated coexist side by side.

Equally, it is about the garden philosophy that Rudolf Abelin once formulated and which still permeates the daily work. The core of his thinking was contrasts: the large against the small, the wild against the orderly, the grand scale against the intimate. In the style gardens, clear epochs and influences from different countries are visible, each with its own character. The garden rooms tell a different story. The Molin garden room, inspired by garden pioneer Ulla Molin, showcases the small villa garden rather than the grand park – an example of how Norrviken continues to evolve without leaving its roots.

"Rudolf's philosophy is about contrasts, and it is a principle we carry with us in everything we do," says Maria. "From how we create new areas to how we plan an entire season."

A place to be, not just to look at

Norrvikens trädgårdar today extend far beyond the walking paths. The activities span conferences and corporate parties, group trips, weddings in Victoriahuset, and enjoyable exhibitions in Erikshus, guided tours, and events like Aurora – an international lifestyle and motor event that takes over the entire site for three days. The restaurant and café are operated partly externally, partly in-house, Chocolaterian and Butik Norrviken, with both physical and digital sales, complete the picture. When you visit Norrviken, you can also take the opportunity to visit RAVINEN Cultural House, which is also located on the Norrviken grounds.

The breadth of offerings easily obscures the shift that is happening beneath the surface. Norrviken no longer wants to be a place you merely observe, but they want to create a place where you participate in your visit. Hammocks have appeared among the trees, more benches and social areas have been created, all to invite rather than keep at a distance. Right now, planning for Tors Park is in full swing, where the plan is to create an activity area for younger visitors, developed in collaboration with fourth graders in Båstad who were asked to design their dream Norrviken.

"Previously, we saw Norrviken as a place to come and observe. Now we want you to come here to be," says Maria. "It's about creating a place where you recharge and leave with something you didn't have when you arrived."

Sustainability, bees and insect walls

The sustainability work at Norrviken is not a separate strategy but something that springs from the nature of the business. As part of the Backahill group, they conduct climate calculations and work with concrete climate goals linked to the UN framework. Four specific projects drive the work forward, where ecological diversity is one of them. Insect walls have been built to both strengthen biodiversity and inspire visitors to make similar investments in their own gardens, cut flowers have been reduced and replaced with picked flowers from their own garden. The exhibitors invited have a clear sustainability mindset and several have worked specifically with reused materials. Norrviken also runs its own beehive where companies can rent a beehive, sponsor the operation, and receive labeled honey in return.

"We are on a journey just like all other companies and there is an awareness that makes us think both broadly and deeply in our work,” says Maria.

Forward with cultural heritage at our back

Norrviken has recently been named experience of the year and will represent Skåne in Sweden's tourism award – a confirmation that Maria describes with a clear pride in her voice. The PR work has expanded over the past two years and more and more people are becoming aware of the place.

"Our biggest challenge is getting people here," she says. "We find that once people have been here, they speak well of us. I hope we continue in the same spirit – to manage the cultural heritage but add content and to a greater extent base our work on data and insights rather than just feelings."

It is a balancing act that permeates the entire conversation: respect for what has been and appetite for what is to come. Rudolf Abelins' contrasts live on, not only in the gardens but in the very way Norrviken is run – where the wild and the shaped, the historical and the forward-looking, interact in a whole that is difficult to describe but easy to feel.

When I leave Norrviken and turn back onto the road, the feeling lingers. It is a place that does exactly what it promises: replenishes. And the beautiful thing is that it has been doing so for over a hundred years – and most likely will continue to do so for another hundred years.