Culture

The area has 5 lovely churches & chapels that are well worth a visit. They were constructed from the 18th century to the 20th century. Several of them are characterized by the local mountains and the people who lived here. People from Sami, Swedish and Norwegian origins.

Read more about the 5 churches, "Vikens Kapell" chapel, "Tunnsjö Kapell" chapel, "Ankarede Kapell" chapel, "Sjoutnäs Kapell" chapel and "Gäddede Kyrka" church.

The 5 churches

Ankarede is the only preserved church town in the county of Jämtland. It's one of three living sami church villages in Sweden. Another one is Fatomakke that's also located along the Wilderness Road. Ankarede has old heritages like an old church and burial site. We don't know exactly how old it is. According to sami tradition the burial site in Ankarede was there long before the settlers came to Frostviken.

The sami name is Ångkerenjeeruve, åanghkere johke - a river that has many deep holes. Njeeruve - a dried up and overgrown bank that generally is flooded during springtime. Nearby Ankarede, Lejarälven and Ankarälven (rivers) has their outlets in the lake of Stora Blåsjön. The sami name runs back to the time before we started controlling the water flow.  The sami settlement consists of around thirty church cots and a few wooden storehouses. Frostviken-Hotagen sami association have had their compound here since 1927. 

Ångkerenjeeruve
Brochure sami cultural areas

There are several settlements from the stoneage in the area suggest that there has been older hunting and collecting culture here. Many of these places are now closed up. There are also a large amount of trapping pits. In a few places there are also prehistoric graves, where findings from the Vikings were discovered. 

The settlers came with the first permanent resident in Frostviken who moved in from Nordli in Norway to the current village Frostviksbränna around 1750. The border between Sweden and Norway was decided around Strömstad in 1751. In the negotiations Norway and Denmark had some demands on Frostviken, since a large part of the area was integrated with Norway. Hence the "gash" in the map which means that Lierne in the west remained norwegian.  

In Frostviken there were significant deposits of soapstone, which were transported down to Strömsund for processing from the 1910s to the 1940s. It was mainly gravel, flour and plates for use in various industrial processes. Mica used in the electrical industry was mined in the area around Väktarmon, 20 kms north of Gäddede, in the 1940s. Previously, other minerals have also been mined in several places within the parish.

After this, hydroelectric power was expanded and the forestry industry began to grow. All of this contributed to an increase in the population of the area. Even tourism found its way here, from the beginning of the 20th century. Already in 1925, Gäddede tourism hotel, now Pilgrimshotellet, was constructed, but in a different building to the current one.

Gäddede is situated in a mountain area only 5 kms east of the border with Lierne in Norway. The town has slightly less than 500 inhabitants between the lakes Kvarnbergsvattnet in the north and Hetögögeln in the south, both of which are part of the lake system Ströms Vattudal. At the Kvarnberg waterfront beach at the top of Ströms Vattudal, the hotel Pilgrimshotellet is beautifully situated on the lake front. In Gäddede town you will find most services you need and it is a good idea to stock up on supplies here for explorations in the surrounding wilderness.

There is also a Tourism Office with a Nature Room. They can provide you with most of the information you might need. There is also a mountain park nearby that shows off the local fauna. The cultural heritage centre, or Hembygdsgård, in Gäddede is an attraction which has a café and a museum. It is usually open from Midsummer until the first week of August. Here there are at least 3,000 objects, with mainly tools used by the peasants. Within the museum area there are also a number of very rare and noteworthy buildings. The area is connected to Gärdet which is suitable for easier walks.

Dr Hummel was active as a research traveler, doctor and member of the resistance. As a doctor and member of the last of Sven Hedin's famous expeditions, he was also a personal friend of Hedin's. After the Hedin expedition he became a doctor in the then called Frostviken's municipality, nowadays Strömsunds kommun, and stationed in Gäddede on the Norwegian border in 1932-1956. Hummel benefited from his friendship with Hedin during World War II, when he as a resistance man helped Norwegians to flee across the border and conveyed important information to the resistance.

Hedin was himself a personal friend of Hitler, so it is likely that the Germans in Norway were a little afraid of doing anything wrong against Hummel. He was part of a large network of couriers and assistants ranging from the Norwegian Embassy in Stockholm to many different resistance groups spread throughout Norway. Hummel had a favorable location in his hometown of Gäddede, close to the Norwegian border. For his efforts, he received the Commander's honour of St. Olav's Order and the White Rose of Finland in 1946. The motivation for the honour of St. Olavsorden stated: "for particularly excellent merits of Norway's cause during the war". His name was also given to a street in Namsos, Dr. Hummels veg.

As a doctor, he also made great efforts to improve public health. Hummel provided a district nurse to the municipality, vaccinated against tuberculosis, isolated people with illnesses, and convinced the municipality to build a bathing hall. 

Hummel continued to visit Frostviken and Gäddede even after his retirement. There he stayed in his summer house by Hembygdsgården, or  Cultural heritage centre, of which association he was the founder in 1935. In 2006, David Hummel gave name to a road in Gäddede called Dr. Hummel's väg.