Julita House, Södermanland, Sweden / Palbitzki family

After a parliamentary decision in 1526 Julita, as a former Cistercian Monastic Abbey, became a royal estate in 1526. A century later a canon foundry was located in the lands controlled by Julita, and the House and lands was endowed to various individuals. In the 1640s the estate was in the hands of an Austrian, Paul Khevenhüller and was, in effect, collateral for a loan. It became the family home for Paul’s only surviving heir, Anna Regina and her husband Mathias Palbitzki. The Palbitzkis made Julita their home for almost 200 years. As many of the previous owners, the Palbizki family had its ancestry in another European country. Mathias Palbitzki was born in Hinterpommern in present day Poland and he became a diplomat and art dealer for Queen Christina. The last Palbitzki to own Julita was named Mattias (1782-1851) and he was married to Beata Eleonora von Ungern-Sternberg (1788-1872). After Beats’d death the heirs sold Julita to a tobacco factory owner and wholesaler Johan Bäckström in 1877. His youngest son, Arthur (1861-1941), leased Julita from his father in 1890s and later inherited the Country house and lands. Arthur Bäckström never married and had no children and he was very keen on preserving the culture of large estates, which he felt was threatened by modernity. Thus he decided to donate Julita to the Nordic Museum, wishing the house, outbuildings and the park and garden to be preserved for the coming generations. Julita is today run by the Nordic Museum and a popular place to visit.