Sweden at the RC Prague International

Ms Annika Jagander, the Swedish Ambassador to the Czech Republic, joined Rotarians at our meeting at the Barcello Hotel where she gave a fascinating account of the relationship of the Swedish and Czech nations through the ages. Annika's passion for ancient maps and pictures guided the audience through a visual tour of the Thirty Years war (1618 -1648) and following conflicts including the sieges of Prague and Brno. The audience smiled as Annika explained that Mala Strana was under Swedish control at that time and serves today as the location of the Swedish Embassy.

Particularly interesting was to trace the history of the Codex Gigas, the so-called devils bible, which was taken as war plunder by the Swedish army at the end of the 30 years War and has  remained  in Sweden for 359 years until it returned for a short exhibition in Prague in 2007. Annika continued  the story  of Sweden and the Czech Republic throughout history closing with some of the more recent examples of Swedish culture such as IKEA, ABBA, ABB, Spotify and closed with the reminder that healthy conflict still exists particularly in the area of ice hockey where Sweden will meet the Czech Republic in the opening of the world championship on the 1st May 2015.

 

We toasted the Rotary club of Lavalette in Malta as part of our usual Rotary International toast where we remind ourselves that Rotary is a global organisation doing good throughout the world.