The Jussi Björling Museum Closes in Borlänge, Sweden - Dismantled
MUSEUM UPDATE
UPDATED January 14, 2022
To the Members and Friends of JBS-USA:
It is with great sadness that I forward to you the following news from Borlänge, Sweden.
The Town of Borlänge has now announced that it will empty the building which has held the Jussi Björling Museum for the last 26 years by March 1 of this year.
As far as is known, town officials plan to go ahead with their latest version of a location for a “museum,” in which the displays will be chopped up to fit into several rooms on the second floor of the town library.
According to information from the town government, the former home of the Museum will be used by the Skanska company, although no details are available at present.
The Björling family are now retrieving the many and varied items they have loaned to the Museum.
If any of you have loaned items to the Museum and now wish either to have your items returned to you or retained in the Björling family collection (in the hope of forming a new museum), I will be happy to forward your wishes to the Town of Borlänge.
JBS-USA will do everything possible to assist with the establishment of a new museum, and of course will keep you all informed.
Janel E. Lundgren, president
March 2021
Jussi Björling Sällskapet, Sweden, has announced the following news regarding the Jussi Björling Museum in Borlänge, Sweden:
"At a meeting on 9 February the Committee of Culture and Recreation in Borlänge decided against a former decision to close down the Jussi Björling Museum. The reason was the strong support for the appeal signed by The Jussi Björling Society and others. The new decision is that the collections will be moved to suitable venues adjacent to the local library. The planning work has already begun and during this spring more detailed plans will be developed. During this period the museum will still be open to visitors, probably also during the summer months, but it is still uncertain how the Corona pandemic will affect the process. During the autumn the moving of the collections will be carried through and the aim is to reopen the museum in the beginning of 2022."
This is a wonderful reprieve from hasty action, and everyone involved is to be congratulated. As noted, however, plans for the relocation of the collections are still tentative and in the development process. Major questions remain about whether the "suitable venues" will be acceptable to all parties, whether the new location will be designed and equipped as an actual museum with staff, or whether it will accommodate only partial exhibits with no research capabilities. 2021 will be a pivotal year for the ultimate future of the Museum and the survival of the collections. We of JBS-USA hope that Borlänge officials will continue to be respectful and responsive to the needs of the Museum and the concerns of both Jussi Björling Sällskapet and the Björling family.
UPDATE
March 1, 2021
The City of Borlänge has now revised its plans for the Jussi Björling Museum, after heavy criticism. This means that there will be a museum also in the future, with a person responsible for the museum, who will have some competence to take care of it and some knowledge about Jussi, but this person will not have a full-time job. The museum is still closed, but the dismantling of the exhibition has been postponed at least until April, and it will during that period be possible to enter after a call.
The intention is still to move the museum to the Municipal Library, and it is said that there will be enough space there. However, as long as we have not seen this and there is no plan for the disposition, it is impossible for the Jussi Björling Society or the Björling family to form an opinion of the city’s plan.
- Harald Henrysson
Sign JB Museum Appeal petition here >
The Jussi Björling Museum is now closed
As previously announced, the City of Borlänge officially closed the Jussi Björling Museum there at the end of December. However, during January, Museum Curator Jan-Olof Damberg can still receive visitors, if he is contacted in advance.
On the last day that the museum was open, 30 December, Göran Forsling, a member of the Jussi Björlingsällskapet board who lives in Borlänge, handed to the Borlänge director of cultural and leisure activities, Patric Hammar, the appeal for the museum, which is also available on this website and has been signed by many members of JBS-USA. The appeal, initiated not only by Jussi Björlingsällskapet but also by The Royal Operas Soloists’ Association, was then signed by 665 persons, among them internationally well-known singer names as Plácido Domingo, Nina Stemme, Peter Mattei and Håkan Hagegård. Names can still be added to the appeal and will be published on the Swedish society’s website. Two newspapers and a local TV station were present and reported about the event.
Jussi Björlingsällskapet (The Jussi Björling Society in Sweden) continues to fight for a Jussi Björling Museum in Sweden. Main alternatives for the future are at present:
Re-opening of the museum in the same building, but then either with financial support to the city, or the museum taken over by another organization.
A new museum built up in Stockholm, or possibly somewhere else in Dalarna.
Watch this page for further updates.
"It has long been known that the City of Borlänge wanted to move the Jussi Björling Museum out of its present building, where it was opened in 1994, but plans for the future have been unclear. In April 2020, the three Jussi Björling societies, Lars and Ann-Charlotte Björling and several persons in Sweden and abroad who were active in preserving his memory through books and CDs sent a letter to the Department of Cultural and Recreational Activities, stressing the importance of the museum and asking for clarification of the city's plans.
"The questions were not answered until seven months later, in a letter from the head of the department dated 23 November, and on 24 November the corresponding political board took a formal decision confirming the information. It has thus been decided that after 1 January 2021, there will not be a separate Jussi Björling museum, and the present building will be emptied. The museum will be replaced by an exhibition of selected parts of the collections, either in the municipal library or in an adjacent building. The new exhibition will not contain any of the Björling family's depositions, since Jussi's children Lars and Ann-Charlotte have reacted to the decision by demanding that all the family's depositions are returned to them as soon as possible.
"No person with special competence related to the new exhibition will be hired, so the collections, probably to a large part in storage, cannot be developed or help given with search in them (it was not excluded that some acquisitions to the collections may be made, if the Björling societies assist with expertise). Probably, the library will not continue any part of the sale of CDs and souvenirs.
"The museum will still be open during 16 days in December, but it is especially regrettable that restrictions due to the corona pandemic will probably prevent some of those who would like to make a last visit. Contact with the curator Jan-Olof Damberg and orders by mail (jan-olof.damberg@borlange.se) or telephone (+46 24374240) will be possible for some period after the museum is closed.
We hope that it will be possible to build up a Björling museum again in another place."
The Board of Directors of JBS-USA responded to this announcement with a letter of protest addressed to the Head of the Culture and Leisure department of the Town of Borlänge, stating in part:
"Without question, Jussi Björling must be counted as one of the five greatest Swedes of the 20th century and of the era of recorded music. We were stunned that such an internationally heralded representative of the Swedish cultural patrimony could be so abruptly dismissed. We were also amazed that an institution dedicated to the memory of such a world-beloved and influential artist should be dissolved with so little notice and so little preparation for its future.
"The Museum has been identified as one of the outstanding musical museums of the world by such noted critics as John Steane, and has served as an irreplaceable resource for other museums, individuals, and musical organizations such as ours. We ardently hope that some appropriate and respectful outcome can be found for this painful situation."
News of the Museum's closing has been carried in Sweden's national newspapers, and beginning efforts are underway to identify possible new locations for the collections.
Our Society stands ready to assist and participate in every possible way, in collaboration with our sister societies, to help achieve a happy solution. News updates will be carried on this website.