Location: Gränna, Småland Map
Constructed: 1640s by Count Per Brahe
Brahehus is a former castle building, now a ruin, at Europaväg 4, three kilometers north of Gränna. The ruin is located in Gränna parish in Jönköping municipality.
Per Brahe the Younger had the construction of Brahehus started
in 1637, but the work was not completed until the middle of the
1650s. The construction work was made more difficult by the fact
that the building material, which to some extent consisted of
local Vättern sandstone, had to be transported up the steep
rock. Brahehus was originally intended as a widow's seat for
Brahe's wife Kristina Katarina Stenbock, but since she died in
1650, the building was used instead of accommodation for Brahe's
guests.
When the building was completed, it consisted of
a tall main building at the cliff edge down to Lake Vättern and
two square corner towers, with a mile-wide view of Lake Vättern,
Visingsö and Gränna.
After Per Brahe's death in 1680,
Brahehus was emptied of furnishings and shortly afterwards the
county was drawn into the crown during Charles XI's reduction.
In the autumn of 1708, a fire broke out in the neighboring
village of Uppgränna and the fire also spread to Brahehus, which
burned to the ground.
Brahehus is located at an altitude of 270 meters above sea
level, 180 meters above Lake Vättern, which is one of Sweden's
largest height differences towards a larger lake or a sea with a
view of the same. Sweden's highest motorway, the so-called
Vätterleden (E4) runs just east of Brahehus.
Today,
Brahehus is located by the motorway and there is also a rest
area, restaurant and petrol station with a view of Lake Vättern
and Visingsö.
The ruin was restored in 2011–2012.