Today, November 30th, marks the annual “Kiss a skinhead Day” –or whatever skinheads called it– the anniversary of the death of King Karl XII. It used to be the date that skinheads took to the street, specifically in or around Kungsträdgården in central Stockholm to protest what skinheads protest best, us non-skinhead types.
Karl XII in Kungsträdgården explaining, “The skinhead went that-a-way”
Back then we were more normally called “svartskallerna” or black heads, “blatte” is a relatively new epithet.
Today is also the 16th anniversary of my immigration to Sweden.And since I had been here back and forth for over a year I would never have remembered this particular date had it not been for Skinhead Day. Landing at Arlanda with too much to schlep on the bus, I shared a taxi with a guy going to the Grand Hotel (the only hotel in Sweden good enough for Anna Anka, albeit barely.) Seeing that Kungsträdgården was blocked off, I asked the driver why and was told about the Skinhead protests (and anti-skinhead anti-protests –all sorts of hullabaloo).
The irony that my “official move to Sweden Day” coincided with the “Skinheads hate immigrants Day” tickled me.
Today the skinheads have abandoned Kungsträgården and their revered King and I think they’ve moved to a suburb south of Stockholm on another day to mark a more modern occasion.
Maybe we ought to rename the day, Blatte Day.
Karl XII was a fan of Blattes everywhere, especially Turks.
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@Streja. Sounds like a great reason to have Blatte Day convene on Kungsträdgården for the celebrations of the new day.
BB
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You know acctualy they are still there, the nazis, or at least on Riddarholmen. And there is demos this year as all years.
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I suspect, Streja, Karl XII may have become less friendly towards the Turks after they attacked him during Kalabaliken i Bender.
I still wonder what part of Karl XII’s history appeals to the skin-heads. Is it the loss of the Swedish Empire? The senseless and futile attacks on Norway? The abstinence from physical interaction with women? I’ve never really been able to wrap my mind around it.
Happy anniversary of your arrival in Sweden to Blatte.
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I got to close shop early today due to demonstrations out at Hotorget (no o and dots), was kinda weird. Never got to see it though, it was done before I got out of the building.
Happy Moving Anniversary!
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@Virre Oh I know they’re around still. I haven’t got a Zieg Heil in a while, but I know the day will come again.
@Gustav. It is a mystery why Karl XII is the hero. Didn’t he lose more for Sweden than gain?
@Sarah. Oooh, demonstrations at Högtorget? Must read about that. What are they doing messing with Blatte Day?
BB
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Don’t blame poor Kalle. he wa sonly 15 when all his neighbouring countries decided to attack him at the same time. They didn’t know he was a military genious. He did make mistakes in Poland and Russia, but not many armies have managed to march towards Moscow. napoleon and Hitler failed as well.
He would have sorted it out and the move on Norway was good. It was the only way he could hope to keep Sweden intact. Had he not persisted we might have been Danes and Russians now.
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