Experience John Bauer’s inspirational environment and the water lily-filled canals that connect lakes Bunn, Ören and Kvarnsjöarna. Take a trip to Gränna! About Trollska and Trollska Båtturer In 1992 we started with troll tours on Bunn, Ören and Kvarnsjöarna and above all the fine canals between the lakes where you can use your imagination to see the trolls and fairies behind every bend. Before the start, we were going to make a card with a picture and timetable and therefore went to Gränna print shop to have it fixed. Then came the question: what do we call the boat and the tour? That the boat would be called the M/S John Bauer was pretty clear, and we started making predictions about troll boat trips when some smart person figured out that troll is spelled with two l’s and troll with one l. Troll boat trips look better in writing, but troll boat trips are the correct spelling and we chose the correct one. This has caused some problems over the years as most people think it’s supposed to be witchcraft and look on the internet and not find us there. We have now registered two domains online, both trollish and trollish, and hope it will be easier to find us in the future. In 1995 we bought another troll boat and it is called John Bauer ll in short. In the first years, we only ran boat trips with coffee on board, but there was a request for food and therefore we started with dinners in our boathouse. It could get quite crowded, so we have built it out in the same cozy style and today can accommodate around 50 people and also has a covered terrace with a bar. In 2007, we took another step and started with meetings, conferences and other activities in a newly timbered building located right on the lake’s edge. We have now installed a roof on the boat so that you can enjoy the boat trip even if there is a risk of rain.
The artist John Bauer was only 36 years old. He and his family perished in 1918 when the steamer Per Brahe sank in a storm on Lake Vättern. Despite his young age, John Bauer had become a well-known artist. He illustrated in a Christmas magazine called “Among Elves and Trolls” and it came year after year with new beloved Bauer drawings. From 1906 to 1918, the Bauer family lived on and off at the northern part of Lake Bunn outside Gränna, first in a small cottage at Torstorp and later in an artist’s residence at Björkudden. Welcome to visit the trolls in the Bauerska trollska or trollska milieu.
In 2016 we started a generational change in the company and since 2017 one of Sigge’s sons Frederik Lind runs the company after Sigge Axelsson had run the company for 25 years. Sigge will be there and work in the business to help Frederik and as long as he thinks it’s fun.
In 2018, a project that we had been working on for several years was finally finished. The project is called Esther ELqvist with the emphasis on EL!! It is an old lifeboat that we have renovated and built in a hybrid engine, so there is both a diesel and an electric engine in her. this makes the boat trips a completely new and fantastic experience. When we get to the canals, we switch off the diesel engine and glide through the canal completely soundlessly. Esther will mostly be used in connection with charter trips and is a test project that we believe very strongly in and which we hope will eventually lead to John Bauer II being equipped with a similar propulsion system. however, this is something that time will tell, but in these times when we have to work for a better climate, it feels like a step in the right direction. so book a charter trip now and ask for Esther ELqvist and we will do what we can to ensure that you experience a trip with this exciting boat. Ester takes 15 passengers.
