Häxberget, Kramfors, 1675

The Burning Mountain

Memorial stone on Häxberget, Kramfors — Häxberget, minnesstenen — Y-näsmannen / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Häxberget is the place of the mass executions. Seventy-one names were led up the mountain during the great witch hysteria, beheaded there and their bodies burned on a single bonfire — Sweden's largest documented peacetime mass execution. A stone now marks the site and a trail winds to it. The atmosphere is not merely historical. Walk it on a windless day and the trees go quiet long before you reach the top.