Wanås has a long tradition of welcoming guests and art enthusiasts from around the world. The historical estate and beech forest, which surrounds a medieval castle in northeastern Skåne, houses Sweden's largest sculpture park, an award-winning boutique hotel and restaurant, as well as a large organic dairy farm.
Every year, visitors come to explore the sculpture park, visit the drop-in art workshop, and relax with a tasty lunch, coffee, or ice cream at Wanås Konst’s café. For a longer stay, guests can book a dinner or overnight stay at Wanås Restaurant Hotel. Everyone who visits Wanås falls in love with the place - and returns!
Three businesses – one destination
Over nearly four decades, Wanås Konst has positioned itself as a key international contemporary art destination, known for its temporary art projects and unique sculpture park with close to 80 permanent site-specific artworks spread across barns and the beech forest of the nature reserve surrounding the castle.
Wanås Konst is a non-profit foundation, led by Director & Chief Curator Milena Høgsberg and a dedicated team. The art initiative has been on-site since 1987, and the foundation was established in 1995 by Marika Wachtmeister, who was Director of the Foundation till 2011 when Elisabeth Millqvist and Mattias Givell took over.
Wanås Restaurant Hotel opened in 2017 in two historical 18th-century buildings. The hotel offers eleven individually decorated rooms, featuring natural materials and contemporary Nordic design. The restaurant serves dishes based on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, including game, berries, mushrooms, and herbs from the forest, as well as organic produce from the estate’s own farm.
The Wanås Restaurant Hotel was founded by Kristina Wachtmeister who is the owner and CEO.
Wanås Gods AB (Wanås Estate) operates a large farm that has been managed sustainably and organically according to KRAV standards for over 25 years. The estate produces milk, beef, fodder, grains, and root vegetables, as well as timber, and wood for pulp. The forestry is PEFC and FSC-certified. Additionally, the Estate produces energy through solar panels and a hydro plant. All buildings on the premises are heated with wood chips from the Estate’s forests.
Since 2010, Baltzar Wachtmeister has been the owner of Wanås Gods AB. The castle is private and has been home to the Wachtmeister family for generations.
Wanås History
Wanås is located in what was once the border between Sweden and Denmark. The history of the site dates back to the medieval period. The Danish-Swedish War was fought in the surrounding area, and the famous Snapphane oak can still be seen in the park. Wanås Castle was burned down, and in 1556 the castle was rebuilt largely as it appears today. Wanås is a combination of the words for “water” and “hill”—the earliest mention is Watnaas. When the first castle was built on the site, Skåne belonged to Denmark [hence the name “Vannås”].