Greta Garbo was obsessed with all things round. So her dear friends, the Wenner-Gren couple, had a round room constructed just for her summer visit. We left the room exactly as it was when Greta stayed over in the 30's. Simply legendary.
Greta Garbo’s first acting job was in a commercial for the Swedish department store PUB, where she also worked as a shop assistant. How her professional career evolved after that is widely known: in 1954, Ms Garbo moved to the USA, where her career promptly took off and she emerged as the icon we know her as today. Amongst other achievements, the American Film Institute lists her as the fifth best actress of all time.
In 1931, Greta starred as a seductive and scantily clad spy in the movie Mata Hari, leaving the moralists horrified. Making matters more interesting, the real-life Ms Garbo was accused of being an actual informer who sold information about Axel Wenner-Gren, an alleged Nazi sympathizer, to the British Secret Intelligence Service MI6. Considering how much time Greta spent with the Wenner-Grens during the late 1930s and early 40s, she would have had plenty of opportunities to conduct a thorough investigation (but this is all just speculation and no results ever turned up to prove Greta spied). According to Axel’s personal dairies, the two often spoke in confidence, both on land and at sea.
The luxury yacht, Southern Cross, previously owned by the famous film producer Howard Hughes, was spacious enough for both the Wenner-Grens and many guests. In 1938, travelling home from the Bahamas, the Wenner-Grens stopped in Los Angeles to fetch Greta Garbo and her boyfriend at the time. The captain set course for the West Coast of Sweden, with a small tour around Alaska along the way. During the voyage, Greta’s boyfriend proposed, but when Axel asked if she was going to marry, Greta snapped: “Like hell I will!”
Greta stayed at Häringe – in a room made just for her – throughout thatentire summer. Via telegram from the yacht, Axel had ordered the roombe specially built. It has no right angles because Greta Garbo – a prima donna, indeed – did not like corners, and the silk that adorns much of the room’s interior was most likely hand woven in Venice and coloured with lead to create the unique starlit lustre. The Hollywood star also requested that fresh Japanese Camellias be placed in her washing water each morning, leaving the gardener with the tedious task of picking flowers from the garden at dusk throughout the duration of Ms Garbo’s visit.