The idyll of Gränna

What do you think of when you hear someone talk about the city of Gränna? For many of us, it’s the traditional red and white candy cones that first comes to mind, and after that pears. The famous Gränna pear is a popular variety all over Sweden, even so popular that it has even been immortalized as a frame for the city in this poster. And yes, it’s a beautiful sight when you travel to Gränna in late spring, and you are welcomed by the blooming pear trees surronding the whole city.

But how did this pear variety come to Gränna in the first place? There are many speculations, but the most famous is that it is the city’s founder, Per Brahe, who brought the pear to Gränna. Another interpretation is that the variety came from the monks in the Alvastra monastery, while it was also speculated that the pear may have come with soldiers from Germany. It was not uncommon at that time to take kernels from a fruit you had eaten and thought was good, to make sure you could eat it again. We do not know how it really was, but we know that this poster makes us want to visit Gränna to eat pears (and of course polka candy canes)!