REPORTAGE

From Berlin to Stensträsk

55,000 people regularly follow Wiebke Jahn's northern adventures via her Instagram account @arctic_for_beginners. But how did a family with three children from Berlin's trend-sensitive city neighborhoods end up in the wilderness of Västerbotten? S/Å meets Stenträsk's biggest (and only) influencer who spreads Skellefteå's gospel to tens of thousands of nature-loving Germans down on the continent.

From the boiling cultural life of Berlin, via the continental lifestyle of northern Spain and on to... Stensträsk? When Wiebke Jahn and her family were looking for new adventures, they chose neither the pulse of the big city nor the warmth of southern Europe, but instead the hinterland of Västerbotten.

- "When you grow up in Germany, you have a very positive image of Sweden, not least the nature and space - 'the last wilderness of Europe'. Not many people up here understand how unique it is, they take it for granted. Three years later, Wiebke's love of Västerbotten's nature and lifestyle has turned into a new career. Through her Instagram account @arctic_for_beginners, she shows off everyday life in Stensträsk and northern Sweden to more than 55,000 followers - the vast majority of whom live around Germany.

In the podcast Hej Schweden, Wiebke and her friend Svea discuss both the joys and challenges of life as an expat, and via the German-language website arcticforbeginners.de, Wiebke offers collaborations, language courses, inspiration and useful information for anyone curious about life in northern Sweden. In addition, Arctic for Beginners has led to further marketing assignments.

- I work for destination companies such as Visit Skellefteå, Visit Värmland and Visit Småland. Everything is aimed at a German-speaking market where interest in Sweden is great, many dream of moving here.

The interest is confirmed by the statistics. Every year, around 1 million German tourists travel to Sweden, and in 2023 alone, 3,800 people made a permanent move from Germany to Sweden. The image of Sweden among the target group is that of a safe, scenic and friendly country with reasonable house prices and a healthy work-life balance - the land of Astrid Lindgren, in short. The names of the Jahn couple's son - Lasse - suggest that the Swedish children's author has left her mark on them too.

- "All our children have Swedish-sounding names: Linnéa, Lisbeth Karlotta and Lasse - these are very exotic names in Germany. And everyone reacts to an eight-year-old called "Lasse", Wiebke laughs.

"All our children have Swedish-sounding names: Linnéa, Lisbeth Karlotta and Lasse - these are very exotic names in Germany"

Wiebke grew up in Berlin, studied in Rostock, Germany, and in Spain, and both she and her husband Tobias are trained teachers. The couple wanted to give their children the chance to discover the world, learn a new language and have an adventure. Initially, they looked towards Spain, but soon their eyes turned north.

- "We have good friends in Stockholm who we have visited, but Stockholm is a bit too much like Berlin - when we decided to move, we were looking for something completely different. We'd never been to the north of Sweden, but started looking at Västerbotten's hinterland. The nature is fantastic, the house prices are low and we really wanted to live in the countryside.

So in 2021 we set off, with our first stop in Forsholm outside the village of Rusksle. The Jahn couple had found a house, a job as a teacher and the whole family got acquainted with life in a small village in the hinterland of Västerbotten.

- In Rusksele there was a close connection to the community itself. It was great to get there, everyone really welcomed us and invited us to everything. We still have many friends there. Today the family lives in a house in Stensträsk, just over a mile from Burträsk.

If Rusksele was a stark contrast to the big city of Berlin - Stensträsk might as well be on another planet.

- You can barely see the neighbors, there are about 20 people living here. Some might describe it as isolated, but for us it's an incredible freedom. The children go to English School in Skellefteå and we work in Kåge, so it involves a lot of logistics. But it's such a luxury to have a house with a big garden and proximity to nature that it's worth it.

Wiebke still works as a teacher at 60 percent, but marketing assignments are taking up more and more space. Her Instagram account @arctic_for_beginners got a big boost in winter 2023 when the cold snap hit Stensträsk and the thermometer read -42. She was contacted by a German online magazine and, after appearing in an interview, gained 20 000 new followers overnight.

- I love my job as a primary school teacher, but there is a lot of exciting work to be done in marketing to the German market. There is a lot we can do to simplify the process for those who want to move here - that's something I'm in dialog with Skellefteå municipality about.

For the Jahn family, the move to Sweden and Stensträsk was a complete success. The proximity to nature, the mountains and the sea, while Skellefteå's range of culture, food and drink is always within reach, creates exactly the quality of life they were looking for.

- Many people ask how to get through the long cold winter up here, but it's almost my favorite season. As long as you dress right, there's nothing better than crisp winter days.

Text: Jonas Pekkari

Photo: Jonas Westling