AT A GLANCE
Why go?
The Ådalen 31 Monument stands at the exact spot in Lunde, Sweden where five young workers were shot dead by military fire on 14 May 1931. Created by sculptor Lenny Clarhäll and unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, this powerful bronze memorial commemorates one of the most consequential events in Swedish labor history — one that ultimately shaped the foundations of the modern Swedish welfare state.↗↗
The monument depicts a worker and a horse rearing before a demonstrator's flag, capturing the raw drama of the moment when a peaceful march was met with bullets. Its inscription reads: "Here five young workers fell to bullets from ordered military on 14/5 1931." Visitors can walk the five-kilometer demonstration route from Frånö to Lunde that the marchers followed that fateful day, and in summer, exhibitions are held at local community halls nearby.↗↗↗
A Turning Point in Swedish History
In the early 1930s, the Ådalen valley in northern Sweden was a hotspot of industrial conflict. Timber, pulp, and paper mills dominated the local economy, employing thousands of workers whose livelihoods hung on the decisions of industrialists and the availability of jobs. When employers threatened wage cuts and responded to strikes by bringing in strikebreakers from the south, anger boiled over among the working population.
