The Family

Wilhelmina von Hallwyl

Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (1844-1930) was the only child of the phenomenally successful timber-merchant Wilhelm Kempe (1807-1883), the founder of Ljusne-Woxna Aktiebolag. Wilhelmina became one of Sweden's great collectors at the turn of the last century. Her lasting memorial is the Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm where the extensive and varied Hallwyl Collection is preserved and displayed in its original and opulent setting.

Walther von Hallwyl

Walther von Hallwyl (1839-1921) was Swiss and a scion of one of Europe´s oldest families, tracing its origins to the 12th century. The Hallwyl ancestral seat was the Schloss Hallwil in Aargau. Walther met Wilhelmina Kempe in Homburg in 1864 and they married in 1865, Walther agreeing to make his home in Sweden. In 1883 he took over the directorship of Ljusne-Woxna Ltd. He was also a member of parliament for the district of Gävleborg.

The daughters

Wilhelmina and Walther Hallwyl had four daughters, one of whom, Elma, died in infancy in 1871.

Ebba (1866-1960), the intellectually inclined eldest daughter, lived with her family on the estate of Södertuna south of Stockholm. She devoted much of her life to public work and was actively supportive of the female suffrage movement. She was a founding member of the Fredrika Bremer Association, a women´s rights organistation.

Ellen (1867-1952) was artistically talented and became an accomplished sculptress, a pupil of Carl Milles. Ellen caused a great scandal when, in 1906, she divorced her husband Henrik de Maré and remarried her son´s tutor, the art historian Johnny Roosval.
Ellens son by her first marriage, Rolf de Maré, founded and ran the avant-garde Swedish Ballet Company (Ballets Suédois) in Paris in the 1920´s.

Irma (1873-1959) was a fashion-conscious society hostess, and her country house Wegeholm in Scania, where she lived with her family, was the scene of many parties, balls and hunts.