Swedish small village cafes operate in turn

Sihu Village, an ordinary village in Sweden, is a rustic cafe where residents take turns every week and their income is put into the village finance; an ancient wooden cabin museum houses and displays old objects donated by the villagers. tell visitors about the history of the quiet village.

The cafe is one of the favorite gathering places in the village. Photo by Liu Zhonghua

Sihu Village, an ordinary village in the northern Swedish province of Westnuland, has built a real "communist village" with a strong atmosphere of mutual help and sharing and a highly harmonious life: a village bank with a history of a century, attracting travelers who settle in other places to open deposits; a caf é full of local flavor, where residents take turns to operate every week, and their income is uniformly put into the village finance. An old wooden cabin museum houses and displays old objects donated by the villagers and tells visitors the history of the quiet village. This small village is like a cell of a Nordic high welfare society, reflecting the concept of mutual assistance and sharing.

The village bank has a tradition of donation.

Yunus, former chairman of Sihu Village Bank, talked about the history of the bank in front of the bank. Photo by Liu Zhonghua

Like other small towns, young people here also like to seek development in big cities such as the capital Stockholm, but the difference is that many of them deposit the money they earn outside into village banks. At present, Sihu Village, which has a resident population of only more than 400, has more than 2000 active accounts in the bank, some of which belong to those developing Sihu villagers. Woolf was born in Sihu Village, then went to college and left her hometown to live in Stockholm. But he goes back to his hometown more than 600 kilometers away several times a year. In addition to his summer villa there, one of the important reasons is that his money is stored in the Silhu Village Bank. Under his influence, his wife, who once called him an "antique", also deposited his money in the village bank.

Yunus Soderling is Woolf's uncle and served as chairman of the Silk Lake Village Bank for many years. His grandfather founded the bank in 1899 with the aim of lending money to honest farmers who needed money. The bank's first start-up capital of 2000 Swedish kronor was sponsored by a wealthy local man, which was a large asset at the time. As a result, donating money has become a tradition for depositors in this small bank. The bank has been run by the Soderlinders for quite a long time, but when people who go out of here become famous or rich, they will more or less donate to the bank. Meletta, Sweden's most famous skier in the 1960s, donated his medals to the bank in his hometown.

Yunus said that the investment of village banks is based on the principle of soundness and low operating costs. Nearly half of the investment is used to buy Swedish government bonds, there will not be a large investment deficit, can give savers higher interest, virtuous circle, attract more deposits. The bank now pays an annual interest rate of 2.25% for time deposits, compared with about 1% for big Swedish banks.

Woolf keeps the money here because of trust. In the early 1990s, the financial crisis that swept the country broke out in Sweden, and major banks lost money and closed down one after another. Only Sihu Village Bank remained stable, because localized banks knew more about the local market and demand. The feeling that customers can see and touch adds to their trust. Sihu Village Bank has also been widely reported by the Swedish media because of its good performance.

Run by the Museum of Village History

If the village bank still has some commercial flavor, the village history museum is an out-and-out "communist" property. In the south of Sihu Village, there is the earliest village site, with the old church, the old windmill and a well-preserved wooden ancestral house of more than 300 square meters. The village history museum is located in the ancestral house. The museum displays old daily necessities, ranging from beds, cooking utensils, spinning wheels, clothing and ancient musical instruments to glasses, toys and quill pens, showing the living conditions of the residents of Sihu Village six or seven hundred years ago. One of the wooden beds, which looks similar in appearance to the current bunk, became a bed for 10 people in an instant after a series of pull-pull moves by Woolf Jonsson, deputy director of the Village History Museum. These amazing things can be seen everywhere in small museums, and they all come from donations from various families in the village. Until now, people continue to send some old things in the house, and Jonsson will regularly bring some people to sort them out and display them. If someone comes to visit, just call Jonsson and he will come and open the door. This is also one of the favorite gathering places in the village.

The cafe operates in turn

The cafe next to the museum is always doing brisk business. The cafe is also public property, which is run by each family in turn, and everyone is both a host and a guest. The villagers on rotation bring their own coffee and self-baked refreshments, and everyone else will come to support them. 20 kroons for a cup of coffee and 15 kroons for a piece of cake. All the proceeds are credited to the village public fund. It's like everyone takes the money out of their left pocket on a plate and then puts it back on their right pocket, but this turn is full of harmony, tasting modern coffee in a strong historical atmosphere, and you will realize the unique charm of Sihu Village.