The filming locations

Filming locations in Mariannelund and the surrounding area

Welcome to the classic filming locations. After your visit to us at Filmbyn Småland you can visit the unique filming locations on your own. Since many of these environments are located in and around Mariannelund, it is easy to experience them in real life. Visit Eksjö has created a link so you can easily find all the filming locations: The filming locations near Filmbyn

1. Hässleby farm
The poor man's hut's mess of "dirt and lice and starvation and misery" was built on the haystack in the barn at Hässelby Gård. The poor man was a local resident. Emil's blessed Christmas food delivery was filmed in the middle of summer, but thanks to skillful scenography it looks like winter. The window that the poor man steps out through is part of the scenery. When they come out the other side, they find themselves in a snowy Kramfors.

Find here: Hässleby Farm  

(Note that filming location number 2 unfortunately no longer exists due to a fire in 2024. However, the building was located next to where Julles Verkstad is located.)

3. Snickerboa - One of the most famous filming locations
“Forgotten old man, now it’s a carpenter’s hut…”. The carpenter’s hut scenes were filmed in these unassuming premises on Norra Gatan, which today houses a workshop. Jan “Emil” Ohlsson was given soft balsa wood to carve in, as it is very difficult to carve wooden men out of ordinary hard wood. In Gibberyd (Katthult), the carpenter’s hut was built for the outdoor scenes.

Find here: North Street 4

4. Folk High School
Mariannelund School became the film crew's headquarters. Jan “Emil” Ohlsson lived at the boarding school with a teacher who taught him during the filming periods (incidentally, the same teacher who taught Inger “Pippi Longstocking” Nilsson). In the summers, the entire Ohlsson family came down from Uppsala to Mariannelund. Several Mariannelund residents were friendly and housed the members of the film crew. The Mariannelund School's auditorium became the main filming location for Katthult's indoor environment. Skilled carpenters and decorative painters built a realistic backdrop of chambers and kitchens, with enlarged photos of the view of Gibberyd outside the windows.

Find here: Central Street 7 and 8

5. The Doctor in Mariannelund
The indoor scenes of Emil's visit to the doctor in Mariannelund were filmed on Norra Gatan in Mariannelund. Here they created an interiör depicting the doctor's reception. A row of young and older extras sat in the waiting room outside, acting sick in need of care when Emil arrived with the soup bowl on his head.

Find here: North Street 6

6. Södra Bråta
“…if you have ever been to a forest in Småland”. Several outdoor scenes were filmed in Södra Bråta high above Silverådalen. Today, the old-fashioned farmland is a nature reserve.

GPS: 57.7138, 15.4300

7. Nedrakulla & Grönshult
“Oh, a sausage”. In a shed in Grönshult north of Katthult, Emil crawled in to eat sausage. Scenes with a horse and cart were filmed here. The schoolyard scene was filmed here with Mariannelund children as extras. Other outdoor scenes were filmed in the neighboring village of Nedrakulla.

GPS: 57.7157, 15.5297

8. Skuru
“The Småland's hussars go on the attack.” On the meadows by Lake Skuru, Emil, riding Lukas, attacked the early morning picknickers from Hultsfred.

GPS: 57.6857, 15.5224

9. Katthult Farm - The most visited filming location
The obvious destination in Emil's footsteps when visiting the filming locations. Here in the village of Gibberyd, one mile north of Mariannelund, most of the outdoor scenes from Katthult were filmed. Some scenes were also filmed in the farmstead and barn. Here you will find the residential building, the farmstead, the Trisseboa, the carpenter's boa, the wolf pit and the tree that Emil and his father jumped from.

GPS: 57.6906, 15.5583

10. Hulta Saw
“It is Näcken who has taken him.” At Hulta saw by Silverån, the Katthults guests searched for the missing Emil. Here, Emil also dropped his father's hat in the water.

GPS: 57.6328, 15.5901

11. The Bullerbyn children
Just under a mile east of Mariannelund lies the real Bullerbyn (Sevedestorp). This is where Astrid Lindgren's father grew up and it is the village's three houses that she describes in her books. In 1986, the film about the Children of Bullerbyn was filmed here and in other locations in the Mariannelund area.

GPS: 57.6122, 15.6694

12. Rölund's School
“I heard, Emil in Katthult has drunk himself to death.” In the Rölund school building, a few kilometers southwest of Mariannelund, Emil's school scenes were filmed, as well as the visit to the Godtemplarna when Emil and Griseknoen were to take a vow of sobriety.

GPS: 57.5987, 15.5114

13. Sculpture of Emil in Lönneberga
Astrid Lindgren's first book about Emil in Lönneberga, published in 1963, contained drawings by the artist Björn Berg and quickly became a favorite among all. In Lönneberga, you are warmly welcome to visit a life-size sculpture of Emil. It was created by Björn's son, Torbjörn Berg, based on these drawings.

GPS: 57.55119, 15.72181