There are two people who, between them, have met virtually all staff at INES for over a hundred years: Jonas Åkerman and Karl-Erik Bergsten. Their experiences, memories, and detective work form the foundation of the new book about the department’s history: A Historic Description of the Department of Geography at Lund University - With special focus on Physical Geography.
Jonas Åkerman came to the department as a student in 1967 and still teaches there today. Two weeks ago, he completed what he calls his final excursion with students.
“That’s it—it’s not sustainable to have an old man wobbling around. Sooner or later I’ll fall and ruin the whole excursion. It doesn’t work to have a teacher who stays on the bus while the others go for a walk,” says Jonas Åkerman, now 79 years old.
From 20 to 600 pages
Karl-Erik Bergsten joined the department of Geography as a student in 1923 and served as professor from 1956 to 1976. He left behind a 20-page pamphlet filled with notes and memories of colleagues he had worked with over the years.
“Those texts are the foundation of the book. Former department head Jonathan Seaquist asked me to translate them into English and expand them. It grew from 20 to 600 pages. I’ve been working more or less full-time on this since 2018,” says Jonas Åkerman.
From the University Building to Geocentrum
The book begins in the late 19th century, when geography was called “geographical history” and was part of the Department of History. In 1884, Hans Hugold von Schwerin became the first associate professor in geography and began teaching in a room in the University Building. From there, we follow the department’s development and its staff – via AF-borgen, then to Sölvegatan 13 (now SOL), and finally to Geocentrum 1 and 2, where the department is located today.
A Historical Document with a Sense of Humor
The book is a rich historical document filled with photos of staff, excursions, old maps and buildings, as well as excerpts from dissertations and newspaper articles. It contains many details for true history enthusiasts – but also lighter elements for casual readers. One example is the story of Professor Schwerin’s legendary exam questions:
Question 1: Why was the West Coast Railway built between Malmö and Gothenburg?
Correct answer: Well, if you’re traveling from Lund to Stockholm, you can go via Gothenburg – that way you avoid going through damned, ugly Småland.
Question 2: Why can’t you lie in a hammock in Argentina?
Correct answer: The trees on the Pampas are too far apart.
Jonas Åkerman believes that history has intrinsic value worth preserving, and that it also helps to put the department's current work into context.
“Today’s researchers are incredibly specialized and narrow in their academic focus and sometimes lack a sense of the broader foundation the subject rests upon. Showing how our understanding of the landscape has been built up—how it functions and connects—is important for understanding how we got to where we are,” says Jonas Åkerman.
The People Behind the History
The book is largely about the people who shaped the department, including conflicts and life stories that emerged along the way. During World War II, for example, strong tensions arose. One professor was openly supportive of Nazi Germany and editor of a Nazi journal, while a visiting researcher was active in the Norwegian resistance movement.
“You can imagine the major conflicts between them, and within the department as a whole. My research shows that the professor later took his own life at his in-laws’ home – on Christmas Eve,” Åkerman recounts.
Women in Academia
The book clearly shows that conditions for researchers were very different in the early 20th century. It could be much tougher, but in some ways also better.
“If you got a good grade on your dissertation, you were basically guaranteed a research position for life. If you got a poor grade, it was tough and very hard to continue in academia. Women had a hell of a time and found it extremely difficult to break through, even with good grades. They were pushed out of the system all the way until the 1970s. That’s when some sharp female PhDs started speaking up and fighting back,” Åkerman explains.
Among these pioneers is Karna Lidmar-Bergström, who later became professor in Stockholm, who along with other female researchers pushed for change against the old structures.
Students in the early 20th century also faced major challenges that may seem foreign today.
“It was a tough hierarchy, and students were completely at the mercy of professors and lecturers. There was very little literature, and most of it was in German. Owning your own books was out of the question – you had to borrow from the university library based on the teacher’s recommendation,” says Åkerman.
In the 1950s, the Department of Geography was divided into two: Physical Geography and Human Geography. The book covers events up to the year 2000, but the story continues to unfold even today: at the turn of the year, what is currently called the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science will become part of the new Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (MGeo).
A Life in Geography
Jonas Åkerman has been a central part of the department since 1967. After just one semester as a student, he was hired as a teaching assistant, and has since held roles as lecturer, associate professor, and director of studies. He has worked in several countries, including in Sida projects in India and as chief advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture in Zambia. After a stroke in 2000, he continued teaching, with a special focus on fieldwork and excursions – the last one to Svalbard in 2023.
“What I hold closest to my heart is the contact with students and being able to convey the connections between geology, vegetation, ecosystems, and human activity. Our students should be able to read the landscape and understand how everything is connected. The hope is that our students will help provide decision-makers with better knowledge. After all, they determine our future – and those decisions must be made consciously and on the right basis,” says Jonas Åkerman.
The book A Historic Description of the Department of Geography at Lund University is available to read and borrow at the Geolibrary and in the lunchroom at Geocentrum. Anyone interested in their own copy can contact Jonas Åkerman or Petter Pilesjö.