A tour around the property

Mary Francke was born at Beckershov in 1920, the eldest daughter of Ebba Lewenhaupt and Gösta
Francke. Her great interest in farming led to studies at Önnestad agricultural school in Scania. In 1941, she
married Göran Ribers of Lindenäs Manor near Motala, where the couple settled and raised a family.

After her divorce in the late 1950s, Mary Francke bought a small farm near Borensberg, which she ran on
her own, focusing on sheep farming. She remarried, to Lieutenant Colonel Bertil Gustafson. Gaining the opportunity to acquire Barksätter in 1967, she moved back home to the area of her childhood.

At Barksätter, she took an active role in running the farm, which at the time included a large dairy herd.
Yet she focused on sheep farming, building up a herd of wool sheep comprising two hundred ewes. She also improved the estate’s forest management, which by this time was vital for the manor economy. However, Mary Francke fell ill, and was forced to lease out the agriculture in 1979. Thinking ahead, she wanted Barksätter to continue as a single estate, and began to plan for the future.

The property covers 640 hectares, which is managed according to the donor’s wishes. This means that it is preserved in its current size to enable research in agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry.

Field Handbook

The Field Handbook, written by Ulrich Lange and published by the Academy in 2023, is about the property, the landscape and its history. To encourage hiking in the beautiful Sörmland countryside, a hiking trail has been created based on the book with various visiting points along the way.

1. Barksätter Manor
2. Road Milestones
3. Trees for the Future
4. Sjöstugan
5. Risön
6. Sluckstorp
7. Bagghultsstugan

With the Field Handbook along the Hiking Trail.