The History

Tre Kronor was the royal castle of Sweden since the middle of the 13th century. However, on May the 7th, 1697, a large fire broke out that completely demolished it. The fire started on the wind and quickly spread to all parts. Most of Sweden's national library and royal archives were destroyed. For an overview I recommend Wikipedia.

The firefighting

The method

Before the advent of hand pumped fire engines, the firefighters had to pass water buckets to each other to extinguish a fire. This required close access to water and a sufficient number of participants.

The participants

The royals and the court was evacuated while the servants tried to prevent the fire from spreading and save as much as possible of the possessions.

The motives

The architect Tessin and his builder Buchegger had started building a new castle but were restricted by the architecture of the old castle. They were found at the wind when they tried to prevent the fire from spreading to the new part and had their new plans ready shortly afterwards. Did they have an incentive to start the fire?

The spread of the fire

The castle of Tre Kronor was mainly built of wood and copper. The fire started on the wind and when the copper plates were heated, they set the roof on fire and the fire then spread quickly to all parts.

The aftermath

The fire marshal and two soldiers were found to have neglected their duties and sentenced to run the gauntlet. However, neither the reason, nor any motive for the fire was identified. The royal family had to move to another castle and could not return to the new castle until 1754.