Passports

PASSPORTS

Up until the second half of the 19th century, Swedish citizens had to have a passport for domestic travel. When the infrastructure was expanded and more people were able to move longer distances using steamships and trains, it became difficult to maintain passport checks within the country and at the border. This lead to the passport requirement more or less being discontinued throughout the whole of Europe, with a few exceptions. In the last decades of the 19th century and up until 1917, no passports were required at all, except for travellers to Russia and Turkey. Passport controls was reinstated in conjunction with the First World War.

That is why the Hallwyl Museum's collections contain no passports for the trip to Egypt. However, there are passports that they used for passing through Turkey on the way home (after having spent some time in Palestine).

This passport was issued by the Royal Over-Governor of Stockholm and applied to Walther and Wilhelmina von Hallwyl as well as the lady's companion Ida Uhse for travel to Constantinople (Istanbul).