In Conversation with … Fred Hocker, VASA Museum
03 Jul 2025
“In Life and Death: what the human remains from VASA reveal about the people of the 17th century”
Join Fred Hocker, Director of Research at VASA Museum, as we learn more about the Swedish warship which sank on its maiden voyage in our next instalment of our “In conversation with …” evening talks.
When the VASA sank in 1628, thirty people, including women and children, followed the ship to its grave. The remains of fifteen of them were found when the ship was raised in 1961. Over twenty years of research on the remains and the personal possessions associated with them have provided a very human picture of who these people where and what they were doing at the moment of catastrophe. From them we have learned about what people ate, how they dressed, where they were recruited, and the violent times in which they lived.
The evening will be compered by Nick Ball, Collections, Galleries and Interpretation at the Historic Dockyard, and there will be a question and answer session following the conversation.
Our talks are free to attend (you do not need a Dockyard admission ticket) but spaces are limited. Tickets must be booked in advance.
| When? | Thursday 3 July |
| Where? | The Mess Deck Restaurant |
| Time? | Arrival from 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The Mess Deck will be open for drinks and snacks prior to the talk. |
| Cost? | Talks are free to attend but we ask that you book in advance. |
