Imagine standing right out on the rocks. Marvel at the constantly shifting moods of a sea that is never calm. Feel the wind buffeting you and a chill in your bones. As you wander along ancient paths and smooth rocks, you can  sense the unique energy of Marstrand all around you. Alternatively, imagine a calm spring day with warming sun that melts the snow and ice. Water flows over the rocks, remnants of the Ice Age that have been shaped by time, wind and water. Discover a sheltered place to sit and enjoy a moment of peace and tranquillity. Perhaps you can hear the cry of a seagull somewhere in the background. Or the chugging of a fishing boat on its way out to sea. This, too, is Marstrand.

Did our ancestors experience the same feelings? Excavations have revealed settlements on the island of Koön that date back to the early Stone Age. The first inhabitants are thought to have come here for a particular purpose, such as hunting or fishing. Perhaps even then they knew that fish are plentiful in the waters here.

What thoughts run through a fisherman’s head today when he is out fishing for mackerel, or throwing his crab nets out? Is he thinking that it was these fish, and the herring above all, that became so important for Marstrand? It is presumably for this reason that Marstrand’s seal from 1330 depicted three herring arranged in a triangle around a star. As the numbers of herring here increased, so the population grew and Marstrand flourished.