Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
East of the harbour, this
tourist office
with cafe sits inside Köpmansmagasinet gallery.
Getting There & Away
The Trelleborg to Ystad bus service stops in Smygehuk.
INSPECTOR WALLANDER'S YSTAD
Fans of crime thrillers most likely know the name of Henning Mankell (1948-), author of
the bestselling Inspector Wallander series. The topics are set in the small, seemingly
peaceful town of Ystad. The gloomy inspector paces its medieval streets, solving grue-
some murders through his meticulous police work…but at a cost to his personal life,
which is slowly and painfully disintegrating. The first book is Faceless Killers,but it's gen-
erally agreed that Mankell really hit his stride in number four, The Man Who Smiled. Im-
pressively, Mankell's nail-biting stories have been translated into 41 languages.
Between 2005 and 2006, 13 Wallander films were shot in and around Ystad, starring
Krister Henriksson in the lead role. In 2008 a further 13 Wallander films were shot here,
alongside a BBC-commissioned TV series starring Kenneth Branagh as Wallander. In
2014, Branagh was on the brink of returning to film three follow-up episodes.
Elis Nilssons väg 8; adult/child Skr150/100; 10am-4pm Mon-Thu, Sat & Sun mid-Jun-Aug, times
vary rest of year) runs guided tours between 10am and 4pm Monday to Thursday and at
weekends (adult/child Skr150/100) of the adjoining Ystad Studios, where sets include
forensic detective Leif Nyberg's laboratory and the inspector's own apartment.
The Ystad tourist office provides a free map with featured locations in town. There's
even an iPhone app. For a quirkier excursion around Wallander's Ystad, the volunteer fire
brigade runs 45-minute tours starting at Stortorget on a veteran fire engine at 1pm and
4.45pm from late June to mid-August (Skr70). Contact the tourist office for details.
Mankell has spent much of his time in Maputo, Mozambique, where he juggled writing,
running a theatre company and carrying out his AIDS education work. His wife, Eva Berg-
man, is the daughter of the late film director Ingmar Bergman.
Ystad
0411 / Pop 28,000
