How many schools can claim to have a connection to royalty and international intrigue? Manillaskolan, right before your eyes, can. Although now a modern educational institution on Kungsholmen, Manillaskolan began its life centuries ago in a much grander setting. The story begins, surprisingly, with a Spanish envoy named Ignacio María del Coral y Aguirre. He was gifted a plot of land on Södra Djurgården by King Gustav III in 1790. Coral, longing for home, named the area “Manilla” after the Philippine capital, then a Spanish colony. He embarked on an ambitious construction project, envisioning lavish buildings designed by Louis Jean Desprez, the architect behind Gustav III’s Stora Haga Palace. However, fate intervened. Gustav III died and Coral was recalled to Spain. Manilla’s grand plans were left unfinished, and the area fell into disrepair.
Years passed, and in the early 19th century, a visionary educator named Pär Aron Borg founded the “Institute for the Deaf-mute and Blind” in 1817. This institution found its home on a part of the former Manilla estate, known as Manhem, becoming Sweden’s sole deaf institution until the late 1850s. Borg’s dedication and pioneering teaching methods, including a hand alphabet and sign language, laid the groundwork for modern Swedish Sign Language. Over time, the institution at Manilla grew. In 1864, a new, grander schoolhouse designed by architect Johan Adolf Hawerman was inaugurated. It housed 180 students and teachers, signifying its important role in Swedish society. Manillaskolan, as it became known, remained in this historic location until 2013. Now, embracing a new era, it educates deaf, hard-of-hearing, and cochlear implant students in its modern facility in Konradsberg. The school still echoes with the spirit of Pär Aron Borg, continuing his legacy of inclusivity and educational excellence.