Carlsten’s sturdy walls wrap around the Donjon and Kommendanthuset. In these 18th-century buildings, you stay in our charming rooms overlooking Marstrand and the sea, just as thousands of soldiers have done over the years.

The Commandant’s House

Built in 1775. Used for officers and special prisoners, including political prisoners. Prisoners who were not part of the current government were usually imprisoned so that they could not influence the current government. Such a prisoner had two rooms, unlike the other prisoners who had up to 30 men in each cell. Even death row, where prisoners spent the last night before execution, was located in this building.
Metta-Charlotta was the only female prisoner at Carlsten, where she was accused of murdering her husband and children. She was put on confession in 1806 and in 1809 she confessed to the murders and was sentenced to death and executed in 1810. The author Ann Rosman has written a book about Metta’s life (Mercurium).

The Commandant of Carlsten also lived in the house. The first Commandant was Johan Wänschöld and the last is Eiwe Swanberg, who is still a permanent resident of Kommendantshuset. In 2013, seven new hotel rooms were renovated on the ground floor of Kommendantshuset.