The exhibition at Museet Malmahed follows two periods at Malma hed, a training ground for the Södermanland Regiment for almost 150 years. Soldiers, recruits and officers came from across Södermanland; at its busiest, more than 2,000 men were there at once. A register in the museum gives free access to records of the province’s conscripted soldiers from 1682 to 1901.

The regiment left in 1921, and the Södermanland Gymnastics Association began a new chapter on the heath. Children from across the province came to summer camps, slept in the soldiers’ old barracks, practised on the heath and swam in Lake Hosjön. The exhibition includes a film from the first children’s camp in 1927 and footage of the international gymnastics festival Lingiaden in 1939. It also covers training camps for gymnasts, including Sweden’s top gymnasts preparing for Olympic competitions. Sörmlands Museum produced the exhibition with Flen Municipality and the Malmköping local heritage association.