Culture of Sweden

Swedish culture has been described as characterized by egalitarianism, statism, paternalism, and collectivism combined with openness to certain aspects of international culture. Lutheranism, trade unionism, and self-reliance are aspects that have been associated with Swedish mentality.
Sweden did not formally abolish slavery until the middle of the 14th century, but did not have serfdom in the Middle Ages and peasant freeholders constituted about 40% of the population and was one of four estates (together with nobles, clergy, and burghers) in the diet. The model for Swedish industrial organization has been the semi-feudal Bruk, a type of isolated pre-industrial communities.
Swedes work hard, pay high taxes, try to be open minded to other cultures(there is much immigration, which most people seem to accept), enjoy their traditions (around Christmas and Midsummer, for instance), but it is not true we should be among the heaviest drinkers in the world. Statistics in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet January 7th 1995 shows Swedish alcohol consumption to be on only 21st place among a selection of the industrialized nations, with 6.1 (100% pure) liters of alcohol/year (after most Western European countries and USA). On the other hand we do (most of us do) still follow our old custom to drink only occasionally, but then with the goal to get drunk
The church, and its services, are felt more as a cultural heritage, than asa religious. As for instance at 1:st Sunday in Advent and at Christmas Eve –the two days at the year when the churches are filled.
Leading cultural institutions (in Stockholm) are the Swedish Royal Opera ;the Royal Dramatic Theater; the National Touring Theater; and the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize for Literature.