Roughly 400 unique collections are on display in the home of Rear Admiral Arne Söderland. This collector of collections spoke to MatieMedia’s Jamie Venter about his museum in Simon’s Town.
Arne Söderland in the middle of his museum, where he tells stories of his love for the “challenge of collecting” and “the fun of finding things and identifying them”. PHOTO: Jamie Venter
This place is at odds with its position in the world. Where there should be tables of customers mulling over menus and waitresses scrambling to take orders from the raucous children of angry patrons, instead there is the hush of a museum. This restaurant now observes a moment of silence for the history it holds.
What was once a kitchen, now houses a remarkable collection of naval warfare items. What was once a bar is now adorned with vintage beer cans, and what was once a patio where patrons could enjoy a meal overlooking the bay of Simon’s Town, is now home to a hearty assortment of antique bed pans. This remarkable collection of collections all sits quietly in the home of Rear Admiral Arne Söderland, who lives with his wife in the apartment above what has now become known as the Maritime Museum.
Today, this quiet is broken by the belligerent False Bay winds as they attempt to beat down the front door. Upstairs the television is broadcasting news coverage of the war in Ukraine. Söderland leans deeply into his armchair that sits in amongst the roughly 400 collections on show at the museum.
“We bought this restaurant in 2001, we bought it for the museum,” starts Söderland.
Arne Söderland’s regular spot behind the bar of the restaurant he has converted into a museum. This museum now houses roughly 400 unique collections. PHOTO: Jamie Venter
A man of many collections
Söderland has been collecting since his youth, starting his first collection in his hometown of Kimberley in 1956 when he was eight years old. He has since grown to be a well-established collector.
“I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), so this hobby keeps me busy,” he explains. “I just love the beauty of things, the uniqueness,” Söderland says. “It is the fun of finding things and identifying them.”
“It’s a challenge of collecting,” Söderland surmises. The museum is a colourful display of this challenge being taken on again and again in many odd and interesting fields of collection. Söderland’s main area of interest is in military memorabilia. But some of his other noteworthy collections and items taking up any counter, wall or ceiling include a cabinet of vintage perfumes, biscuit tins, flags, vintage beer bottles, maps, a fossilized tree branch, toilet paper from the Second World War and an airplane sick bag collection.
“They are all unused,” Söderland jests. “All except one, which has bubblegum in it.”
Rear Admiral Söderland had a 40-year career in the navy and proudly displays maritime war items dating back as far as the 1500’s. PHOTO: Jamie Venter
“Because of my ADD, my interests do change very quickly, but they do come back,” Söderland explains. “I don’t collect lots of the same thing. I try to collect variations.”
Söderland sees his role as that of a safekeeper of these items and does not collect for profit, despite the considerable worth of some of his items. “I don’t sell, I don’t sell at all,” Söderland says. “I don’t sell because one of my biggest sources is from people who bring me things, knowing I will keep them safe.”
“People often ask me what the most beautiful thing in my collection is. It’s that bedspread which was made in 1932 and given to me,” says Söderland. “But the woman who gave it to me has two daughters so I asked her why she would give it to me.”
“She said it’s because I am interested and they are not; I will look after it and they will use it for a dog blanket,” says Söderland. “There is no commercial aspect to my hobby so people understand that their heirlooms are safe here.”
The family in it all
Among the many antiques that cover every surface of every room in the museum are many of his own family heirlooms and sentimental objects. Photos of his three daughters can be sighted between the cabinets of vintage perfumes and antique dolls. Examples of his daughter’s cookie décor can be viewed on the bar countertop next to his latest collected antique mustache curler. Fond stories of the pride he has in his family history are also a common feature when on a tour of his museum.
The museum is best known for its vast array of naval warfare items, dating back from as far as the 1500’s through to current day. This too includes many of the Söderland family’s own heirlooms and three generations of military service uniforms – his father’s, his own and his daughter’s. Even his passion for collecting started at home with family.
Arne Söderland showcases photos of his family. Stories of the pride he has in his family history are a common feature when on a tour of his museum. PHOTO: Jamie Venter
“I started with military badges, my father’s flying gear, goggles and things like that,” he explained, referring back to his childhood collections. “The second thing was stone age tools, because they discovered a dig nearby and my father took me out there to collect them,” said Söderland.
Söderland, like his father before him, is sharing the passion with the next generation. “My oldest daughter cheated death by surviving leukemia at only 40,” said Söderland. “She opened an antique shop in Franschhoek during Covid, called Antebellum,” he explained. “I get stuff from her and she gets stuff from me as well.”
“She also has her own collections,” he beamed.
His nephew is an historian. “I have already given things to him, like my grandfather’s gold watch, to put on display,” said Söderland. “He’s got a love for it.”
Arne Söderland holds up an example of the vintage South African literature that can be found on display at his museum. PHOTO: Jamie Venter
Stories to be told
Despite the seemingly endless artifacts cramped into the homemade museum, Söderland knows the story behind each one.
The love Söderland has for his hobby ties into this love of storytelling. “I have published three books and I run the submarine museum in Simon’s Town,” says Söderland. Söderland’s most popular title, Iron Fist From The Sea: South Africa’s Seaborne Raiders 1978 – 1988, which he co-authored with Douw Steyn, tells the stories of clandestine seaborne raids conducted during the Border War.
Söderland also has many of his own fascinating stories from his life and 40 years of service in the navy prior to his retirement in 2006. He recounted his travels across the world and the events that led to him getting arrested in Portugal for immorality after giving a girl a kiss in the park.
The museum is in itself a collection of stories. “Now you know my life better than I do,” said Söderland. “I can’t do nothing […] So, I do this.”
