Ingeborg Holm boldly challenged the poor-law system of the time, and was one of the first films ever made to contain such politically charged content. It depicts the challenges faced by a woman named Ingeborg Holm, who became poverty-stricken after the death of her husband, was forced to abandon her children, and had to move into a workhouse.  This page analyzes the settings and costumes of the film, and how these compare to the conditions in workhouses at the time.

Conditions of the Workhouse

Negative aspects of the poor-law system were displayed through the conditions of the workhouse. Due to Nils Krok's experience as a member of a local Board of Guardians, he knew a great deal about the system when he wrote the play on which the movie was based. Through his time on the board, he saw how the system was devastating the people it was supposed to be helping.(1) Filmmaker Victor Sjöström and Krok wanted the setting of the play and film to be accurate to show the rest of society what the conditions were like. Workhouses were for many different types of people who needed help.  They housed the elderly, people suffering from various health conditions, and those who needed financial assistance.(2) This variety of conditions was demonstrated in the film through different characters.  The woman Ingeborg worked with abused alcohol, Ingeborg herself was poor because of an ulcer and being a widow, and eventually became mentally ill.

The living quarters were accurately exhibited in the film. According to the Workhouse Encyclopedia, all of the members of the workhouse lived in open areas with single beds for sleeping. The beds were small, and mattresses left a lot to be desired.(3) The film showed the sleeping room many times and the residents were practically on top of one another.  Ingeborg had to tread carefully when she snuck out because of the shared quarters.

Little space was allocated for each resident of the workhouse as portrayed in the film.  When Ingeborg and her children moved out of their apartment the board collected their belongings and the audience does not see their belongings during the rest of the film. According to the Workhouse Encyclopedia, towards the end of the nineteenth century, women were given a dress that went to their calf, some even wore aprons. When occupants left the workhouse, they were given their clothing back to return to society.(4)  Ingeborg was shown in a simple dress once she was admitted to the workhouse and it was the same throughout the film.

Other Settings

Other living conditions were shown in the film:  the Holm’s original home, the foster home of one of the children, and a house Ingeborg takes refuge in from the authorities. **Fig 1** The picture of a Norwegian house was taken at the end of the nineteenth century. It is very similar to the house in which Ingeborg took refuge. The family in the film that gave her refuge in the countryside clearly had money because of the size and furnishings of their house. In comparison, the foster home that Ingeborg’s daughter was placed in was a small log house where her daughter slept on a “bed” in the kitchen near a fireplace. The comparison of the working house, the foster home, and the refuge house depicted the lowest, lower, and middle class of the time.







Ingeborg Holm accurately depicted the settings and details of workhouses because the director and writer wanted to show the conditions to the rest of society. Klok’s time as a board member influenced him to try to change the poor laws. Ingeborg Holm as a play and eventually a movie delivered his message to a wider audience.


(1)  Erik Hedling, “Swedish Cinema Alters History: Ingeborg Holm and the Poor Laws Debate,” Scandinavia, 39, no. 1 (2000): 47-48.
(2) Per Gunnar Edebalk & Mats Olsson, “Poor Relief, Taxes and the First Universal Pension Reform: the origin of the Swedish welfare state reconsidered,” Scandinavian Journal of History, 35 no. 4, (27 July 2010): 394.
(3) Peter Higginbotham, "Beds," in The Workhouse Encyclopedia (United Kingdom: History Press, 2012).
(4) Peter Higginbotham, "Clothing," in The Workhouse Encyclopedia.

Written and edited by Anna Buan & Marah Moy and  Jacob Aberle & Tim Carlson.