Help, Please in Translating Swedish

Today at a flea market I bought what I think is a Patent of Nobility that I'm pretty sure is Swedish. This is a lovely large (elephant folio) piece bound like a book with embossed leather with cording in Sweden's colors of blue and yellow. The cording is attached to the book and to a large wax seal which is inside a round wooden case. It is four and a half pages of beautiful handwritten information with a Coat of Arms on one page illuminated. Tucked inside the front is a slip of paper with information typed on it. Because we have several people on the newsgroup who speak Swedish, I would appreciate someone translating this for me. I've tried using the translating program but it is so slow and it never comes out exactly right. Example is a French game I bought. When I tried to translate the directions, it said to 'Beat up the cards'! I could figure that meant shuffle them but there are many other places where the exact translation isn't making sense.

SVENSKT ADELSBREV I ORIGINAL.

Adelsbrev i folio omfattande 4 pergamentblad for Kapten Gerhard Hopken, adlad von Lowenheim. Det beskriver utforligt den adlades meriter och krigsaktiviteter. Dokumentet ar undertecknat av Karl XII i Altranstadt den 7 juni 1707 och med bevarat vidhangande stort sigill i vacker tradosa. Adelsbrevet ar i sitt originalband av helskinn med guldspragling och pa parmarna Karl XII monogram i guld; en typ av band som beskrivits av dr. Sten Lindberg i Arte et Marte, 1981. 9.000:-

Adelsbrev i original i oppna handeln aro utomordentligt sallsynta.

Thanks for your help.

Ashley American by birth. Southern by the Grace of God.

Original Swedish letter of nobility

Letter of Nobility in folio, containing 4 pieces of parchment for Kapt. Gerhard Hopken, ennobled by the name von Lowenheim. It describes the merits and war activities of the named nobleman in great detail. The document is signed by Karl XII [the great Swedish warrior king] in Altranstadt the 7 of June, 1707 and has the original wide sigill [donno what this means - I'm Norwegian] In a beautiful [donno, ask Kat]. The Letter of nobility is in its original leather band with gold pattern and the monogram of Karl XII may be seen in gold on the vellum; a type of band described by Dr. Sten Lindberg in Arte et Marte, 1981. 9.000:- [if this is Swedish kronor it would be the equivalent of US$ 1100 or so].

Letters of Nobility are extremely rare on the open market.

My English may not be to good, though, as I tried to keep the translation as close to the original text as possible. If you know anything about brass kettles, please return the favour,

Dear Claes,

Thank you so much for helping me with this. I had no idea the number (9000) referred to money. Would really be interesting to learn how this piece got from the original family, to someone selling it for that amount in 1981, to a flea market in Pennsylvania where I didn't pay anywhere near that amount. I'll take pictures this week and share it with the group because it is really a beautiful work of art.

Ashley American by birth. Southern by the Grace of God.

I think Theorems von Löwenheim was a famous philosopher. If the Letter of nobility ended up (legitimately) on the open market, I presume the family simply died out. Shouldn't be to hard to find out, though. Try contacting the Swedish embassy. If the family was ennobled and accepted in the Ridderhus [House of Knights] some official record in regard to heirs must exist.

C.

Well I dear say, you found it at flea market!?!?

I will translate it as good as I can, but it will take a little while, I need to look into a dictionary but the sentence in all caps means 'Letter of nobility in original'. If this really is a genuine thing then what you have is something that relates to one of the most carismatic periods in our history. Is it possible that you could upload some pics? I would really want to have a look at this! All objects that can be connected with Gustav III or Karl XII have a air of high end around them. Will be back later tonight, meanwhile, if there any experts in your area that can verifye if it is genuine I strongly suggest that you do that. Karl XII...... well, well....

Regards Martin W.

Once again, many thanks for your information. I will do that and report back here if I can get additional information.

Ashley American by birth. Southern by the Grace of God.