Between 1919 and 1980 ”hembygdskunskap” [Heimatkunde] was a mandatory school subject in the first three years of schooling in Sweden. The subject was composed to comprise the introductory study of the natural and social environments, but also to train the children’s perceptional and expressional skills. This article follows the career of the subject through the Swedish curriculum history based on curriculum documents and official school investigations. The article shows how the creation of the subject was influenced by international progressive educational ideas about reality based teaching, curriculum concentration and student activity. Over time, the educational implications of the concept ”hembygd” changed. In the beginning of the period, the concept ”hembygd” offered a fruitful way to focus and delimit the primary study of the environments. In the end of the period, however, the concept was abandoned, as it no longer had the capacity of gathering the teaching content. Accordingly, the era of this school subject was over.