Karlstad Municipality

Karlstad Municipality [kɑːɭstɑː(d)] (pop. 82,000) is a municipality in mid-western Sweden where the city Karlstad (pop.53,000) in seat. It has an university and a minor international airport.

Geography

The municipality has a varying terrain.

The city Karlstad is located at the northern shore of the largest lake in Sweden, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.

Karlstad consists of islands and islets (see the illustration below).

History

On Karlstad's largest islet, there was a place of counsel called Tingvalla in the medieval age, which had roots from the Viking Age before 1000 AD. It was also used as a market place. (See: Ting).

Karlstad was granted its city right on March 5, 1584 by the Swedish Duke Charles, who would later be crowned King Charles IX of Sweden. The city also derived its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Karls city. The Duke also granted Karlstad the right as a governmental seat in the region, and gave it a substantial amoung of land.

The Duke also built his own mansion in the city, which is refered to as Kungsgården (The King's mansion). On its location, a Cathedral was built in 1724–1730 by Kr. Haller.

Karlstad has been severely burnt four times. After the last fire on July 2, 1865, only the church and a few houses remained. It was thereafter rebuilt according to a check pattern with wide street surrounded by trees.

Karlstad lies on the mainline railway connecting Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm.

The symbol

Karlstad officially uses a sun as its symbol as of 2000(?). It signifies the sunny weather in Karlstad – Karlstad often has most hours of sun per year in Sweden – aswell as Sola in Karlstad the name of a famous waitress in Karlstad in the end of the 18th century. Allegedly it also signifies the friendly warmth of the inhabitants of Karlstad.

Sites of interest

• Alstersherrgård, the manor house where Gustaf Fröding was born
• Karlstad Cathedral, built in 1730
• An indoor ice rink, expanded in 2002 to host world hockey championships.
• Botanical gardens
• A large market place (city square) where the negotiations for the dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway were held in 1905
• A rune stone: one of four known in Värmland.
• A history museum
• A nature museum.

See also

• Swedish Rescue Services Agency
• Swedish National Service Administration
• Swedish Rally
• Karlstad Hundred

References

 This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904–1926 now in Public Domain.

External links

• Karlstad – Official site
• Karlstad University
• article Karlstad, from NF