Kalmar
From Freepedia
Kalmar is a city in south east Sweden with some 34,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of Kalmar Municipality with roughly 60,000 inhabitants, in turn the seat of the Kalmar County (12 municipalities, 236,000 inhabitants).
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History
Kalmar is one of the oldest cities of Sweden. According to the story of the Norwegian patron Saint Olav, Olav had his ships moved to Kalmar 1027. The oldest contemporary records are also from the 11th century, on runestones. There Kalmar is used in the meaning Kalmar Strait, as the city itself had not yet been founded.
Kalmar's importance to the defense of Sweden stemmed from its location near the Danish border, since its castle was the Southernmost bulwark against foreign invasion. After Denmark ceded Terra Scania to Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde 1658, Kalmar's strategic importance diminished.
Icelandic saga-writer Snorre Sturlasson visited Kalmar in 1219. In his writings he refers to it as Kaupbaer, which means merchant city. The oldest city seal of Kalmar is from somewhere between 1255-1267, and it is the oldest known city seal from any city in Scandinavia.
On July 13, 1397, the Nordic Union treaty, named Kalmar Union, is signed in Kalmar. The union consisted of Sweden, Norway and Denmark and would last until 1520, when rivalling monarchs forced its collapse.
Kalmar was also a bishopric until 1903 when it was merged by the bishopric of Växjö.
Today
In more recent times, Kalmar has been an industrial city with Kalmar Mekaniska Verkstad making steam engines and large machinery. It has a college and a research facility for Telia Sonera. Its castle is a "fist of granite" from the 16th century and Scandinavia's best kept renaissance castle.
In 1972, the 6 km long Öland bridge was built from Kalmar to the town of Färjestaden on Öland, replacing the ferries.
Notable natives
See also
External links
- Kalmar - Official site
- Kalmar Castle
