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Karlskoga

Coordinates: 59°20′N 14°31′E / 59.333°N 14.517°E / 59.333; 14.517
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Karlskoga
Locality
View of central Karlskoga, Karlskoga Art Gallery, Björkborn Manor and Hotel Alfred Nobel
Nickname: 
Alfred Nobel's Karlskoga
Karlskoga is located in Örebro
Karlskoga
Karlskoga
Karlskoga is located in Sweden
Karlskoga
Karlskoga
Coordinates: 59°20′N 14°31′E / 59.333°N 14.517°E / 59.333; 14.517
Country Sweden
ProvinceVärmland
CountyÖrebro County
MunicipalityKarlskoga Municipality
Named forCharles IX of Sweden
Government
 • Chairman of the municipal boardTony Ring (M)
Area
[1]
 • Total
27.33 km2 (10.55 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total
27,562
 • Density991/km2 (2,570/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Websitehttp://www.karlskoga.se

Karlskoga (Swedish pronunciation: [kaɭˈskûːɡa])[2] is a locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality in Örebro County, Sweden. With a 2020 population of 27,386 distributed over 10.55 square miles (27.33 km2), Karlskoga is the second-largest city in Örebro County. It is located at the northern shore of lake Möckeln,[3][4] and the small settlement was initially called Möckelns bodar.[5]

Today, Karlskoga is a thriving center of arms industry.

Alfred Nobel lived at the Björkborn Manor house in Karlskoga Municipality, on the property of the Bofors works, which he owned. His residency there is the reason his will was adjudicated in Karlskoga, establishing the Nobel Prizes.[6]

Etymology

Karlskoga was initially called Möckelns bodar,[5] Möckelsboderna[3] or Bodarna,[7] being derived from cottages located at the shore of lake Möckeln.[8] The locality's name "Karlskoga" was coined in 1591, and has been in use ever since. It is derived from Charles (Karl) IX,[3] with skog meaning woods.[9]

History

See also: Timeline of Karlskoga

16th century

Karlskoga Church

Karlskoga and its surrounding area were sparsely populated in the beginning of the 16th century.[8] It was not until the 1580s that the area started to see an increase in population, when Charles IX made people settle in the area. For instance Finnish people,[10] as well as people from the much closer historical provinces of Närke and Södermanland.[9]

The parish of Karlskoga was established in 1586 and a wooden church was soon built, which was a consequence of population increase in the years prior. The first priest elected was Olaus Gestricius, in 1594.[11] In the 17th century fourteen small iron works and eight waterdriven hammers for bar iron were established. Most of these were still operating in the 1860s, but the dominating ironworks was the one in nearby Bofors. In 1871, Bofors produced 6,124 metric tons of iron, more than any other plant in Sweden. In 1882, Karlskoga parish (socken) had 11,184 inhabitants.

19th century

The first aerial photograph by rocket was of Karlskoga using one of Alfred Nobel cameras c. 1897, rocket possibly by Captain Wilhelm T. Unge.[12]

The town of Karlskoga has evolved around Bofors, which in late 19th century transformed from iron works to a manufacturer of cannon and in the 20th century a more diversified defense industry. Bofors was incorporated in 1873 and has since the 1880s been specializing in the lucrative manufacture of cannon.

The most famous owner of Bofors was Alfred Nobel who owned the company from 1894 until his death in December 1896. He had the key role in reshaping the iron manufacturer to a modern cannon manufacturer and chemical industry. During the summers of 1894–1896 he also lived in the manor house Björkborn.[13][14] Even though he died in his villa in Sanremo, Italy and had a home in Paris, France it was decided that his residence was at Björkborn in Karlskoga. Because of that it was here his famous testament that was written in Paris 1895 was legally registered, which eventually made it possible to establish the Nobel Prize.

20th century

In 1940 the town of Karlskoga and the surrounding area (the same territory as today's Karlskoga Municipality) got the formal title of a city (stad). Since 1971 this term has no legal meaning and only the built-up area is considered a de facto town. Karlskoga spent most of the 20th century as a growing company town to this cannon manufacturer. Only with the demilitarization in the most recent decades has this started to be a problem for the town. There were 8,500 workers in Bofors in 1980, but the number had decreased to 2,600 in 1998.

Geography

Karlskoga is situated more or less in a low mountainous ridge called Kilsbergen that separates Närke from Värmland.

Such areas have traditionally been financially poor. This led to a significant Swedish emigration to North America from the district in the latter half of the 19th century. Stockholm, Wisconsin was for instance founded in 1854 by immigrants from Karlskoga.[15]

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19001,810—    
196031,433+1636.6%
196534,970+11.3%
197036,963+5.7%
197535,425−4.2%
198034,329−3.1%
199031,106−9.4%
199530,177−3.0%
200028,579−5.3%
200527,500−3.8%
201027,084−1.5%
201527,490+1.5%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.

Karlskoga's population grew steadily from the time when arms manufacturer Bofors had started to expand, until the 1970s. Thereafter, it underwent a sharp decline (down by almost 10,000 inhabitants over a 30-year period), with signs of recovery only in the very last few years.[16][17] Nevertheless, with 27,386 inhabitants, Karlskoga is the second most populous place in Örebro County following Örebro (126,009).

The presence of foreign residents in Karlskoga accounts for 16.5 % of inhabitants. This compares with 19.1 % in the town Örebro.

Language and dialects

In 2012, Karlskoga Municipality received its status as a Finnish-speaking administrative municipality.[18]

Sports

Nobelhallen

The ice hockey team BIK Karlskoga is the most prominent team from the municipality and the team is currently playing as per the 2021-2022 season in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of Swedish ice hockey. There is also a football team called KB Karlskoga Fotboll.

Karlskoga is home to several stadiums, of which Nobelhallen is the largest (it hosted the 1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships).

Notable people

Arts

Sports

Others

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Sweden

Twin towns – Sister cities

Karlskoga is twinned with:

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Karlskoga:

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2005 och 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  2. ^ Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 13.
  3. ^ a b c Valeur, Bent. "Karlskoga". lex.dk (in Danish). Den Store Danske. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Karlskoga". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b Lindberg 1897, p. 4.
  6. ^ "Alfred Nobels testamente - Nobels hästar det sista triumfkortet". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  7. ^ Thomée, Gustaf (1866). "251 (Sverige. Illustrerad handbok för resande och derjemte ett minne för dem som besökt landet)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2021 – via Project Runeberg.
  8. ^ a b "49 (Svenska Familj-Journalen / Band III, årgång 1864)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2021 – via Project Runeberg.
  9. ^ a b Hammarin, Johan. "306 (Carlstads Stifts Herdaminne / Första delen)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2021 – via Project Runeberg.
  10. ^ Nordmann, Petrus (1888). "XXXIII (Finnarne i mellersta Sverige)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2021 – via Project Runeberg.
  11. ^ Dahl 1779, p. 18.
  12. ^ Ingemar Skoog, A. (2010-02-01). "The Alfred Nobel rocket camera. An early aerial photography attempt". Acta Astronautica. 66 (3–4): 624–635. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.06.011. ISSN 0094-5765.
  13. ^ "Alfred Nobel | Björkborns Herrgård | Visit Karlskoga Degerfors". www.visitkarlskogadegerfors.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  14. ^ Asarnoj, Nina (5 October 2017). "Herrgården som möjliggjorde Nobelpriset". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  15. ^ Jones, Ben (2022-03-09). "The Small Town In Wisconsin Boasting World-Famous Pie Is The Sweetest Day Trip Destination". Only In Your State. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Kommuner i siffror". kommunsiffror.scb.se. Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Karlskoga". Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (in Norwegian Bokmål). 29 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2022. Etter årtusenskiftet har folketallet holdt seg stabilt.
  18. ^ "Karlskoga kommun – 10 år som finsk förvaltningskommun". karlskoga.se (in Swedish). Karlskoga Municipality. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Aalborg Twin Towns". Europeprize.net. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.

Bibliography

Books


  • Media related to Karlskoga at Wikimedia Commons
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