Kungälv

Kungälv
Kungälv from Bohus fästning in July 2006
Kungälv Show map of Västra Götaland Kungälv Show map of Sweden
Coordinates: 57°52′N 11°58′E / 57.867°N 11.967°E / 57.867; 11.967
Country	Sweden
Province	Bohuslän
County	Västra Götaland County
Municipality	Kungälv Municipality
Area ^[1]
• Total	11.52 km² (4.45 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)^[1]
• Total	22,768
• Density	1,976/km² (5,120/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Kungälv (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkɵ̂ŋːɛlv])^[2] is a city and the seat of Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is also a part of Greater Gothenburg Metropolitan Area. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010.^[1] In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - Kareby conurbation had a combined population approaching 30,000.^[3]

History

According to official Swedish sources the city was founded in 1612, when the city of Konghelle was moved closer to the Bohus Fortress. However, this is disputed because other sources indicate that it was just a strategic relocation of the existing Norwegian city, the capital of Norway at one point under Sigurd I Magnusson, something frequently used for marketing and tourist purposes. For this reason, Kungälv could celebrate its "1000-year anniversary" in 1959.^[4]

Sigurd I Magnusson (Sigurd Jorsalfare, i.e., Sigurd the Crusader) was the King of Norway (1103–1130) and is the best-known crusader king of Scandinavia. He was also the first European king to join the crusades at a time where Kungälv was Norwegian territory.

Sigurd returned to Norway in 1111, where he made his capital in Konghelle (in the vicinity of Kungälv in present-day Sweden) and built a castle there, where he kept a relic given to him by King Baldwin, a splinter reputed to be from the True Cross. Sigurd died in 1130 and was buried in Hallvardskirken (Hallvards church) in Oslo, in present-day Norway.

In the 1120s Pomeranian ships from Stettin (present-day Szczecin, Poland), from the southern coast of the Baltic Sea attacked the Danish coast. On 10 August 1135 Duke Ratibor assaulted the Norwegian towns. Konghelle, was captured and burnt to the ground by the forces of prince Ratibor, assisted by a fleet of 550 ships with cavalry on board (each carrying forty-four men and two horses). They laid the town to ruins, killed a large part of the population, and abducted most of the survivors as thralls to Szczecin. Snorri Sturluson, writing a century later, said that Konghelle never completely recovered.^[5]

The former settlement at Konghelle burned down in 1612,^[6] and was subsequently moved by Christian IV of Denmark and Norway to the open slope below Bohus Fortress, and rebuilt as Kongelf.^[7]

The Bohus Fortress remains the most popular tourist attraction in Kungälv.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

Mikael Andersson, Former NHL-forward and Olympian was raised in Kungälv.
Niklas Andersson, Former NHL-forward and younger brother of Mikael was born and raised in Kungälv.
P. J. Axelsson, Former Boston Bruins forward and Olympian was born and raised in Kungälv.
Eva von Bahr (physicist), First female docent in physics in Sweden lived in Kungälv
Mirsad Bektašević the jihadist was born in Serbia and grew up in Kungälv
Carin Koch, Professional golfer was born and raised in Kungälv.
Erik Lindh, Former table tennis player and Olympic bronze medalist
Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics; resided in Kungälv
John Hron, the victim of a high-profile murder / hate crime was raised in Kungälv
Fredrik Sjöström, Former NHL-forward was raised in Kungälv.
Ernst Skarstedt, Swedish-American author, journalist and editor was born in Kungälv.
Pontus Wernbloom, Professional football player.

Transport

European route E6
Västtrafik regional buses
Bohusbanan railway (Ytterby station)

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Kungälv:

Kungälvs VBK - multiple Swedish champions in volleyball in the 1980s and 90s
IFK Kungälv
Ytterby IS
IK Kongahälla
Kungälvs SK
Kungälvs simsällskap
Kongahälla AIK

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kungälv.

^ ^a ^b ^c "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.
^ Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 15.
^ "kommunfakta - kungalv.se". www.kungalv.se. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
^ Kungälv firar 1000 års-jubileum 1959 Archived 2013-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ Olav Tryggvason's saga (Heimskringla. (Snorri Sturluson, chapter 113)
^ Alin et al. (1948), p. 30.
^ Olàn (1923), p. 39

v t e Municipalities and seats of Västra Götaland County
Municipalities	Ale Alingsås Åmål Bengtsfors Bollebygd Borås Dals-Ed Essunga Falköping Färgelanda Götene Gothenburg Grästorp Gullspång Härryda Herrljunga Hjo Karlsborg Kungälv Lerum Lidköping Lilla Edet Lysekil Mariestad Mark Mellerud Mölndal Munkedal Öckerö Orust Partille Skara Skövde Sotenäs Stenungsund Strömstad Svenljunga Tanum Tibro Tidaholm Tjörn Töreboda Tranemo Trollhättan Uddevalla Ulricehamn Vänersborg Vara Vårgårda
Municipal seats	Alingsås Åmål Bengtsfors Bollebygd Borås Ed Falköping Färgelanda Götene Gothenburg Grästorp Gullspång and Hova Henån Herrljunga Hjo Karlsborg Kinna Kungälv Kungshamn Lerum Lidköping Lilla Edet Lysekil Mariestad Mellerud Mölndal Mölnlycke Munkedal Nödinge-Nol Nossebro Öckerö Partille Skara Skärhamn Skövde Stenungsund Strömstad Svenljunga Tanumshede Tibro Tidaholm Töreboda Tranemo Trollhättan Uddevalla Ulricehamn Vänersborg Vara Vårgårda
Counties of Sweden Sweden

50 most populous urban areas of Sweden

1.	Stockholm	1,617,407 (2020)
2.	Gothenburg	607,882 (2020)
3.	Malmö	325,069 (2020)
4.	Uppsala	166,698 (2020)
5.	Upplands Väsby	149,701 (2020)
6.	Västerås	128,660 (2020)
7.	Örebro	126,604 (2020)
8.	Linköping	115,682 (2020)
9.	Helsingborg	113,828 (2020)
10.	Jönköping	100,579 (2020)

11.	Norrköping	98,088 (2020)
12.	Lund	94,393 (2020)
13.	Umeå	91,916 (2020)
14.	Gävle	79,004 (2020)
15.	Södertälje	76,320 (2020)
16.	Borås	74,042 (2020)
17.	Halmstad	71,422 (2020)
18.	Växjö	71,282 (2020)
19.	Eskilstuna	69,948 (2020)
20.	Karlstad	67,122 (2020)

21.	Sundsvall	58,813 (2020)
22.	Östersund	52,980 (2020)
23.	Trollhättan	50,502 (2020)
24.	Luleå	49,123 (2020)
25.	North-east Gothenburg	47,211 (2020)
26.	Tumba	46,014 (2020)
27.	Lidingö	44,091 (2020)
28.	Borlänge	44,898 (2020)
29.	Kalmar	41,852 (2020)
30.	Kristianstad	41,299 (2020)

31.	Skövde	39,580 (2020)
32.	Karlskrona	36,904 (2020)
33.	Falun	39,492 (2020)
34.	Skellefteå	36,388 (2020)
35.	Varberg	36,327 (demographic balance, 2020)
36.	Uddevalla	35,916 (2020)
37.	Åkersberga	35,747 (2020)
38.	Nyköping	38,780 (2020)
39.	Landskrona	33,466 (2020)
40.	Örnsköldsvik	33,348 (2020)

41.	Vallentuna	33,336 (2020)
42.	Motala	31,340 (2020)
43.	Trelleborg	30,808 (2020)
44.	Ängelholm	29,490 (2020)
45.	Märsta	29,815 (2020)
46.	Falkenberg	28,747 (2020)
47.	Lerum	28,520 (2020)
48.	Alingsås	27,433 (2020)
49.	Karlskoga	27,360 (2020)
50.	Kungälv	26,960 (2020)

as of 2020, according to Statistics Sweden

This page was last edited on 20 February 2024, at 08:16

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History

Notable people

Transport

Sports

References