Karlstad
| Karlstad | |
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  Karlstad
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Sweden |
| Province | Värmland |
| County | Värmland County |
| Municipality | Karlstad Municipality |
| Area[1] | |
| - Total | 29.92 km2 (11.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2005-12-31)[1] | |
| - Total | 58,544 |
| - Density | 1,956/km2 (5,066/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Karlstad is a city, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city had 58,544 inhabitants in 2005[1] out of a municipal that in 2008 had total of 83,994 inhabitants. Karlstad has a University and a Cathedral.
Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden's longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden's largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.
Karlstad is often associated with sunshine and the symbol for Karlstad is a happy sun. Karlstad is reputed to be one of the sunniest towns in Sweden and a local waitress, known as "Sola i Karlstad" (the Sun in Karlstad) for her sunny disposition, is also commemorated with a statue.
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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.
Karlstad was granted its city charter on March 5, 1584 by the Swedish Duke Charles, who would later be crowned King Charles IX of Sweden. The city derives its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Charles' city. The Duke also granted Karlstad the right as a governmental seat in the region, and gave it a substantial amount of land.
The Duke built his own house in the city, which is referred to as Kungsgården (The King's Manor). Karlstad's Cathedral was built on the location Kungsgården in 1724 - 1730 by Christian Haller.
A significant coup d'état of modern Swedish history had its beginning in Karlstad. During the night of 7 March 1809, lieutenant-colonel Georg Adlersparre used the part of the western army that was stationed in Värmland to occupy Karlstad. From there officially proclaimed a revolution, and during 9 March, he and his soldiers began their successful march toward the capital to end the reign of king Gustav IV Adolf.[2]
Karlstad has suffered four major fires. Only the cathedral and a few houses remained after the last fire on July 2, 1865. Karlstad was thereafter rebuilt according to a grid pattern with wide streets surrounded by trees.
In 1905, the agreement to dissolve the union between Norway and Sweden was negotiated and signed in Karlstad.
Politics
Municipalities are responsible for government-mandated duties, and elections for the Municipal council are held every four years, parallel to the general elections.
The inhabitants of Karlstad have a tendency to vote close to the national results at the general elections, making it the generally accepted Bellwether town of Sweden<[3][4].
Following the municipal election in 2006, the seats are divided as follows[5]:
| The Governing Majority | The Opposition | Independent parties |
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Education
Several upper secondary schools (gymnasium) offer the most common range of courses usually available throughout Sweden, including the IB Diploma Programme. The majority of students in Värmland need to commute or move to Karlstad for their upper secondary education. Tertiary education is offered by Karlstad University, which was granted university status in 1999.
Culture
Sports and recreation
Winter sports
Ice hockey is a highly popular spectator sport in Karlstad. The most popular club is Färjestads BK. The team plays in Elitserien (highest level) and the home arena is Löfbergs Lila Arena. The club has won the Swedish Championship several times, most recently in 2009, and is one of the most successful ice hockey clubs of the last decades. Several other ice hockey clubs exist and Karlstad is also represented in the 1st Division of ice hockey (3rd highest level) by the team Skåre BK. The International Ice Hockey Federation announced that the 2010 Men's World Inline Hockey Championships will be hosted by Karlstad. Löfbergs Lila Arena will be the primary site of the tournament.
Traditionally, Bandy has been the most popular winter sport in Karlstad, and the city is the home of two of the historically most successful clubs in Sweden, IF Boltic and IF Karlstad-Göta. In 2000, the two clubs merged into BS BolticGöta, which is now the major bandy club in Karlstad and after a successful season in Allsvenskan 2009/2010 the team qualified for Elitserien and thus managed to return to the highest level. The home arena, Tingvalla Ice Stadium, built in 1967, is claimed to be one of Europe's largest artificially frozen areas and is currently awaiting a decision by the municipality to eventually become renovated and transformed into an indoor ice rink.
Karlstad is a regular host of start, finish and special stages for the The Swedish Rally. The competition has world championship status and is held annually in Värmland.
Summer sports
Several football clubs exist, and the highest ranking team is QBIK. The club is was founded in 1978, and entered the premier division of women's football, Damallsvenskan, in 2005. The team currently plays in the 1st Division (2nd highest level)[6], but has several players in the Swedish national team[7]. The second highest ranking football team is Carlstad United. The club was founded in 1998 by an alliance of seven local football clubs, with the aim of providing Karlstad with an elite football team. The club was accepted by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) in 1999[8] and the team is currently playing in the mens 1st Division of football (3rd highest level). As for QBIK, their home ground is Tingvalla IP, and recently, the facility is also becoming the home ground for the football team Karlstad BK, that plays in the mens 2nd Division (4th highest level).
American football is also played on Tingvalla IP. Carlstad Crusaders plays in Superserien, the highest level and since the founding of the club in 1990, the team has attended seven finals, but has not yet won.
Karlstad is also famous for athletics. The club IF Göta has a number of international athletes and host the annual athletics meet Götagalan. There is an outdoor athletics track at Tingvalla IP and an indoor track (200 m) in Våxnäshallen.
Another prominent sports club in Karlstad is OK Tyr, one of the largest orienteering clubs in Sweden. OK Tyr won Tiomila in 1989 and 1990.
Public facilities
Sport facilties in Karlstad, open to public, are such as Klarälvsbanan, a 90 km, asphalted railway line, runs from Karlstad to Hagfors. It is popular amongst cyclists, inlines skaters and roller skiers.
There are also a large number of open-air bathing places, both in Vänern and other lakes in the municipality, and a 25 meter indoor swimming pool is provided by Sundstabadet.
Many sawdust jogging trails, some of which are lit, can be found in the city outskirts. During wintertime, several are transformed into trails for cross-country skiing.
Notable natives
- Bengt Alsterlind, TV host ("Hajk")
- Sven-Erik Magnusson, singer/dance band artist (Sven-Ingvars)
- Thomas Rhodin, ice hockey player (four times Swedish Champion with Färjestads BK)
- Christer Sjögren, rock/dansband singer (Vikingarna)
- Ulf Sterner, ice hockey player (first Swede to play in the National Hockey League)
- Zarah Leander, notable UFA actress
Image gallery
 Karlstad Cathedral |
 Karlstad from the Klaraborg Bridge |
 Statue of Sola i Karlstad, next to Klarälven |
 Wooden houses that survived the fire in 1865 |
.JPG) Karlstad Theatre, a theatre and the home of the Värmland Opera |
 The East Bridge |
 Carlarnas sluss, a lock from the early 19th century |
 The Bishops House |
 Värmland Museum by night |
 The new part of Värmland Museum |
 Tingvalla upper secondary school |
 Karlstad Town Hall |
See also
- Karlstad University
- Karlstad Airport
Notes
- Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2000 och 2005" (in Swedish) (xls). Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/statistik/MI/MI0810/2005A01B/T%c3%a4torternami0810tab1.xls. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
- ↑ Norberg, p. 56-57
- ↑ http://www.fof.se/tidning/2006/6/karlstad-rostar-som-sverige
- ↑ http://www.scb.se/Pages/PressRelease____161361.aspx
- ↑ http://www.karlstad.se/apps/symfoni/karlstad/karlstad.nsf/$all/C2496B073E288C55C1257433004DFCDD?open
- ↑ http://www.klubben.se/QBIK/1106-template-p2-5850.html
- ↑ http://www.klubben.se/QBIK/1106-nyhetsarkiv-item-61946.html
- ↑ http://www.laget.se/carlstadunited/38481-template-p2-56167.html
References
- Norberg, Johan (1999), Den Svenska Liberalismens historia, Timbro, ISBN 91-7566-429-1
External links
Media related to Karlstad at Wikimedia Commons- Official site
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Karlstad is one of 133 places with the historical city status in Sweden. |
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