Eskilstuna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eskilstuna River and Gamla Stan (Old Town)

Klosters church of Eskilstuna.

Eskilstuna (IPA: ˘ɛskilstʉːna) is a city in Sweden located at 59°22′N 16°31′E. It received its charter in 1659 and today has a population of 60,000. It is the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, which has 91,000 inhabitants. Eskilstuna is the new western frontier of the Stockholm metropolitan region.

Eskilstuna participates in international town twinning and is "twinned" with Luton,Erlangen, Esbjerg and Stavanger . The city is located located 120 kilometres west of the Stockholm and is on the River Eskilstunaån ( or Torshällan ån or Hyndvadsån depending on where you are long the river...) that connects lake Hjälmaren and Lake Mälaren.

It is served by the Svealand railway line (Svealandsbanan) between Stockholm and Hallsberg. The connections to the capital have improved in the last years - a train ride between the two cities now takes about an hour - and Eskilstuna has attracted many new inhabitants who commute to their places of work in greater Stockholm.

European route E20 also passes the city.

1 History
2 Notable Natives
3 Sources:
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

Eskilstuna's history dates back to medieval times when English monk Saint Eskil made "Tuna" his base and diocese of the South coast of Lake Mälaren. Saint Eskil was stoned to death by the pagan vikings of neighbouring town Strängnäs, 30 km east of Eskilstuna, trying to make them Christians. Saint Eskil was buried in his monastery church in Tuna. Later the pagan city of Strängnäs was Christianised and was given the privilege of becoming diocese of South Lake Mälaren. Later "Eskil" was added in to the word "Tuna". However, the town of Eskilstuna did not receive municipal privileges due to its proximity to the medieval city of Torshälla. The monastery of Saint Eskil was completely destroyed by Swedish king Gustav Vasa during the Protestant Reformation and was replaced with the royal castle of Eskilstuna House.

The city's first municipal privileges were granted in 1659, and its boundaries included Tunafors and the newly-founded town of Karl Gustavs Stad ("City of Karl Gustav"), located on the west side of the river. Karl Gustavs Stad was built around the iron forges of master smith Reinhold Rademacher, encouraged by King Karl X Gustav. The first products of the forges were small arms and artillery.

Karl Gustavs Stad was a free town from 1771, where manufacturers and craftsmen were allowed to establish tax-free workshops and factories. The town was merged with the rest of Eskilstuna in 1879.

The city grew enormously during the Industrial Revolution and became one of the most important industrial cities of Sweden, earning the nickname "Stålstaden" ("The City of Steel"). Aside from firearms, the city also produced cutlery, scissors, keys, machine tools and precision instruments. As a tribute to the steel industry, the figure of a steel worker is included in the city's coat of arms.

The city remains an important industrial city with internationally-known companies such as Volvo Wheelloaders and atruiculated haulers among othe rthings) and Assa (locks, keys). The modern co-establishment of the Mälardalen University (Mälardalens högskola) together with the neighbouring, somewhat larger city of Västerås, has also given Eskilstuna an academic touch. The city also has a combined zoo and amusement park - Parken Zoo, most famous for its white tigers.

The most successful sports clubs of the cities are the Smederna Speedway motorcycle racing club (Blacksmiths), and the handball club GUIF, which have both placed in the top divisions of their respective sports in Sweden for many years.

Eskilstuna also has a large Sweden Finn population. Finnish is also the official language, along with Swedish since 2004.

[edit] Notable Natives

Kent, one of Swedens best-selling rock groups in history.
Kent Carlsson (born January 3, 1968), former professional tennis player
Towa Carson, (born 31 March, 1968) popular schlager singer, Melodifestivalen participant (1960s through 2000s)
Tomas Gustafson, Former triple Olympic champion in speedskating.
Fredrik Lindström, Famous Linguistics expert, author, comedian and TV host.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad, former member of ABBA
Yvonne Ryding (born December 14, 1962), Miss Universe 1984
Daniel Gildenlow, Founder of Progressive Metal Band, Pain of Salvation

[edit] Sources:

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