Vänersborg Municipality

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This page deals with both Vänersborg Municipality and the urban area (tätort) Vänersborg

**Vänersborg Municipality (*Kommun*)**
Central VänersborgVänersborg Municipality on Sweden's southern half Map outlining municipalities of Sweden	Coat of arms
	Municipal facts
	Seat	Vänersborg
	58° 23´ N 12° 19´ E
	County	Västra Götaland County
	Province	Västergötland
	Area Rank	647 km² x of 290
	Population Rank (2005)	37,105 60th of 290
	Density	57/km²

Vänersborg Municipality is a Swedish municipality in Västra Götaland County, in western Sweden. Its seat is in the town Vänersborg with 21,000 inhabitants.

The city is an important harbour for lake Vänern.

1 History
2 Notability
3 Towns
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Vänersborg was founded by citizens from Brätte, who moved there between 1642-1644. Vänersborg was formally confirmed the city status in Sweden in 1644. The remains of Brätte is still a popular attraction.

The names Vänersborg means "fortified fortress". It comes from the fortlet which was begun on in 1644 for protection.

The coat of arms is also from 1644, depicting a golden ship with two swedish flags.

Around 1800, Vänersborg and its 1,500 inhabitants were a decent city. After the inauguration of the canal at Trollhättan and the Göta älv -- making a waterway between Vänern and Gothenburg -- its importance further grew.

In 1834, most of the city with its wooden houses burnt down. Thereafter it was rebuilt according to a check pattern.

From 1693 to 1999, Vänersborg was the capital of Älvsborg County, until it was merged into Västra Götaland County.

[edit] Notability

The poet Birger Sjöberg (1885-1929) was born in Vänersborg. He wrote appreciative about Vänersborg, most notably in Fridas bok (1922), wherein the comparisment "Vänersborg -- little Paris" is found. The park in the northern part of Vänersborg, Skräckleparken, offers a picturesque view over Väners, and therein also stands this statue of mentioned Frida.

[edit] Towns

Towns > 200 inhabitants. From Statistics Sweden.

Frändefors 600
Brålanda 1,500
Vargön 5,000

[edit] References

article Vänersborg in Nordisk familjebok
Article on Swedish Wikipedia

[edit] External links

Vänersborg - Official site
Vänersborg Tourism – official page from vastsverige.com, in English, German, Swedish. (link tested and works August 2005)
[1] - The local newspaper TTELA

Municipalities in Västra Götaland County