Boxholm Municipality

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Boxholm Municipality on Sweden's municipal map

Boxholm Municipality is a Municipality in Östergötland County, in southeast Sweden. The municipality covers an area of 527.7 km². Of the total population of 5334, 2748 are male, and 2586 are female, with a population density of 10 inhabitants per km².

Of the population, 3,190 live in the town Boxholm.

[edit] History

The earliest human traces are from the Stone age, cirka 8000 BC. From some later times, the Nordic Bronze Age, are several remains such as cists and gravefields. And from the Viking Age, ca 800-1,000 AD, are seven kept runestones.

After the christianisation of Sweden, churches were built in the 12th and 13th century, and several churches have their foundation from that time.

The name "Boxholm" is first to be found in the 16th century, as the name of a manor by Arvid Stenbock. Boxholm thus comes from "Bock's holm" (holm a modern Swedish and Old Norse word for islet).

An iron works was constructed in 1754, and a community grew up around it. The major expansion were however made in the 1850-1900. The community were granted municipal rights in 1908, and in 1947 rights as a merchant town (köping).