Karlstad Municipality

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This article is about the town in Sweden. For the historical encampment near Copenhagen, see Carlstad. For the American town, see Karlstad, Minnesota.

**Karlstad Municipality (*Kommun*)**
Map of Sweden with Karlstad highlighted	Coat of arms
	Municipal facts
	Seat	Karlstad:
	59° 22′ N 13° 30′ E
	County	Värmland County
	Province	Värmland
	Area Rank	1167.1 km² 87th of 290
	Population Rank (2005)	82,096 19th of 290
	Density	69/km²

Karlstad Municipality [kɑːɭsta] (pop. 82,096) is a municipality in mid-western Sweden with the city Karlstad (population 58,055) as its seat. It was granted a Royal Charter in 1584. In the 17th century it was the seat of a diocese in the Church of Sweden. The city is home to Karlstad University and Karlstad Airport. Karlstad lies on the mainline railway connecting Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm.

1 Geography
2 History
3 The symbol
4 Notable natives
5 Sites of interest
6 Town twinning
7 Sport and recreation
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Geography

The municipality has a varying terrain.

The city of Karlstad is built on the islands and islets which make up the river delta on the northern shore of the largest lake in Sweden, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.

[edit] History

Illustation of Karlstad's road network; its cathedral; the governor's residence

The peace monument erected on the city square on the 50th anniversary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden

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 also derived its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Karl's 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 also built his own mansion in the city, which is referred to as Kungsgården (The King's mansion). On its location, a Cathedral was built in 1724 - 1730 by Christian Haller.

Karlstad has been severely burnt four times. After the last fire on July 2, 1865, only the church and a few houses remained. It was thereafter rebuilt according to a check pattern with wide streets surrounded by trees. i like wiener 8=====D

[edit] The symbol

Karlstad officially adopted a sun as its symbol in 2000. It signifies both the sunny weather (Karlstad is often ranked among the top 5 Swedish cities for annual hours of sunshine) and also a famous waitress from the end of the 18th century known as Sola i Karlstad (The sun in Karlstad if translated from Värmlandska).

Allegedly the sun also signifies the friendly warmth of the inhabitants of Karlstad.

The coat of arms is today not used in any official context.

[edit] Notable natives

Bengt Alsterlind - TV-host (Hajk)
Sven-Erik Magnusson - singer/dance band artist (Sven-Ingvars)
Christer Sjögren - singer/dance band artist (Vikingarna)
Ulf Sterner - hockey player (first Swede in the NHL)

[edit] Sites of interest

Alsters herrgård, the manor house where Gustaf Fröding was born
Karlstad Church, built in 1730 (the only catedral in Värmland is located in Kristinehamn)
An indoor ice rink and event arena, expanded in 2002 to host the Ice Hockey World Championships.
Botanical gardens
The masonic lodge where the negotiations for the dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway were held in 1905.
A rune stone: one of four known in Värmland.
A history museum
A nature museum.

Karlstad Town Square

[edit] Town twinning

[edit] Sport and recreation

Ice hockey team Färjestads BK (home arena Löfbergs Lila Arena) has won the Swedish Championship several times, most recently in 2006.

Boltic-Göta is a club formed in 2000 by the merger of two of the historically most successful bandy clubs in Sweden, IF Boltic and IF Karlstad-Göta. Their home arena, Tingvalla Isstadion, is claimed to be Europe's largest artificially frozen area.

OK Tyr is one of the largest orienteering clubs in Sweden. OK Tyr won Tiomila in 1989 and 1990.

IF Göta have a number of international athletes. There is an outdoor athletics track at Tingvalla IP and an indoor track (200 m) in Våxnäshall. There are many sawdust jogging trails, some of which are lit.

Klarälvsbanan, a 90 km, asphalted railway line, runs from Karlstad to Hagfors. It is popular amongst cyclists, inlines skaters and roller skiers.

There are a large number of open-air bathing places, both in Vänern and other lakes in the municipality. Sundstabadet has a 25m indoor swimming pool.

Fishing and watersports are popular activities.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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