Oxie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oxie is a suburb, being an urban area or locality within Malmö Municipality in southern Sweden.
Oxie has 11,000 inhabitants (2007). Notable buildings include the medieval Oxie church, (Oxie kyrka) and the water tower. From the train station commuter trains proceed to Malmö and Ystad.
It is dominated by residential areas of detached and semi-detached houses. Oxie centrum is the center point of the town, with a small square, several stores, service providers and the seat of the local ward administration (Stadsdelsförvaltningen).
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[edit] History
The area around Oxie is rich in archaeological finds. Settlements from the neolithic, bronze age and iron age have been discovered. The spectacular bronze-age burial mounds Kungshögarna (Mounds of the Kings) provides a monumental sight, overlooking the highway to Malmö. These mounds, at 60 m above sea level, are also the highest natural point in Malmö municipality.
Oxie is first mentioned in written sources 1130 as Oshögha, believed to mean the mound by the spring. As the center point of the church municipality Oxie hundred, Oxie was also the seat of the hundred thing (Häradstinget), which was held every spring and autumn. Local names such as Tingbacken (Thing hill) and Tingdammen (Thing pond) indicate the location of the things. Galjebacken (Gallow Hill) is another place, bearing witness to the judicial powers of the hundred thing. Galjebacken was used for executions well into the 19th century. The oldest building in Oxie is the church, originally built in 1160. It was heavily restored in 1848 by Carl Georg Brunius, but the walls of the nave, the southern gate and the Baptismal font are all remains from the original church. There are theories that a wooden church existed at the site prior to the 1160 stone construction.
In the late 19th and early 20th century the village expanded with the establishment of several brick and gravel industries. Remains from this era can still be seen in the topography of Oxie. For example, the ponds Kvistadammarna, are the remaining digs from where Djurbergs brick factory extracted clay. Like in many other small, rural communities this rapid industrialisation was facilitated by the establishment of railroad communications.
Oxie was a municipality of its own, until it merged with Malmö in 1972. Today Oxie is made up of the previously separate villages Oxie, Käglinge, Toarp and Kristineberg. In addition, Oxie ward also includes the villages Lockarp, Glostorp and Krumby.
[edit] Demographics
During the later half of the 20th century, the population has exploded to more than 10 000, from 1 608 in 1957, as it became more attractive for families to move outside of the city. A major residential area, Oxievång, was built during the 1970-1980ies.
During the 1990ies and early 21st century, singificant numbers of immigrants have moved to Oxie. In 2007, there were 2 054 persons born in a foreign country. Most common countries of origin were Denmark (602), Poland (183), Yugoslavia (155), Hungary (85) and Germany (76).
The construction of the Öresund bridge, combined with the high cost of living in Denmark, has led to large numbers of Danish people settling in Oxie recently. The close proximity to Copenhagen and good communications make Oxie an attractive alternative for those who commute to the Danish side. In 2006 there were 451 Danish-born persons, in 2007 this figure had increased to 602.
[edit] Education
There are nine public preschools/kindergartens as well as four schools in Oxie today. Blankebäcksskolan, Kungshögsskolan and Tingdammsskolan are primary schools, while Oxievångsskolan is a junior high school. Oxie is the location of Ingvar Strandh's Flower school (Blomsterskola). It is the leading florist school in Sweden, with students coming from as far as Japan to participate in courses.
[edit] Flower Capital
Oxie is the number one flower transit point in Sweden. Several flower importing companies have facilities in Oxie, receiving shipments of flowers from all over Europe. As much as 80% of the imported cut flowers coming to Sweden pass through here. This as well as Ingvar Strandh's blomsterskola makes Oxie something of the Flower capital of Sweden.
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