Skövde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Skövde | |
  Skövde
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | Sweden |
| Municipality | Skövde Municipality |
| County | Västra Götaland County |
| Province | Västergötland |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 19.78 km² (7.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2007-04-13)[1] | |
| - Total | around 50,000 |
| - Density | 1,674/km² (4,335.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Skövde is a city in Västergötland, Sweden. It has around 50,000 inhabitants and is the seat of Skövde Municipality.
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[edit] Geography
Skövde is situated between the two largest lakes in Sweden, Vänern and Vättern. The western main railway (Västra Stambanan) was located through Skövde in the 1890s, which dramatically gave the town an industrial and population boost.
[edit] History
[edit] Early history
Skövde traces its history back to the medieval age. On its city arms is the image of Saint Helena who allegedly was a pious woman from Skövde. She was born about 1101, and was canonized in 1165 by Pope Alexander III and Archbishop Stefan of Sweden.
[edit] Later history
Of the medieval houses nothing remains, as a fire in 1759 burnt down the entire city except for one house called Helensgården. After the fire, the city was rebuilt according to the grid pattern. The city still only had a small population until the railroad between Stockholm and Gothenburg was laid through the city and leading to an industrial and population boost.
[edit] Industry
Volvo has a large industry in the city, with more than 5,000 workers. ABVolvo and Volvo Cars jointly operate one of the worlds largest automotive foundries in this city. The foundry i sknown world wide for producing the most industrial diesel engines in the world for ABVolvo and also for producing compact inline 5 cylinder petrol enignes for Volvo Cars
The higher education is located at University of Skövde, that is mainly focused on interdisciplinary education, blending natural sciences with engineering and the arts.
There is also the Skövde Garrison, one of the country's largest regiments.
[edit] Military
The armoured corps regiment Skaraborgs regemente (P4) and the logistics corps regiment Trängregementet (TrängR) are both located in Skövde. So is the Army Combat school.
[edit] Education
The University College of Skövde [1] has over 8,000 students and six faculties. The University's current Vice-Chancellor is Leif Larsson.
[edit] Notable natives
- Kristina Lugn, poet
- Tim Skold, former vocalist/bassist/programmer/guitarist for KMFDM, former guitarist for Marilyn Manson
- Karl Larsson, artist
- Thomas G:son, Eurovision composer
- Calle Kindbom, Eurovision composer
- Fredrik Belfrage
- Robert Gustafsson, Actor, Comedian
- Bert Karlsson, Entrepreneur
- Jens Nyström, Ownerer
- Erik Sterud, Silverprins
- Jonas Harder, Mobbad
- Niklas hellner, Homosexuell
- Markus Markström, ELIT
[edit] See also
- Swedish Army
- Skaraborgs Allehanda
- Ringsted, Kuressaare
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2000 och 2005 (xls) (Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
[edit] External links
- Skövde - Official site
- SkövdeNätet - Website and forum for people living and working in Skövde
- article Sköfde from Nordisk familjebok (1917)
- Skövde Saints Baseball Softball - Official site
- Skövde IK
- Skövde förr och då - Echoes from the past. Pictures from old Skövde
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Skövde is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden. |
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