Torshälla
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Torshälla | |
  Torshälla
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | Sweden |
| Municipality | Eskilstuna Municipality |
| County | Södermanland County |
| Province | Södermanland |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 5.56 km² (2.1 sq mi) |
| Population (2005-12-31)[1] | |
| - Total | 7,614 |
| - Density | 1,369/km² (3,545.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Torshälla is a town in Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. Its population is approximately 7,500 inhabitants.
Before the local government reform of 1971 Torshälla was a city municipality of its own. A new proposal to detach Torshälla from Eskilstuna Municipality was turned down in a referendum in 2006.
Torshälla is one of the oldest cities in Sweden and received city rights as early as 1317 from King Birger. Part of the Church of Torshälla is from 1100 but there are proofs that the city already existed in the year 700 as an old heathen gathering place where the god Thor was worshipped.
Torshälla is for historical reasons normally referred to as a city even if it does not have a population of 10,000 which is the limit defined by Statistics Sweden.
The name Torshälla origins from "Tors harg" which means place for sacrificing to Thor. This is due to the fact that the town is placed at the very first rapids in between Lake Mälaren and Lake Hjälmaren, an ancient trade route since well before 1000 AD simply because it was a natural stop-over place and to make sacrifice to the gods. Several archeological digs has proved that it was two (or even three) "strong houses" (i.e. small fortresses/castles).
Annifrid Lyngstad, formerly of ABBA grew up in Torshälla.
Today 1982 Miss universe Yvonne Ryding ( formerly maried to Kjell) is one of the most famous Torshälla inhabitants.
[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
- (Swedish) article Torshälla from Nordisk familjebok
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Torshälla is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden. |
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