Karlstad

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For the small town in the United States, see Karlstad, Minnesota.
Karlstad
Karlstad Town Square

Coat of arms
Karlstad is located in Sweden
Karlstad
Coordinates: 59°23′N 13°32′E / 59.383°N 13.533°E / 59.383; 13.533Coordinates: 59°23′N 13°32′E / 59.383°N 13.533°E / 59.383; 13.533
Country Sweden
Province Värmland
County Värmland County
Municipality Karlstad Municipality
Area[1]
 • Total 30.31 km2 (11.70 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
 • Total 61,685
 • Density 2,035/km2 (5,270/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Karlstad [ˈkɑːɭsta] is a city, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city had 61,685 inhabitants in 2010[1] out of a municipal total that at the end of 2011 was 86,409 inhabitants.[2] Karlstad has a university and a cathedral.

Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden's longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden's largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.

Karlstad is often associated with sunshine and the symbol for Karlstad is a smiling sun. Karlstad is reputed to be one of the sunniest towns in Sweden and a local waitress, known as "Sola i Karlstad" (the Sun in Karlstad) for her sunny disposition, is also commemorated with a statue.

Contents

History [edit]

Illustration of Karlstad's road network; its cathedral; the town hall
Statue of Charles IX of 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 derives its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Charles' 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 built his own house in the city, which is referred to as Kungsgården (The King's Manor). Karlstad's Cathedral was built on the location Kungsgården in 1724–1730 by Christian Haller.

Then most significant coup d'état in modern Swedish history had its beginning in Karlstad. During the night of 7 March 1809, lieutenant-colonel Georg Adlersparre used the part of the western army that was stationed in Värmland to occupy Karlstad. From there officially proclaimed a revolution, and during 9 March, he and his soldiers began their successful march toward the capital to end the reign of king Gustav IV Adolf.[3]

Karlstad has suffered four major fires. Only the cathedral and a few houses remained after the last fire on July 2, 1865. Karlstad was thereafter rebuilt according to a grid pattern with wide streets surrounded by trees.

In 1905, the agreement to dissolve the union between Norway and Sweden was negotiated and signed in Karlstad.

Politics [edit]

Karlstad municipal library, and facilities for the municipal government.
Main article: Karlstad Municipality

Municipalities are responsible for government-mandated duties, and elections for the Municipal council are held every four years, parallel to the general elections.

The inhabitants of Karlstad have a tendency to vote close to the national results at the general elections, making it the generally accepted Bellwether town of Sweden.[4][5]

Following the municipal election in 2010, the seats are divided as follows:[6]

The Governing Majority The Opposition Independent parties

Education [edit]

Several upper secondary schools (gymnasium) offer the most common range of courses usually available throughout Sweden, including the IB Diploma Programme. The majority of students in Värmland need to commute or move to Karlstad for their upper secondary education.[citation needed] Tertiary education is offered by Karlstad University, which was granted university status in 1999.

Culture [edit]

Media [edit]

Värmlands Folkblad [7] and NWT [8] is the two local newspapers.

Sports and recreation [edit]

Winter sports [edit]

The Home Terrace in Löfbergs Lila Arena prior to match opening
Bandy at Tingvalla Ice Stadium, with the former military barracks of the Värmland Regiment seen to the far right

Ice hockey is a highly popular spectator sport in Karlstad. The most popular club is Färjestads BK. The team plays in Elitserien (highest level) and the home arena is Löfbergs Lila Arena. The club has won the Swedish Championship several times, most recently in 2011, and is the most successful ice hockey club in Sweden since the foundation of Elitserien in 1975. Several other ice hockey clubs exist and Karlstad is also represented in the 1st Division of ice hockey (3rd highest level) by the team Skåre BK. The 2010 Men's World Inline Hockey Championships was also hosted by Karlstad, with Löfbergs Lila Arena as the primary site of the tournament.

Traditionally, bandy has been the most popular winter sport in Karlstad, and the city is the home of two of the historically most successful clubs in Sweden, IF Boltic and IF Karlstad-Göta. Boltic reached 10 Swedish finals in a row from 1979 to 1988. They won the first 7 and the one in 1988. They also won in 1995. In 2000, the two clubs merged into BS BolticGöta, which is now the major bandy club in Karlstad. After a successful season in Allsvenskan 2009/2010 the team qualified for Elitserien, but was again relegated for the 2011/2012 season. The home arena, Tingvalla Ice Stadium, built in 1967, is claimed to be one of Europe's largest artificially frozen areas and is currently awaiting a decision by the municipality to eventually become renovated and transformed into an indoor ice rink.

Karlstad is a regular host of start, finish and special stages for the The Swedish Rally. The competition has world championship status and is held annually in Värmland.[citation needed]

Summer sports [edit]

Tingvalla IP

Several football clubs exist, and the highest-ranking team is QBIK. The club was founded in 1978, and entered the premier division of women's football, Damallsvenskan, in 2005. The team currently plays in the 1st Division (2nd highest level),[9] but has several players in the Swedish national team.[10] Their home ground is Tingvalla IP, and recently, the facility is also becoming the home ground for the football team Karlstad BK, that plays in the mens Division 1 Norra (3rd highest level), having gained promotion following a successful 2010 season. The third highest-ranking football team is Carlstad United. The club was founded in 1998 by an alliance of seven local football clubs, with the aim of providing Karlstad with an elite football team. The club was accepted by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) in 1999[11] and the team is currently playing in the mens Division 2 Norra Götaland (4th highest level). FBK Karlstad play in Division 3 Västra Svealand.

American football is also played on Tingvalla IP. Carlstad Crusaders plays in Superserien, the highest level and since the founding of the club in 1990, the team has attended eight finals, winning its first championship in 2010.

Karlstad is also famous for athletics. The club IF Göta has a number of international athletes and host the annual athletics meet Götagalan. There is an outdoor athletics track at Tingvalla IP and an indoor track (200 m) in Våxnäshallen.

Another prominent sports club in Karlstad is OK Tyr, one of the largest orienteering clubs in Sweden. OK Tyr won Tiomila in 1989 and 1990.

Public facilities [edit]

Sport facilities in Karlstad, open to public, are such as Klarälvsbanan, a 90 km, asphalted railway line, runs from Karlstad to Hagfors. It is popular among cyclists, inlines skaters and roller skiers.

There are also a large number of open-air bathing places, both in Vänern and other lakes in the municipality, and a 25 meter indoor swimming pool is provided by Sundstabadet.

Many sawdust jogging trails, some of which are lit, can be found in the city outskirts. During wintertime, several are transformed into trails for cross-country skiing.

Notable natives [edit]

Image gallery [edit]

  • Karlstad Cathedral

  • Karlstad from the Klaraborg Bridge

  • Statue of Sola i Karlstad, next to Klarälven

  • Wooden houses that survived the fire in 1865

  • Karlstad Theatre, a theatre and the home of the Värmland Opera

  • The East Bridge

  • Carlarnas sluss, a lock from the early 19th century

  • The Bishops House

See also [edit]

Notes [edit]

Citations
  1. ^ a b c "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2005 och 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012. 
  2. ^ "Befolkningssiffror för första kvartalet 2010". Domino11.karlstad.se. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  3. ^ Norberg, p. 56-57
  4. ^ "Karlstad röstar som Sverige | Forskning & Framsteg | Populärvetenskapligt magasin". Fof.se. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  5. ^ "Som Ljungby röstar - röstar inte Sverige - Statistiska centralbyrån". Scb.se. 2006-03-06. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  6. ^ "Valresultat 2010". Karlstad.se. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  7. ^ "VF". 
  8. ^ "NWT". 
  9. ^ "Om Klubben | QBIK". Klubben.se. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  10. ^ "Tre gånger QBIK i landslaget | QBIK". Klubben.se. 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  11. ^ "United-idén | Carlstad United". Laget.se. 1998-04-12. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Media related to Karlstad at Wikimedia Commons
Localities
Municipalities
Coat of arms of Värmland County
Municipal seats
Administrative seats of Swedish counties (län)
Swedish arms
Swedish flag
as of 2005, according to Statistics Sweden [1]
1. Stockholm 1,252,000
2. Gothenburg 510,500
3. Malmö 258,000
4. Uppsala 144,839
5. Västerås 107,000
6. Örebro 98,200
7. Linköping 97,400
8. Helsingborg 91,500
9. Jönköping 84,400
10. Norrköping 83,600
11. Lund 76,200
12. Umeå 75,600
13. Gävle 68,700
14. Borås 63,400
15. Södertälje 60,300
16. Eskilstuna 60,200
17. Täby 58,600
18. Karlstad 58,500
19. Halmstad 55,700
20. Växjö 55,600
21. Sundsvall 49,300
22. Luleå 45,500
23. Trollhättan 44,500
24. Östersund 43,800
25. Borlänge 39,400
26. Falun 36,400
27. Upplands Väsby 36,000
28. Tumba 35,300
29. Kalmar 35,200
30. Skövde 33,100
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