Linköping

Linköping
Central square in Linköping
Motto:  Where Ideas Become Reality (Där idéer blir verklighet)
Country	Sweden
Province	Östergötland
County	Östergötland County
Municipality	Linköping Municipality
Area
• Total	42.01 km2 (16.22 sq mi)
Population  (2005-12-31)
• Total	97,428
• Density	2,319/km2 (6,010/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Website	www.linkoping.se

Linköping [ˈlɪnɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in southern Sweden, with 97,428 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 140,367 inhabitants (2007) and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church of Sweden) and is well known for its cathedral.

Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Nowadays Linköping is known for its university and its high-technology industry. Dominating the city's skyline from afar is the steeple of the cathedral.

The city is situated south of lake Roxen (which is part of the historically important water paths Motala ström and the Göta Canal) where the main road from Stockholm to Helsingborg crosses the river Stångån (and Kinda kanal).

This road was part of the Eriksgata route that the newly elected king had to travel according to medieval Swedish Law. In the 20th century road system, it was first called Riksettan (national highway no 1). It is currently called E4 and has been redirected to pass outside the city on the north side. Further contributing to Linköping's excellent communications is its situation on the main southern railway line connecting Stockholm with Malmö and Danish capital Copenhagen. There is also a minor airport, Linköping SAAB Airport.

History

Linköping Cathedral seen from East.

Linköping seen from West, in the Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna.

Hunnebergsgatan: an old street with preserved older buildings.

The city is possibly named after the Lionga ting assembly which according to Medieval Scandinavian laws was the most important ting in Östergötland. Exact location of the Lionga ting is not known, but it was along the Eriksgata.

Historically, Linköping is famed for being an early diocese, second in Sweden (within its pre-1658 boundaries) only to Skara. The diocese is first mentioned in 1104 in the so-called "List of Florence" (Lionga. Kaupinga). The monastery of Vreta Kloster near Roxen north of Linköping was established in 1128, and the oldest parts of the cathedral are also from the 12th century (although it has been changed many times since then, the eye-catching tower with copper roofing being a 19th century product). At several occasions, attempts to achieve a separate Swedish archdiocese were based in Linköping, though when they finally were successful in 1164, Uppsala was chosen instead.

Religious centers tend to become educational centers, and Linköping was no exception. A cathedral school can be traced from 1266. In 1627 the current Linköping cathedral school was established, making it the third oldest gymnasium in Sweden.

Also, Linköping was the site for the final settlement of the dispute between king Sigismund III Vasa and his uncle Duke Charles, the latter prevailing in the battle of Stångebro (today a sports field near central Linköping) on September 25, 1598. This ultimately led to the rise to the throne of Charles (de facto at the Riksdag at Linköping in 1600 and formally four years later) and the end of the short-lived Swedish-Polish personal union, as well as the execution of five of Charles's political opponents on the main square of Linköping on March 20, 1600.

Linköping was a relatively small town until 1937, when the Saab aircraft industry was formed, starting a period of rapid expansion. Linköping University was established in the 1960s. Today the city is a center of high-technology and software industry.

Culture

The headquarters of regional utilities company, Tekniska Verken, at Stångebro

Linköping is Sweden's fifth largest city and growing, both geographically and in population. The city offers a wealth of leisure activities to people of all ages. Residents and visitors are able to enjoy art, theatre, history, concerts, markets, festivals and sporting events.

Special sights of interests are: the locks of Berg on the Göta Canal, the locks of the Kinda Canal, Gamla Linköping, Vallaskogen and Valla fritidsområde (Old Linköping, Valla Wood, and the Valla recreational area), Flygvapenmuseum (the Air Force Museum), Linköping's domkyrka (the Cathedral), Slotts- och domkyrkomuseet (the Castle and Cathedral Museum) and Östergötlands Länsmuseum (the Östergötland County Museum). Konsthallen Passagen is an art gallery located in the main square.

The city centre possesses a wide range of shops and restaurants, many of which are small and specialised.

Tornby, to the north of the city centre, is a vast shopping area with huge retail outlets and immense parking lots. The names of the larger stores in Tornby will be familiar to the average Swedish consumer.

LHC (Linköping's Hockey Club) is a men's Swedish Elite League ice hockey team which plays its games in the Cloetta Center. LFC (Linköping's Football Club) is the women's soccer counterpart.

The city and its environs offer all sorts of green landscapes to see and experience. Two examples are a park named after the group responsible for it, Trädgårdsföreningen (The Garden Society), and the Tinnerö area with its oak woodland. Local bodies of water include the lakes Roxen, Rängen and Järnlunden, the River Stångån/Kinda Canal and the Göta Canal with the Berg locks. These areas can be accessed by foot, bicycle, or boat.

Linköping is the home of the Linköping Symphony Orchestra. The city is one of the sites of the Östergötland Music Days each summer, and the host of the Student Orchestra Festival in May every other year. One of the most notable choirs in Linköping is the Linköping University Male Voice Choir.

The area around the main square was re-planned in the 1960s and many old houses were destroyed. Some, however, were moved to Gamla Linköping (Old Linköping), in the city's western part, neighbouring the university's main campus. It is a living museum environment and a popular site with both residents and tourists.

Many pubs, restaurants, and night clubs are found on or near a street named Ågatan, sometimes known as the most dangerous street in Sweden due to the many, often brutal, fights resulting from hundreds of drunken people leaving the many clubs at closing time. The street is now regularly patrolled by police officers at night.

A panorama picture of Linköping, with the Domkyrka as the highest building of the whole city

Sport

Teams from Linköping are prominent in Volleyball ("Linköpings VC") and ice hockey (Linköpings HC (see above), or "Cluben" as some fans refer to it). The hockey team allied itself with Linköping's women's football (soccer) team and created Linköpings FC, which plays in the highest division. The team won the Swedish Cup in 2006. The city continues to lack a first-class men's team in football (soccer) with Linköpings FF in one of the lower divisions. The world's largest floorball club Linköping Innebandy Klubb have its home arena in central Linköping.

Industry

One of the biggest employers in Linköping is Saab which among other products manufactures the SAAB Gripen fighter jet and where the SAAB 340 twin-engine commuter turboprop was produced. The city also has a strong presence in information technology based industries such as Sectra, IFS (Industrial and Financial Systems), Motorola, Ericsson, Cambio Healthcare Systems AB, and many others. Toyota Industries Sweden AB has a presence in Linköping, as one of its subsidiaries, BT Industries, is located in nearby Mjölby. The Swedish Air Force Museum is located near the town.

Notable residents

• Jöns Jacob Berzelius
• Hans Brask
• Elsa Brändström
• Magnus Bäckstedt
• Oscar Cesare
• Tage Danielsson
• Cecilia Frode

• Thomas Funck
• Marie Göranzon
• Gunnar Hoffsten
• Louise Hoffsten
• Patrik Jensen
• Kettil Karlsson (Vasa)
• Anders Ljungstedt

• Olaus Magnus
• Erik Sagström
• Hugo Theorell
• Pierre Thorsson
• André Oscar Wallenberg
• Lars Winnerbäck
• Bruno K. Öijer

See also

• Diocese of Linköping
• Roundabout dog
• Linköping University

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Sweden

Twin towns — sister cities

Linköping is twinned with:

• Palo Alto, California
• Guangzhou, China
• Oradea, Romania

Linköping Municipality

• Guangzhou and Macau, China
• Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland
• Joensuu, Finland

• Kaunas, Lithuania
• Linz, Austria
• Oradea, Romania

• Roskilde Municipality, Denmark
• Tønsberg, Norway

External links

• Linköpings kommun - Official site Template:En icon
• vww.visitlinkoping.se - The official visitors guide to Linköping
• [1] - Regional event guide for Linköping and the rest of Östergötland
• lkpg.nu Local event guide for Linköping.
• Architecture in Linköping - Site with facts about architecture in Linköping with a lot of pictures of buildings. Template:Sv icon
• Linköping University