Motala Municipality
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| Missing image Motala_in_Sweden.png See also:Municipalities of Sweden | Coat of arms Missing image Blank | |
| Seat | Motala | |
| County | Östergötland County | |
| Province | Ostrogothia | |
| Area Rank | 988 km² 106th of 290 | |
| Population Rank | 42,062 (2005) 48th of 290 | |
| Density | 42/km² | |
Motala Municipality is a Municipality in southeast Sweden where the City Motala is the seat. Motala is situated where lake Vättern drains into the river system of Motala ström.
When Göta kanal was built in the early 19th century, Motala became an important city for the trade on the canal. Motala verkstad was the ship and steam engine industry, famous in large parts of the world. In the science fiction novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, the submarine Nautilus's (engine?) was built at Motala verkstad. The creator of Göta kanal Baltzar von Platen has his grave by the canal, in Motala.
Another important event in the history of Motala is 1925, when the Swedish national longwave radio broadcasting station was built here. The city marks the middle of a straight line between Sweden's two biggest cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg. Radio programs were transferred from studios in Stockholm to Motala by telephone wire. The call was "Stockholm-Motala". The transmitter operated on 191 kHz until 1962, then the transmission where moved to Orlunda. Since 1991 there are no longwave transmissions at all of the Swedish Broadcasting Company, but from the transmitter Motala, which is a museum, sometimes transmissions with low power occur, which may only receivable in the area of Motala.
As a consequece of the radio station the company Luxor was started. Luxor soon became one of the largest radio, and later television manufacturers in Sweden. In the 1980s they started producing their own line of computers, like the ABC80. In 1985 Luxor was acquired by Nokia, and eventually production moved elsewhere.