Uddevalla Municipality
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| Missing image Uddevalla_in_Sweden.png See also:Municipalities of Sweden | Coat of arms Missing image Coat_of_Armor_Uddevalla_city_in_Sweden.jpg | |
| Seat | Uddevalla | |
| County | Västra Götaland County | |
| Province | Bohuslän | |
| Area Rank | 641.9 km² 149th of 290 | |
| Population Rank | 50,000 (2003) 43th of 290 | |
| Density | 78/km² | |
Uddevalla Municipality is a municipality in western Sweden, in which the city Uddevalla is the main city and governmental seat with a population of 35,000.
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The municipality
The municipality is located in a pretty scenery of mountains and valleys with streaming creeks, small lakes and a rich flora of flowers and trees.
It is located at the bay Byfjorden, of the south-eastern part of the sea knowns as Skagerrak. By all accounts, it is located at a beautiful location in a valley where the small river Bäveån ends.
The beaches of Uddevalla are filled with seashells, and Uddevalla has one of the largest shellbanks in the world.
The city
The city is the largest city in the district Bahusia. Uddevalla has a small port, but it did once boost a large shipyard called Uddevallavarvet. In 1960 it was the largest employer in Bahusia. But in the 1970's all shipyards in Sweden experienced a recession which also led to the closure of Uddevallavarvet in 1985.
History
Uddevalla got its city rights in 1498 but was probably a place of merchancy long before that.
Because of its close location to the borders of what was then Denmark, Terra Scania, and Norway, it was often besieged. In 1612 it was burnt by Swedish troops under the command of Jesper Mattson Krus and in 1644 it was again burnt, by the Swedish commander Stake. During this time it belonged to Norway, but in 1658 it was overtaken by Sweden. A year later the norweigans reclaimed it, but in 1660 it was once again recaptured by Sweden. Norway has several times recaptured Uddevalla and the nearby fortress on Galleberg, the last time in 1788.
In the 18th and 19th century, Uddevalla's main importance laid in its herring fishing. But what also marked the city was the great fires which several times damaged the city. Most notably in 1806, when the entire city, spare four houses, was burnt to the ground, and 4,000 people became homeless.
In the 19th century Uddevalla had trouble getting out of its recession and struggled with poverty and alcoholism (which, admittedly, was the mark of entire Sweden at that time). The reasons were mainly that the fishing of herring decreased, that the canal of Trollhättan opened, and the aftereffects of the 1806 fire.
Sometime around 1870-1880, Uddevalla began to attract industries. Much of the development in the century can be attributed to the Scottish businessman William Thorburn, who is said to have been amazed by the city's beauty and hence settled there with his wife in 1822. He founded a number of industries, mostly textile in the beginning. Another contributing reason to Uddevallas recovery was the railroad.
Today
After the Swedish shipyeard-crisis in the 1980's, forcing the closure of Uddevallavarvet, Uddevalla has had some economical problems.
The population has been rather steady during the last thirty years.
References
- Ulf G Eriksson, Historien om Uddevalla.
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Owl Edition
This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904-1926 now in Public Domain. - Nationalencyklopedin
External links
- Uddevalla (http://www.uddevalla.se) - Official site
- article Uddevalla, from NF (http://runeberg.org/nfcj/0450.html,)de:Uddevalla