Kalmar
Encyclopedia
Kalmar is a city in Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...

 in the south-east of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, situated by the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality
Kalmar Municipality
Kalmar Municipality is a municipality in Kalmar County, southeastern Sweden. The city of Kalmar is the municipal seat.The present municipality was created in 1971, when the City of Kalmar was amalgamated with five surrounding rural municipalities...

. It is also the capital of Kalmar County
Kalmar County
Kalmar County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg, Jönköping, Blekinge and Östergötland. To the east in the Baltic Sea is the island Gotland....

, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants (2006).

From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, Kalmar was one of Sweden's most important cities. Between 1602 and 1913 it was the episcopal see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

 of Kalmar Diocese, with a bishop, and the Kalmar Cathedral
Kalmar Cathedral
Kalmar Cathedral is in the city of Kalmar in Småland in south east Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea.The new city of Kalmar built on Kvarnholmen around the mid-1700s. The transfer from the old town was largely completed 1658th The new, fortified town was planned after the current renaissance ideals...

 from 1702 is still a fine example of classicistic
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...

 architecture. It became a fortified city
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

, with the still mighty Kalmar Castle
Kalmar Castle
Kalmar Castle is a castle in Kalmar, the province of Småland in Sweden. - History :During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteenth century King Magnus Ladulås had a new fortress built with a curtain wall, round...

 as the center. After the Treaty of Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...

 1658 Kalmar's importance diminished, until the industry sector was initiated in the 19th century. The city is home to parts of Linnaeus University
Linnaeus University
Linnaeus University is a public university in the Småland region of Sweden. It has two campuses, one in Växjö and one in Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University and Kalmar University College , and has been named in honour of Carl Linnaeus.-...

.

Geographically Kalmar is the main route to the island of Öland
Öland
' is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 km² and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has 25,000 inhabitants, but during Swedish Midsummer it is visited by up to 500,000 people...

 thanks to the Öland Bridge
Öland bridge
The Öland Bridge is a road bridge connecting Kalmar on mainland Sweden to Färjestaden on the island of Öland to its east. At long, it is one of the longest in all of Europe...

.

History

The area around Kalmar has been inhabited since ancient times
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...

. Diggings have found traces of stone age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

 gravefields. The oldest sources of there being a town are however from the 11th century. According to a medieval folk tale, the Norwegian patron Saint Olav had his ships moved to Kalmar. The oldest city seal of Kalmar is from somewhere between 1255–1267, making it the oldest known city seal in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

.

In the 12th century the first foundations of a castle were established, with the construction of a round tower for guard and lookout. The tower was continuously expanded on in 13th century, and as such, Queen Margaret
Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...

 called an assembly there between head of states of Sweden and Norway, and on July 13, 1397, the Kalmar Union
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...

 treaty was signed, which would last until 1523. Kalmar's strategic location, near the Danish border (at the time the Scanian lands, i.e. the provinces of Blekinge
Blekinge
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea.The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm"....

, Halland
Halland
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...

 and Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...

, were part of Denmark), and its harbour and merchancy, also involved it into several feuds. There are two events independently labelled Kalmar bloodbath: The first in 1505, when King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden let execute the mayor and city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

 of Kalmar; the second in 1599 by command of Duke Charles, later to became King Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...

.

In the 1540s, first King Gustav Vasa, and later his sons Erik XIV of Sweden and John III of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...

 would organize a rebuilding of the castle into the magnificent Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 castle it is today.

Kalmar became a diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 in 1602, a position it held until 1903. In 1634, Kalmar County
Kalmar County
Kalmar County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg, Jönköping, Blekinge and Östergötland. To the east in the Baltic Sea is the island Gotland....

 was founded, with Kalmar as the natural capital. In 1660, the Kalmar Cathedral was begun by drawings of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...

. It would be inaugurated in 1703.

In 1611-1613, it suffered in the Kalmar War
Kalmar War
The Kalmar War was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. Though Denmark soon gained the upper hand, she was unable to defeat Sweden entirely...

, which began with a Danish siege of Kalmar Castle. 1611 is mentioned as the darkest year of Kalmar's history, but by no means the only dark year; much blood has been shed in the vicinity of the castle. The last was during the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...

 in the 1670s, leading its sieges to a total of 22—yet, the castle was never taken.

After the Treaty of Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...

 in 1658, the strategical importance of Kalmar gradually diminished as the borders were drawn to a southern latitude. In 1689, the King established his main naval base
Naval base
A naval base is a military base, where warships and naval ships are deployed when they have no mission at sea or want to restock. Usually ships may also perform some minor repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usually stay on the ships but are undergoing maintenance while...

 south in Karlskrona
Karlskrona
Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,212 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Sweden's only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the...

 and Kalmar lost its status as one of Sweden's main military outposts.

Kalmar Cathedral

The new city of Kalmar built on Kvarnholmen around the mid-1600s. The transfer from the old town was largely completed 1658th The new, fortified town was planned after the current renaissance ideals. According to this pattern were placed church and town hall across from each other at a major square Stortorget Kalmar
Stortorget Kalmar
Stortorget in Kalmar is situated on Kvarnholmen in Kalmar's historic center. It was built during the 1600s and became the center of religious life in Kalmar Cathedral, justice, education, commerce and municipal management. Center of the square was also a municipal well until the early 2000s...

. The cathedral was built, designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...

 and is one of the foremost examples of barockklassicismens breakthrough in Sweden.Kalmar Cathedral drawing series reflects the complex interaction between the new style, liturgical considerations, tradition and the fortress-city requirements. The work began in 1660, but it was interrupted on several occasions, including when the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...

( Skånska kriget 1675-1679 ) raged. Construction resumed, and Kalmar Cathedral stood finished in 1703.

Today

In more recent times, Kalmar has been an industrial city with Kalmar Verkstad making steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

s, trains and large machinery, later bought by Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....

. Volvo
Volvo
AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...

 closed their Kalmar
Volvo Kalmar Assembly
The Volvo Kalmar plant was opened in 1973 just outside Kalmar, Sweden. The Kalmar plant was one of the most revolutionary automotive production plants in the world. Using Volvo Halifax Assembly and Volvo Torslanda Assembly as examples the Kalmar plant also adopted the group assembly system.At...

 factory for building cars i.e. 740, 760, 960 in 1994 and due to further relocation of industry jobs in the 90s and 00s Bombardier closed their factory in 2005. Around 2000 industrial jobs were lost. It has a university with over 9,000 students and a research facility for Telia Sonera.

Kalmar has embarked on a comprehensive program to reduce fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...

 use. A local trucking firm, which employs nearly 450 people, has installed computers that track fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application, and this spectrum of variance is...

 and have cut diesel use by 10 percent, paying off the cost of the devices in just a year. The company is now looking to fuel its future fleet with biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....

.

A large wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

 plant harnesses the steam and hot water it once released as waste to provide heating, through below-ground pipes, and generates enough electricity to power its own operations and 20,000 homes.

Bicycle lanes
Segregated cycle facilities
Segregated cycle facilities are marked lanes, tracks, shoulders and paths designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded...

 are common, and cars line up at Kalmar city's public biogas
Biogas
Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas...

 pump. Building code
Building code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...

s now require thermal insulation
Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat transfer is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...

 and efficient windows for new construction or retrofits. Street light
Street light
A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...

s use low-energy sodium bulbs, and car dealers promote fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicle
Hybrid vehicle
A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.-Power:...

s.

In 2011 Guldfågeln Arena was intiated. It's the new stadium of the football team of the city, Kalmar FF. The capacity of the stadium is 12 000 people and it's currently one of the newest stadiums in Sweden. The stadium was also built to host concerts and did so in the summer of 2011 when Swedish artists Håkan Hellström and The Ark performed.

Notable natives

  • Helena Josefsson
    Helena Josefsson
    Helena Marianne Josefsson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer in the band Sandy Mouche and has been singing in Per Gessle's projects since 2003. In February 2007 she released her first solo album, Dynamo.-Biography:...

     - musician, lead singer in Sandy Mouche
    Sandy Mouche
    Sandy Mouche is a Swedish band from Lund, Skåne County, southern Sweden. It consists of songwriter- and singer couple Martinique and Helena Josefsson, and the brothers Per and Ola Blomgren. On live shows they bring a bassist and a pianist. They sing in English and French.-Sandy Mouche was born...

  • Ivar Kreuger
    Ivar Kreuger
    Ivar Kreuger was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In 1908 Kreuger co-founded the construction company Kreuger & Toll Byggnads AB which specialized in new building techniques. By aggressive investments and innovative financial instruments he built a global match...

  • Jenny Nyström
    Jenny Nyström
    Jenny Eugenia Nyström was a painter and illustrator who is mainly known as the person who created the Swedish image of the jultomte on numerous Christmas cards and magazine covers, thus linking the Swedish version of Santa Claus to the gnomes of Scandinavian folklore.- Background :Her father was...


See also

  • Kalmar Municipality
    Kalmar Municipality
    Kalmar Municipality is a municipality in Kalmar County, southeastern Sweden. The city of Kalmar is the municipal seat.The present municipality was created in 1971, when the City of Kalmar was amalgamated with five surrounding rural municipalities...

  • Kalmar Airport
    Kalmar Airport
    Kalmar Airport is an airport in southeastern Sweden. The airport is located only some 5 kilometers west of downtown Kalmar.The airfield was originally the home of the Swedish Air Force wing F 12 Kalmar....

  • Kalmar Verkstad
  • Spawn of Possession
    Spawn of Possession
    Spawn of Possession is a death metal band from Kalmar, Sweden, founded in 1997.-Biography:Spawn of Possession formed in February 1997, consisting of Jonas Bryssling , Jonas Karlsson , and Dennis Röndum ....

  • Linnaeus University
    Linnaeus University
    Linnaeus University is a public university in the Småland region of Sweden. It has two campuses, one in Växjö and one in Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University and Kalmar University College , and has been named in honour of Carl Linnaeus.-...

  • Kalmar Nyckel
    Kalmar Nyckel
    The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...

    , historical ship named after the city of Kalmar
  • Kalmar FF
    Kalmar FF
    Kalmar FF is a Swedish football club located in Kalmar. Formed 10 January 1910, the club has won three national cup titles and 1 league title. Kalmar FF currently play in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan....

    , premier division football club from the city

External links

  • Kalmar Municipality - Official site
  • iKalmar - a social network
    Social network
    A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...

     for citizens of Kalmar
  • Kalmar Castle
  • Kalmar City - pictures from nightlife in Kalmar
  • University of Kalmar
  • CityRapporten - local publication about Kalmar
  • Barometern Oskarshamns-Tidningen - daily newspaper
    Newspaper
    A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

     from Kalmar and Oskarshamn
    Oskarshamn
    Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010.-History:The location of Oskarshamn was known as Döderhultsvik since the Medieval age...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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