Facts about Norrköping
Norrköping is a city in Östergötland in mid-east Sweden. Norrköping is the seat of Norrköping Municipality As of 2006, it is Sweden's tenth largest city. The city is situated by the mouth of the river Motala ström, at Bråviken, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. Norrköping is known for its textile industry. It has several nicknames such as: "Sweden's Manchester" , "Peking" and "Surbullestan" (Surbulle was a local nickname for the textileworkers, and stan´ is short for Stad, wich means City or Town in Swedish). Norrköping has medieval foundations by settlers around the Norrköping twin city with Linköping Motala stream estuary, who used the falls and rapids to power their mills. The stream was also full of fish such as salmon. There are mentions of a church in Norrköping in the 12th century. The first trace of the city's name is from 1283, when Sofia of Denmark - wife of Valdemar I of Sweden - donated her rights of salmon fishing to the Skänninge monastery. The town is estimated to have received city status in the early 14th century. During the Northern Seven Years' War (1563-1570), the entire southern part of Norrköping was burnt. It was rebuilt by John III of Sweden and John, Duke of Östergötland (1589-1618), who designed the current street pattern. An impressive castle fortress called Johannisberg was begun in Norrköping in 1614 by the Duke John, although not completed until 1639. In 1618, a weapon industry was established by supervision of Gustavus Adolphus in Norrköping. Norrköping burnt in 1655, and again in 1719 during the Great Northern War when the Russians burnt it to the ground. Stones from the Johannisborg castle were used to build new houses, and today only a few stones remain. Norrköping again suffered fires in 1822 and 1826. Thereafter wooden houses were banned. In 1841 a ship industry was initiated in Norrköping as a branch of Motala Verkstad in Motala. In 1850 the industry had over 600 employees making it Sweden's largest ship industry at the time. As of 2006, the city has 83,561 inhabitants. As of 2006, the Norrköping Municipality has 126,338 inhabitants. |
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