Skövde () is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central southern Sweden.
Skövde is situated around 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vänern and Vättern. It lies on the eastern slope of a low mountain ridge, Billingen (304 m), which cuts through the plain between the lakes. The Western Main Railway (Västra Stambanan) was built through Skövde in the 1850s, which gave the town a dramatic industrial and population boost.
Today, Skövde is home to the headquarters for Skaraborg's District Court and is the Västra Götaland's fourth-largest urban area as well as Sweden's 32nd biggest locality (by population) with 39,580 inhabitants in 2020.
History
Skövde traces its historyThe majority of the history section is based on back to the Medieval Age. In Skövde's city coat of arms is the image of Saint Elin (also known as Saint Helena), who was considered a pious woman from Skövde. She was born about 1101, and was canonized in 1164.
Of the medieval houses that once existed virtually nothing remains, as a fire in 1759 burned down the entire city except for some houses called Helensgården. After the fire, the city was rebuilt according to a grid pattern. The city only had a small population until the railway between Stockholm and Gothenburg was laid through the city, leading to an industrial and population boost.
Pre-16th century Skövde's patron saint, Saint Elin (also known as Saint Helena), lived in the 12th century. According to legend, she was murdered on the way to a church consecration. She was canonized on 30 July 1164 by Pope Alexander III and Archbishop Stefan of Sweden. During the Middle Ages, people made pilgrimages to Elin's grave, and this contributed to the city's development and growth.Skövde kommun's website,
During the Middle Ages Skövde was a successful city, the economy thriving and Skövde eventually developed into a city of significant importance. Adjacent to the city were three churches: The City Church, The Elin Chapel directly south of the city, and Holy Birgitta's Chapel in the north. The city was at this time probably not especially great in area or population, rather its greatness lay in that it was once home to the Patron Saint of the Diocese, St. Elin. The pilgrims travelled here to visit the Saint's origin and burial place, and the commerce around the pilgrims came to be an important prerequisite for Skövde's development in the ensuing century.
The exact year when Skövde got its town charter is unknown, but it can be assumed to be sometime around the year 1400 when the city was mentioned in a tax roll. At the beginning of the 16th century, King Gustav Vasa confirmed the town's charter in a letter.
The 16th century until the Fire of 1759 If the 15th century was marked by success, then the 16th century saw an emergent decline for the city. The main reason for this was the Reformation and the transition to the Lutheran faith. They wanted to cleanse out all forms of idol worship in the form of saintly cults from the churches; these churches were emptied of treasures and relics, and Skövde itself did not escape.
Pilgrims ceased to travel here and a large part of the city's revenue disappeared practically overnight. King Gustav Vasa also had plans to move the city together with some other cities of the West Göta region to Hornborgasjön ('Lake Hornborg') in order to build a great city.
In 1520 the first documented setback took place for Skövde. The Danish King, Kristian II, undertook his third military campaign against Sweden. One of the Danish armies swept through Västergötland (Western Götland) and burned down Skövde, Falköping, Skara and Bogesund (now Ulricehamn).
It was only in the 17th century that figures of how many people lived in Skövde could be estimated with any fair degree of certainty. For the year 1655, the city presented a census of 134 people, 34 farmers, 38 housewives, 12 sons, 3 daughters, 2 farmhands, 8 maids, 10 boarders, 14 boatmen, and 13 described as '63 years old', i.e. contemporary retirees. During the 1660s there was some growth, and in 1669 the city had a population of 168 people.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Skövde was one of the county's smallest towns. In 1700, the town has just 154 inhabitants, but only 50 years later had the population risen to 381. In 1770 the population had risen up to 500 people. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Swedish towns and country districts had to take care of prisoners of war captured by Karl XII's armies. It was the Saxons, Germans, Danes, Norwegians, Poles and Cossacks who lived in enforced internship in Skövde.
In 1708, there were up to 56 prisoners of war in Skövde. In the town hall's civil rules one can read that the number of prisoners was now so great that every citizen had to now take care of a prisoner. In 1718, there were up to 90 Danish prisoners, in other words, the number of prisoners of war came to dominate the small Skövde.
In 1746, Carl von Linné was out on his journey through Västra Götaland, where he also visited tracts of Skövde. He talks in detail about the pollarded meadows in Berg, beeches on Ingasäter and Mölltorp's alum works. When on 27 June he reached Skövde, he did not have much positive to say, 'Skövde town, quarter before six from Berg, was a very small spot, located on the east side of Billingen, without any lake or particular feature, the houses were small, streets irregular and Cemetery on set with lovely boxes. This city has once been the seat of St. Helena.' His journey continued southerly, the next stop being Skultorp. Once again Linnaeus was compelled to share his experiences, describing women's hats, farmhands' courtship and the magnificent view from Skultorp's Nabbe.Skövde Museum, Linné i Siöfde 1746 (2007)
The year 1759 saw the destruction of central Skövde in a large fire. A block of old wooden houses are preserved, and together with a botanical garden, form the cultural reserve Helénsparken. The oldest house in the park, Helénsstugan ('Heléns cottage') is from the early 18th century.Helénsparken-skovde.se Next to Hertig Johan's Torg ('Duke Johan's Square') is Saint Helena's Church and church park.
Town after the fire Skövde recovered after the fire. The social life began to flourish, balls and theatrical performances followed one another. The inhabitants of the city lived a safe and hopefully pleasant small-town life. However, new winds would blow that would change the city's development for a long time.
At the start of the 1860s, the city's area was limited to what is now called the old city. Some major industries did not exist yet; handicrafts, trade and agriculture were the only industries that were practiced. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the primary industries for the inhabitants right up to the 1850s, while the actual town's urban bourgeoisie industries were developed.
The policemen in Skövde, or 'the magistrate's henchmen' as they were known in formal terms of the time, were few in number during the first part of the 19th century. The city's police force consisted of one permanent employee. The uniform cap showed his power and authority, while his armament consisted of a truncheon. His task was to carry out the punishment when someone was convicted to be flogged.
In the early 19th century, the town was dominated by one-storey houses. The roofs were usually covered with straw, reeds, peat or boards. Only in 1850 did it become common to use brick.
During the 19th century, the first half of the year had six or seven markets in Skövde. 1847 saw the introduction of market square days, which soon came to have the character of regular market days. The market came to be limited to two times a year, one in spring and one in autumn. An important market was the remounting market (remonterinsmarknaden), or horse market, that occurred annually on 19 September. It was widely known, even beyond the country's borders. Buyers came from the cavalry and artillery regiments, but also individual buyers from Norway, Denmark and Germany, to buy young horses. The trade was so great that several thousand horses could change hands in a single day.
On 2 April 1832, it was decided that the streets would be named. Previously, all the plots of land were only numbered. But it was not long before street addresses completely broke through, though even in the 1930s plot numbers were sufficient to use as post addresses.
In 1858, the population of the city increased and soon the railway stood finished. In 1859, the Västra stambanan ('Western Main Line') was inaugurated. Discussions on a newspaper began to take off. They got in touch with the editor of Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning (Gothenburg Trade and Maritime News Journal), S.A. Hedlund, who promised to provide news content and editorials. The newspaper was called Sköfde Tidning (Skövde Newspaper) and was published every Saturday. The first issue came out on 13 November 1858. In 1960, the paper, then known as Västgöta Korrespondenten Skövde Tidning (VK – The West Göta Correspondent), joined with Skaraborgs Läns Annonsblad (SLA – Skaraborg County Advertiser, founded in 1884).
On 18 June 1870, a hydrotherapy spa opened nearby the railway station, which had the effect of Skövde experiencing a short period as a spa resort. The spa, founded by Dr. Lars G Dovertie, was busily frequented during the 1870s and 1880s. Since 1992, the spa has been a student union building.
In 1884, a company was formed to meet the need of an indoor riding arena. The city voluntarily donated a spot just north of the city. The riding school was later to become a key player in future discussions about placing regiments in Skövde. 1889 brought the issue of trying to get Life Regiment Hussars's recruit school to Skövde. It was suggested that this would see a shift from a 'tenement soldier' regiment (soldiers from Sweden's allotment system) to an enlisted troupe. In 1891, it was decided that Skövde would get the regiment in two years, but at the end of 1894 Örebro emerged as a competitor to Skövde. Örebro had certain advantages, for example a large indoor riding arena, but after new bids from Skövde, the town emerged victorious. Since 1896 the Husarernas rekrytskola ('Hussars Recruit School') has been located in Skövde.
The latter half of the 20th century was characterised by furious redevelopment. This brought parking lots and the creation of monumental buildings, some arguably more beautiful than others. Centuries-old features of the cityscape were erased, in particular all the old wooden housing settlements in the old town's western part. Otherwise the 20th century in Skövde was characterised greatly by the presence of the military. Military-dressed men have been a marked feature of Skövde's streets, even if drastically less so at the end of the 20th century and into the new millennium.Referens på delar av hela stycket
Climate Skövde has a maritime-continental hybrid climate. The town is influenced by being in the slope of a hill, which leads to warmer overnight lows than in Skara on the western side of the same higher area. In July 2018, Skövde recorded a mean during the 2018 European heat wave. This makes it one of the very few stations in Sweden to have met the Köppen definition of a hot summer at any point in recorded weather history. Even so, Skövde is not frequently warm during an average year. On average, summers are cooler than on the east coast of the country. This is due to strong low pressure systems from the North Atlantic bringing plenty of rainy days along with an elevation of . Skövde does still have a lower precipitation total than areas to its south such as Borås and areas in Halland that are affected even more by the maritime patterns.
Economy
Volvo and Aurobay