Skövde is a
locality and the seat of
Skövde Municipality,
Västra Götaland County,
Sweden with 33,119 inhabitants in 2005.
Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Göteborg, between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vänern and Vättern. It sits on the eastern slope of a low mountain ridge Billingen (299 m), which cuts through the plain between the lakes. The western main railway (Västra Stambanan) was located through Skövde in the 1890s, which dramatically gave the town an industrial and population boost.
History
Skövde traces its history back to the medieval age. On its city arms is the image of
Saint Helena who allegedly was a pious woman from Skövde. She was born about 1101, and was
canonized in 1165 by
Pope Alexander III and
Archbishop Stefan of Sweden.
Of the medieval houses nothing remains, as a fire in 1759 burnt down the entire city except for some houses called Helensgården. After the fire, the city was rebuilt according to the grid pattern. The city still only had a small population until the railroad between Stockholm and Gothenburg was laid through the city and leading to an industrial and population boost.
Industry
Volvo has a large industry in the city, with more than 5,000 workers. AB Volvo and
Volvo Cars jointly operate one of the worlds largest automotive foundries in this city. The foundry is known world wide for producing the most industrial diesel engines in the world for AB Volvo and also for producing compact inline 5 cylinder petrol engines for
Volvo Cars.
There is also the Skövde Garrison, one of the country's largest regiments.
Military
The armoured corps regiment
Skaraborgs regemente (P4) and the logistics corps regiment
Trängregementet (TrängR) are both located in Skövde, as is the Army Combat school.
Education
The Skövde University College has over 8,000 students and six faculties.
SRTC, Swedish Rescue Training Centre (earlier Räddningsskolan Skövde),offers a broad variety of education and exercises within the risk and safety sector.
Airport
Skövde Airport is located approximately 10 km from Skövde. Currently there are no scheduled flights, however there is an active flying club, gliding club and at least one corporate jet is based at Skövde.
See also
Swedish Army
Ringsted, Kuressaare
References
External links
Skövde - Official site
SkövdeNätet - Website and forum for people living and working in Skövde
Category:Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County
Category:Swedish municipal seats
Category:Populated places in Västra Götaland County
Category:Skaraborg
