Landskrona
The old water tower in Landskrona is a landmark that can be seen from far away
Coat of arms of Landskrona Coat of arms
Landskrona
Coordinates: 55°52′N 12°50′E / 55.867°N 12.833°E / 55.867; 12.833Coordinates: 55°52′N 12°50′E / 55.867°N 12.833°E / 55.867; 12.833
Country	Sweden
Province	Skåne
County	Skåne County
Municipality	Landskrona Municipality
Charter	15th century
Area[1]
• Total	12.09 km2 (4.67 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
• Total	30,499
• Density	2,524/km2 (6,540/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Landskrona is a locality and the seat of Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 30,499 inhabitants in 2010.^[1]

History[link]

The city of Landskrona was founded at the location of Scania's (at that time a part of Denmark) best natural harbour, as a means of King Eric of Pomerania's anti-Hanseatic policy, intended to compete with Danish towns under Hanseatic control. A Carmelite monastery was founded in 1410, English merchants were granted the privileges in a royal charter in 1412, and the town itself was chartered in 1413. Landskrona was burned by the Hanseatic League in 1428.

The foundation was done at a place for a fishing settlement, historical described as Sønder Sæby ("sønder" means "southern"). Still today exists a very small settlement just north of the town, known as Säby (Sæby in Danish). This probably was the Nørre Sæby ("nørre" means "northern") in the beginning of the 15:th century, but since the southern village became the town, the need for distinguish northern and southern Sæby disappeared. The original name of the officially founded town was Landszkrone. But changed to Landskrone sometime before 1450.

The town supported the king Christian II of Denmark (1525), and opposed the Reformation in Denmark (1535), and in both cases found itself among the defeated. The Reformist King Christian III of Denmark abstained however from retaliation, and instead founded a castle to protect the harbour. The castle, built where the monastery had been situated until the Reformation, was completed by 1560.

When Scania had been ceded to Sweden in 1658, the good harbour and the strong fort were reasons for plans to make Landskrona a commercial center of the acquired territory with extraordinary privileges for foreign trade. The castle was reinforced by bastions, the area inside the moats extended to 400x400 meters, the castle was considered the strongest and most modern in Scandinavia, but was temporarily lost to the Danes after a comparably short siege July 8-August 2, 1676. The commandant Colonel Hieronymus Lindeberg was consequently sentenced to death for high treason.

Any further plans for Landskrona were however not realized, for various reasons. The continued Swedish-Danish wars favoured Karlskrona, located at a safer distance from Denmark, replacing Landskrona as a naval base, the fortifications were discontinued, and Malmö remained the most important commercial town - despite Malmö lacking a harbour until the late 18th century. The fortifications at Landskrona were expanded considerably between 1747 and 1788, but were condemned in 1822, whereafter the garrison was abolished in 1869. The walls and moats of the fortifications are today a beautiful recreational area, commonly known as the Landskrona Citadel. On its northern side an allotment-garden area of cottages was founded in the final years of the 19:th century. It's the oldest of its kind in Sweden today.

After the industrial revolution and the urbanization the town grew fast. During the first World War a large shipyard, Öresundsvarvet was started. But after the war the fast growing of Landskrona slowed down while nearby towns like Helsingborg, Lund and Malmö continued to grow. In the mid 1970's the shipyard had more than 3500 people employed - and the town had only 30.000 inhabitants (38.000 in the municipality). When the shipyard closed in 1983 a 20 year long depression began. But slowly the town has recovered. In 2001 a new railway station was inaugurated. This was very importaint for the town, since the old station was a terminal for southbound trains only. The new station is along the dual fast railway between Copenhagen and Göteborg, and all trains stop at the station.

For many years Landskrona had car ferries to Copenhagen. After the last ferry line closed in 1993 passenger traffic with high speed ships continued to traffic Copenhagen but after the Øresund bridge opened in summer of 2000 also the passenger traffic to Copenhagen ended.

Transport[link]

Since January 2001 Landskrona has a new railway station on the West Coast railway between Lund and Gothenburg along the Swedish west coast. The connection between the new station and the city centre, "The Station Shuttle," is operated with trolleybuses from 27 September 2003. Landskrona is now the only city in Sweden operating trolleybuses.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Landskrona is twinned with:

• Kołobrzeg, Poland
• Glostrup, Denmark
• Plochingen, Germany
• Kotka, Finland
• Võru, Estonia

Sports[link]

The following sports clubs are located in Landskrona:

• Landskrona BoIS (football club)

See also[link]

• List of Swedish wars
• Ven, Sweden
• List of cities with trolleybuses

References[link]

External links[link]

• Landskrona Municipality - Official site
• Landskrona Trolleybus - Pictures from the construction of the trolleybus line (in Swedish)
• Landskrona Posten - Local Newspaper

Landskrona train station

Trolleybuses

The citadel of Landskrona

Winter in Landskrona

Summer in Landskrona

Gyroscope toy in Landskrona

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Landskrona

v t e Municipalities and seats of Scania County Municipalities Ängelholm Åstorp Båstad Bjuv Bromölla Burlöv Eslöv Hässleholm Helsingborg Höganäs Höör Hörby Kävlinge Klippan Kristianstad Landskrona Lomma Lund Malmö Örkelljunga Osby Östra Göinge Perstorp Simrishamn Sjöbo Skurup Staffanstorp Svalöv Svedala Tomelilla Trelleborg Vellinge Ystad Municipal seats Ängelholm Arlöv Åstorp Båstad Bjuv Broby Bromölla Eslöv Hässleholm Helsingborg Höganäs Höör Hörby Kävlinge Klippan Kristianstad Landskrona Lomma Lund Malmö Örkelljunga Osby Perstorp Simrishamn Sjöbo Skurup Staffanstorp Svalöv Svedala Tomelilla Trelleborg Vellinge Ystad Counties of Sweden Sweden