Oskarshamn
Besvärsgränd in Oskarshamn
Coat of arms
Oskarshamn
Coordinates: 57°16′N 16°27′E / 57.267°N 16.45°E / 57.267; 16.45Coordinates: 57°16′N 16°27′E / 57.267°N 16.45°E / 57.267; 16.45
Country	Sweden
Province	Småland
County	Kalmar County
Municipality	Oskarshamn Municipality
Area[1]
• Total	13.10 km2 (5.06 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
• Total	17,258
• Density	1,317/km2 (3,410/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010.^[1]

History[link]

The location of Oskarshamn was known as Döderhultsvik since the Medieval age. In 1645, the city of Kalmar, to the south, made a request to the Royal Government on holding commerce in the bay there, which was granted, giving it merchancy rights as a köping. There followed 200 years of merchancies in the town, during which it was governed and dependent on Kalmar; while the surrounding towns and municipalities made frequent requests to grant it a charter, consequently turned down each of the attempts made in the years: 1786, 1798, 1800, 1815, 1818, 1823, 1825, 1830 and 1838. In 1843 it got some independence, with a local council, but the council itself was occupied by citizens of Kalmar. In 1854, the King Oscar I of Sweden promised to grant it a charter as soon as it had fulfilled certain demands, including building a prison and a council hall, among other things. When they had accomplished the feats, the charter was granted, and the city became one of the Cities of Sweden starting 1856, on May 1. This status has today no legal significance, but Oskarshamn is now the seat of the much larger Oskarshamn Municipality, without being a political entity of its own.

Recent history[link]

Industrialisation began with the inauguration of the railway line to Nässjö. From then on, industries as well as the harbour began to expand. The biggest private employer for a long time was the Oskarshamn Shipyard, which at its height had almost 1500 employees. But in the 1970s, the Swedish shipbuilding industry suffered a large financial crisis and many shipyards closed down. In Oskarshamn, the shipyard went through a large downsizing which left many people unemployed.

However, at around the same time, two major industries were established in Oskarshamn. In 1966, Scania AB bought the truck cab factory, which had been building truck cabs since 1948, and started expanding. The Scania factory is today one of the biggest employers in Kalmar county with almost 2000 employees. Liljeholmens Stearinfabriks AB, established in Oskarshamn in 1970, is the world’s largest candle manufacturer, specialized in stearin candles.

There are three BWR units in a nuclear power plant near Oskarshamn. There is also a laboratory for research concerning long-time storage of spent nuclear fuel. The Aspo Hard Rock Laboratory is open to the public to visit.

Sights[link]

In the port of Oskarshamn there are tourist boats which take visitors to the island and national park Blå Jungfrun. There are also boats that cruise the coastal waters closer to Oskarshamn. Within the municipality there is the Oskarshamn archipelago which consists of over 5 000 islands and small islets.

In the harbor area there are restaurants, pubs and cafés. There are also viewpoints over the harbor. On the south side of the port there is a 72 meters long wooden bench called Långa soffan. It was built in 1867 and it is believed to be the longest of its kind in Europe. From the bench there is a panorama view over the harbor and the quite lively shipping activity going on there.

Another panorama-view of Oskarshamn and the sea outside is obtained from the top of the town’s northern water-tower which is open to the public.

The older part of Oskarshamn is preserved fairly well. In one particular part of town there are older wooden houses originating from the 19th century. The area is called Besväret and Fnyket.

Fredriksbergs Herrgård is a manor-house built in 1784 situated just outside the city center of Oskarshamn. It is open for the public to visit and houses a restaurant, café and a small museum.^[2]

Culture[link]

Oskarshamn was the home of the famous woodcarver Axel Petersson Döderhultarn. His studio as well as the Döderhultarn Museum, containing more than 200 of his carvings are located here. There is also a maritime museum in Oskarshamn.

At the release of The Simpsons film, Swedish newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet concluded that Oskarshamn is the Swedish equivalent to Springfield, the Simpsons' hometown.^[3]

Each summer there is a music festival located to the harbor area. The festival, named Latitud 57, is taking place simultaneously as the annual Oskarshamn Offshore Race which is a popular competition for powerboats. The world championship in Offshore was held here 2011.

Transport[link]

The rail traffic is today limited to freight trains to and from the harbour; the passenger trains have been replaced by buses. There is also a ferry line between the town and Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland. Oskarshamn also has its own airport, situated some 11 km to the north of the city centre.

Sport[link]

IK Oskarshamn is the name of the local ice hockey team. Between 5th to 10th of July 2011, Oskarshamn will host the world championship in offshore powerboat racing.^[4]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oskarshamn

External links[link]

• Oskarshamn.info - Webpage with information about Oskarshamn

v t e Municipalities and seats of Kalmar County Municipalities Borgholm Emmaboda Högsby Hultsfred Kalmar Mönsterås Mörbylånga Nybro Oskarshamn Torsås Västervik Vimmerby Municipal seats Borgholm Emmaboda Högsby Hultsfred Kalmar Mönsterås Mörbylånga Nybro Oskarshamn Torsås Västervik Vimmerby Counties of Sweden Sweden

Culture Beat
Background information
Origin	Frankfurt, Germany
Genres	House Eurodance Hi-NRG
Years active	1989–present
Associated acts	Quadriga
Members
Frank Fenslau Peter Gräber Jacky Sangster
Past members
Lana Earl (1989-1993) Torsten Fenslau (1989-1993) Jay Supreme (1989-1997) Tania Evans (1993-1997) Kim Sanders (1998-1999) Jens Zimmermann (1989-1991) Peter Zweier (1989-1994)

Culture Beat is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Torsten Fenslau. The act has gone through a number of line-up changes over the years; they achieved the most success whilst fronted by singer Tania Evans and rapper Jay Supreme. Their 1993 single "Mr. Vain" was a number-one hit in 11 European countries,^[1] and the act is thought to have sold more than 10 million records worldwide.^[2]

Biography[link]

Origins and formation[link]

Torsten Fenslau, who initially had a desire for becoming an architect, had been working as a deejay at the Frankfurt nightclub Dorian Gray for the past 11 years, when he decided to form Culture Beat.^[1]

[edit] 1989-1991: Horizon

His first single, the ambient house track "Der Erdbeermund", with a spoken vocal in German by Jo van Nelsen, peaked at number 11 on the German singles chart.^[3] Versions in English and French were also released (titled "Cherry Lips" and "Les lèvres cerises", respectively). An instrumental version was also a club hit in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 55.

Shortly afterwards, Torsten recruited New Jersey-born rapper Jay Supreme and singer Lana Earl to front the act, Culture Beat. While the second single "I Like You" reached number 22 in the Netherlands, their fourth single "No Deeper Meaning" managed to reach as high as number 5 in the Netherlands and number 3 on the Canadian RPM Dance Chart.^[4] They released their first album, Horizon, in 1991 which went with only minor success.

[edit] 1993-1994: Serenity and international success

Lana was replaced by British singer Tania Evans in 1993, and the act took a harder Eurodance sound. "Mr. Vain" became their biggest hit to date, reaching number-one in 13 countries including Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom.^[5] It was also their first mainstream hit in the United States, peaking at No.17 on the Hot 100. The single was certified three times Gold in Germany for selling over 750,000 units, it also managed to reach a Gold status in several other countries including US.^[6][7]

Subsequent singles "Got to Get It" and "Anything" were also pan-European hits, and their second album Serenity was awarded at the ECHO award for being the Best-selling German Act Abroad, with more than two million copies sold.^[8] This also got Torsten Fenslau nominated in the same year at the Echo for being the Best Producer of the Year, who also walked away as a winner.^[9]

On November 6, 1993, Culture Beat's founder Torsten Fenslau was killed in a car accident in Messel (district of Darmstadt) at age of 29.^[1][5] His brother Frank took over the act as a manager.

[edit] 1995-1996: Inside Out

The group returned the act in 1995 with a third album called Inside Out,^[5] preceded by a single of the same title "Inside Out" which reached number 5 in Germany and number 32 in the UK.

[edit] 1997-1998: Major changes and Metamorphosis

In 1997, Frank decided to take Culture Beat in a different musical direction diverging the act from Dance genre and transitioned into Pop. He also replaced Tania with Kim Sanders, who had previously scored a hit with "Impossible" by Captain Hollywood Project. Jay Supreme remained with the act for a short time after Tania's departure, but during recording of the next album he decided to leave the group and the Rap-vocals on the next album (only a few tracks contained Rap) were produced by rapper Next Up. Although, in 1998, the album Metamorphosis managed to reach No.12 at home, it was a minor chart success as it remained in the top-20 of the album chart for only four weeks, and spent overall 10 weeks appearing on the chart.^[10]

2001-present: Singles and present status[link]

Three years later, Jacky Sangster replaced Kim as the fourth female lead singer for Culture Beat. The single called "Insanity" was released in 2001 which flopped in Germany; however, reached No. 1 in Israel.^[5] In 2003, to commemorate ten years since the release of the group's biggest hit, a new version of "Mr. Vain" was issued in Germany and reached No.7 in the singles chart. In 2004, a Greatest Hits package was released ahead of a planned new album with Jacky as vocalist, but was canceled before "Can't Go on Like This (No No)" was released. This single had minor success as well.

In May 2008, a new single, "Your Love" was finally released in Germany through Superstar Records, a special remix by D&K only available digitally. Jacky performed at the "Back 2 the 90s" event in Riga, Latvia on November 21, 2008, alongside Ace of Base, Haddaway, Dr Alban and 2 Unlimited.^[11]

Band members[link]

• Torsten Fenslau - Keyboards & programming (1989–1993)
• Lana Earl - Vocals (1989–1993)
• Juergen Katzmann - Guitars, keyboards & programming (1989–1995)
• Jay Supreme - Vocals (1989–1998)
• Jens Zimmermann - Keyboards & programming (1989–1995)
• Peter Zweier - Keyboards & programming (1989-)
• Tania Evans - Vocals (1993–1997)
• Frank Fenslau - Keyboards & programming (1994-)
• Kim Sanders - Vocals (1998–1999)
• Jacky Sangster - Vocals (2001-)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Culture Beat's Official Website