Jump to content

Gävle

Coordinates:60°40′29″N17°08′30″E/ 60.67472°N 17.14167°E/60.67472; 17.14167
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromGefle Dagblad)
Gävle
Town square, Alderholmen, old town, the high-rise "Fullriggaren" at Gävle Strand, the town hall, buildings alongside the river of Gavleån
Town square, Alderholmen, old town, the high-rise "Fullriggaren" at Gävle Strand, the town hall, buildings alongside the river of Gavleån
Nickname:
Gevalia
Gävle is located in Sweden Gävleborg
Gävle
Gävle
Location of Gävle
Gävle is located in Sweden
Gävle
Gävle
Gävle (Sweden)
Coordinates:60°40′29″N17°08′30″E/ 60.67472°N 17.14167°E/60.67472; 17.14167
CountrySweden
ProvinceGästrikland
CountyGävleborg County
MunicipalityGävle Municipality
Area
[1]
• City42.45 km2(16.39 sq mi)
• Metro
1,615.07 km2(623.58 sq mi)
Elevation
8 m (26 ft)
Population
(2016)[2]
• City75,451
• Density1,673/km2(4,330/sq mi)
•Urban
96,969
Time zoneUTC+1(CET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+2(CEST)
Postal code
80x xx
Area code(+46) 26
Websitewww.gavle.se

Gävle(/ˈjɛvleɪ/YEV-lay,[3]Swedish:[ˈjɛ̌ːvlɛ]ⓘ) is acityinSweden,the seat ofGävle Municipalityand the capital ofGävleborg County.It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020,[4]which makes it the13th-most-populated city in Sweden.[1]It is the oldest city in the historicalNorrland(Sweden's northern lands), having received itscharterin 1446 fromChristopher of Bavaria.However, Gävle is far nearer to the greaterStockholmregion than it is to most other major settlements in Norrland and has a muchmilder climatethan associated with said region.

In recent years, the city has received much international attention due to its largeYule Goatfigure made of straw - theGävle Goat.The goat is erected in December each year and is often subsequently vandalized, usually by beingset on fire.The goat has now become a symbol for the city and is being used for various marketing purposes.

History

[edit]
Old town (Gamla stan)

It is believed that the nameGävlederives from the wordgavel,meaningriver banksinOld Swedishand referring to theGavleån(Gävle River). The oldest settlement was calledGävle-ägarna,which means "Gavel-owners". This name was shortened toGävle,thenGefle,and finallyGävle.

Gävle is first mentioned as a town in official history books in 1413 but only received its official town charters in 1446.[5]

For a long time, Gävle consisted solely of small, low,turforshingleroofed wooden buildings. Boat-houses lined the banks of Gavleån, Lillån, and Islandsån. Until the 18th century the town was built, as was the practice then, around the three most important buildings: thechurch,the regionalpalace,and thetown hall.

In the 1400s Gävle grew as a city and flourished due to trade allowed by its harbor and river. However, in the 1500s Sten Sture forbade Gävle from pursuing international trade. The city at this time was only allowed to trade with Stockholm and Åbo, which at the time was a part of Sweden. The restrictions were lifted in 1531 when 6 ships were allowed to trade iron, copper and pelts and in 1546 Gustaf Vasa allowed unlimited trade to and from Gävle with the exception of copper.[6]

In 1569 a fire destroyed many of the archaeological records of Gävle from the Middle Ages.[6]

Gävle at the end of the 17th century. The three most prominent buildings are (from left to right): The palace, the town hall, thechurch.

Over the last 300 years, Gävle has been ablaze on three occasions. After the fire of 1776, the town was rebuilt with straight streets andrectangularcity blocks. The number of stone and brick houses also started to increase. The biggest town fire occurred 1869, when out of a population of around 10,000 approximately 8,000 inhabitants lost their homes, and about 350farmswere destroyed. Almost the whole town north of Gavleån was burnt down. All the buildings south of Gavleån were saved. An area of the old town between the museum and the library has been preserved to this day as a historic reserve,Gamla Gefle.

After the catastrophe of the fire Gävle developed its characteristicgrid planwith largeesplanadesand green areas. It is now a green town with wideavenues.Stopping the spread of future town fires was the main idea behind this development.

In July 1719Hugo Hamilton,who built Fredriksskans fort, defended Gävle against Russian attacks. After attacking along the coast, the Russian forces, numbering 5000 and under the command ofPeter von Lacy,attacked Gävle from the south along the road from Harnäs which they had recently occupied. Hamilton stopped them outside of the city near Järvsta.[7]The Russians instead tried to attack the city from the sea but the 10 cannon battery at Fredriksskans were sufficient to turn away their forces 3 times.[7]A final attempt was made to take the city by landing forces to the north at Engesberg. Hamilton quickly moved the defending forces northward to stop the attack.[8]On 2 August von Lacy gave up and sailed homewards with his forces.

An extensive redevelopment of the central town area was started during the 1950s. Around 1970 Gävle became a largeurbandistrict when it was united with the nearby municipalities ofValbo,Hamrånge,Hedesunda,andHille.NewsuburbslikeStigslund,Sätra,Andersberg,andBomhushave grown up around the central city.

In the middle of the 1800s to the beginning of the 1900s, there was a bad harvest and a high unemployment rate in Sweden.[9]At the same time, political and religious oppression occurred, and religious encounters outside the State Church were not allowed. This led many Swedes to emigrate to other countries such as the United States. During the early emigration era, Gävle was one of the cities from which people left on their journey to the US. People from parts of Gästrikland and other neighboring counties made their way to the harbor town of Gävle and then commenced their departure to America.[10]

Soviet POWs in Gävle before departure to Soviet Union

50,000 Russians who were in Germany at the outbreak of the First World War traveled up through Sweden to Gävle where they gathered at the harbor before setting off via steamboat back to Russia.[11]

The Harbor in Gävle was used for trade during the First World War and as a result some ships from Gävle were sunk during the German unrestricted submarine warfare campaign. One such example was the sailing vesselJönköping,which was sunk on its way to Raumo from Gävle with a cargo of cognac and champagne for the Tsar.[11]A Finnish cargo vessel was sunk off the coast in Gävle.

In June 1945, 800 Soviet prisoners of war transited from Oslo to Gävle, whence they were transported aboard the boatAldebaranacross the Baltic Sea to the Soviet Union.[12]

In 1986 as a result of theChernobyl disaster,Gävle was subjected to a severe deposition ofradionuclides,exceeding 185kBqpersquare meter.The impact was much greater than experienced by other regions of western Europe and as such, Gävle became one of the most affected areas outside of theSoviet Union.[13]Between 1905 and 1997, theI14 Regimentwas located in Gävle.

In 2022 the City Library Building, constructed in 1962, was demolished to make room for a modern cultural center known as Agnes Kulturhus. Duringhis jubilee visitto the city in 2023, KingCarl XVI Gustaftoured the construction site of the cultural center and gifted it a plaque commemorating the visit and Time Capsule. As of October 2023 the Cultural Center is still under construction.[14][15]

Geography

[edit]
Gävle park with the river Gavleån

Gävle is situated by theBaltic Seanear the mouth of the riverDalälven.At 60 degrees north and 17 degrees east, Gävle has the samelatitudeasHelsinkiand the samelongitudeasViennaandCape Town.Bordering municipalities areSöderhamn,Ockelbo,Sandviken,Heby,TierpandÄlvkarleby.Twenty kilometers west of Gävle liesSandviken.

Climate

[edit]

Gävle has a similarclimateto the rest of centralSwedenwith winter highs just below freezing and summer highs a bit above 20 °C (68 °F). The average yearly precipitation is around 600 mm (23.62 in). Under theKöppen climate classificationGävle is classified ashumid continental(Dfb),[16]in spite of the significant maritime influence. It is also one of the northernmost cities of significant size in the world with this climate type, since areas north of the 60th latitude for the most part are dominated by various subarctic climate types. Under the 1961-1990 normals, Gävle's fourth warmest month was just around the isotherm of 10 °C (50 °F) to not be classified as subarctic, but temperatures did go up sufficiently to be clear humid continental since.

While precipitation usually is moderate, in August 2021, Gävle was hit by aflash floodafter recording 16 centimetres (6.3 in) of rainfall in one day.[17]Considerable flooding occurred in multiple regions with entireneighborhoodsflooded. Vehicles were submerged and landslides occurred as well.[18][19][20]At least 10 heavy rain reports were reported.[21]

Climate data for Gävle (2002–2021 averages; extremes since 1901)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 11.0
(51.8) 		12.5
(54.5) 		18.3
(64.9) 		27.1
(80.8) 		28.9
(84.0) 		36.4
(97.5) 		34.4
(93.9) 		34.0
(93.2) 		28.0
(82.4) 		22.7
(72.9) 		15.0
(59.0) 		11.7
(53.1) 		36.4
(97.5)
Mean maximum °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2) 		8.0
(46.4) 		13.6
(56.5) 		18.3
(64.9) 		24.0
(75.2) 		27.1
(80.8) 		28.8
(83.8) 		27.4
(81.3) 		22.9
(73.2) 		16.3
(61.3) 		11.2
(52.2) 		7.4
(45.3) 		29.8
(85.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −0.4
(31.3) 		0.7
(33.3) 		4.7
(40.5) 		10.0
(50.0) 		15.1
(59.2) 		19.5
(67.1) 		22.2
(72.0) 		21.2
(70.2) 		16.6
(61.9) 		9.7
(49.5) 		4.5
(40.1) 		1.3
(34.3) 		10.4
(50.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −3.8
(25.2) 		−2.9
(26.8) 		0.2
(32.4) 		4.9
(40.8) 		9.7
(49.5) 		14.2
(57.6) 		16.7
(62.1) 		15.8
(60.4) 		11.7
(53.1) 		6.0
(42.8) 		1.9
(35.4) 		−1.5
(29.3) 		6.1
(42.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2) 		−6.5
(20.3) 		−4.3
(24.3) 		−0.2
(31.6) 		4.2
(39.6) 		8.7
(47.7) 		11.2
(52.2) 		10.4
(50.7) 		6.8
(44.2) 		2.2
(36.0) 		−0.7
(30.7) 		−4.3
(24.3) 		1.7
(35.1)
Mean minimum °C (°F) −20.1
(−4.2) 		−18.9
(−2.0) 		−14.7
(5.5) 		−6.3
(20.7) 		−2.6
(27.3) 		2.5
(36.5) 		5.0
(41.0) 		3.1
(37.6) 		−0.9
(30.4) 		−5.5
(22.1) 		−10.0
(14.0) 		−15.0
(5.0) 		−23.7
(−10.7)
Record low °C (°F) −30.4
(−22.7) 		−33.7
(−28.7) 		−29.9
(−21.8) 		−17.9
(−0.2) 		−7.3
(18.9) 		−4.5
(23.9) 		1.0
(33.8) 		−2.2
(28.0) 		−5.7
(21.7) 		−15.1
(4.8) 		−22.5
(−8.5) 		−30.3
(−22.5) 		−33.7
(−28.7)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches) 36.5
(1.44) 		26.8
(1.06) 		26.1
(1.03) 		23.1
(0.91) 		43.7
(1.72) 		67.2
(2.65) 		61.5
(2.42) 		92.7
(3.65) 		45.4
(1.79) 		67.2
(2.65) 		46.0
(1.81) 		40.7
(1.60) 		576.9
(22.73)
Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) 31
(12) 		39
(15) 		31
(12) 		13
(5.1) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		2
(0.8) 		10
(3.9) 		20
(7.9) 		47
(19)
Source 1: SMHI Open Data[22]
Source 2: SMHI climate data 2002–2018[23]

Economy

[edit]
View of the harbour, approx. 1940-1959

Tradefrom the port of Gävle increased markedly during the 15th century whencopperandironbegan to be exported from the port. In order to ensure that all trade was viaStockholm,sailing to foreign ports from Gävle and a few other ports was forbidden.

During the 16th century, Gävle was one of the most important port and merchant towns with many shipping companies andshipyards.

In 1787 Gävle was awarded "free and unrestricted sailing rights" to and from foreign ports. This led to an increase intrade,which in turn led to an increase in buildings, industrial developments, trade and shipping.

From 1910-1979 Gefle Porslinfabrik produced porslin products. The factory, locally named 'Pottan' struggled during the First World War to get clay that would allow them to continue producing high quality products. Due to high transport and coal costs the factory had to raise the prices of their products by 40%.[24]

Today there are few shipping companies orshipyardsleft, but an importantportremains. It has over 1000 ships calling per year and is among the top ten common ports in Sweden.

Major companies

[edit]

Demography

[edit]

Culture

[edit]

Gävle has, considering its size, a large and well nourished cultural life, being a cradle for many musicians such asThe Deer TracksandThe Sound of Arrows.The city applied to become theEuropean Capital of Culturein 2014.

Gävle concert hall, home of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra

Arts and museums

[edit]

The prison museum of Sweden, the county museum of Gävleborg, and the national railway museum are the three largest museums in the city. The prison museum is located nearGävle Castleand depicts the history of crime and punishment in Sweden. The county museum (located downtown) hosts an art collection spanning from the 1600s to present time and well as a section dedicated to cultural history. Finally, theSwedish Railway Museum(Rälsgatan 1), hosts a collection that began to accumulate in 1906 inStockholmand which was moved to Gävle in 1970.

Gävle has a theater dating back to the 1800s. It is still used for performances today, including classic theater, opera, variety and stand-up.

There is also a concert hall in Gävle which was inaugurated in 1998. It is home to the 1912Gävle Symphony Orchestra,whose principal conductor isJaime Martín.

Gavlerinken,home ofBrynäs IF

Media

[edit]

Gefle Dagbladfounded in 1895[25]andArbetarbladetare the two leading media outlets covering Gävle in the papers. Both have a long history dating back to the early 1900s and the late 1800s, respectively. Aside from this, the Swedish national public TV broadcaster,SVT,has an editorial office in the city and the national public radioSveriges Radiobroadcasts from the city.[citation needed]

Sports

[edit]

Gävle has teams competing in the highest national league infootball(Gefle IF) as well asice hockey(Brynäs IF) andfloorball(Gävle GIK).

Ice hockey

Football

Bowling

Speed skating

Baseball

Floorball

A Flower Troll at the Å-Draget festivities 2022

Å-Draget

[edit]

Each September Gävle Kommun organises a weekend where outdoor candles are lit along the banks of the Gavle River in an attempt to highlight its beauty and its importance to the city.[26]The kommun organises different performances and activities for residents and visitors to enjoy as the walk along the river.[27]

Education

[edit]
Gävle University College

TheUniversity College of Gävlecurrently enrolls 16,000 students.[28]It offers over 800 courses and around 50 degree programs in technology, social and natural sciences, and the humanities. Its research profiles are "Built Environment" ( "Byggd miljö" ) and "Health in working life" ( "Hälsofrämjande arbetsliv" ).[29]Some courses are offered inEnglishand are taken by both international and Swedish students.

Miscellanea

[edit]

Gävle is known for being the birthplace of theGevaliacoffeebrand, which is produced byKraft General Foods Scandinaviaand exported around the globe. Gevalia is particularly popular in the Americas and produces dozens of unique flavored coffees for the United States that are not available to its customers in Europe. However, visitors who come to the factory in Gävle can sample many of the premium blends. (Gevaliais theLatinname for Gävle).

Other brands from Gävle include the throat lozengesLäkeroland the car-shaped sweetsAhlgrens Bilar.

Gävle preserves the memory of the Swedish-American labor activist and martyr Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, better known asJoe Hill,who was born there in 1879. The Hägglund family home still stands in Gävle at the address Nedre Bergsgatan 28, inGamla Stan,the Old Town. As of 2011it houses a museum and theJoe Hill-gården,which hosts cultural events.

Gävle goat

[edit]
Main article:Gävle goat
The Gävle Goat in 2009.

The history of theGävle goatbegan in 1966. Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of placing a giant version of the traditional SwedishChristmas goatofstrawin Slottstorget (Castle Square) in central Gävle. On 1 December the 13-metre tall, 7-metre long, 3 tonne goat was erected on the square. At midnight onNew Year's Eve,the goat went up in flames. The goat has since had a history of being burnt almost every year, 2005 being the 22nd time it was burnt. Burning the goat is an illegal act and not welcomed by most citizens of Gävle, but undoubtedly this is what has made the goat famous. In 2006 the goat was covered in a flame-resistant coating to preventarson,enabling the goat to remain standing throughout that winter. On December 27, 2015, the goat was burnt for the 28th time. In its 54-year history, the goat has been burnt down 38 times.

Notable people

[edit]
Hans Forssell
Valborg Elisabeth Groning, La Bella Ingeborg
Peppe Femling
Ewa Laurence

Sports professionals

[edit]

European cooperation

[edit]

Gävle is a member city ofEurotowns network.[32]

Hospital

[edit]

Gävle Hospital has approximately 300 physicians, and serves an area of approximately 150.000 people.[33]It has a centre for clinical research in cooperation withUppsala University.[34]

Twin towns – sister cities

[edit]

Gävle istwinnedwith five cities:[35]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
Notes
  1. ^ab"Kommuner i siffror".Statistics Sweden.22 April 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2016.
  2. ^Statistik Databasen[permanent dead link]
  3. ^Scott, Tom (2016-12-09).Arson as a Christmas Tradition: The Gävle Goat(Video). Event occurs at 0:00.Retrieved2024-07-01.
  4. ^"Statistiska tätorter 2018; befolkning, landareal, befolkningstäthet".2021.
  5. ^"Gävle stads privilegier - Gefle från A till Ö"(in Swedish). www.gd.se. 2012-09-10. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-06-25.Retrieved2013-03-26.
  6. ^abSterner, Jan (1999).Tvåtusen år i Gävlebygden(in Swedish). Knights Förlog. p. 65.ISBN91-973608-1-3.
  7. ^ab"När ryssen härjade nästan ända till Gävle".Gefle Dagblad(in Swedish). 7 August 2013.Retrieved2023-03-25.
  8. ^"När ryssen härjade nästan ända till Gävle".Gefle Dagblad(in Swedish). 7 August 2013.Retrieved2023-03-25.
  9. ^"Perspektiv på Historien", Nyström Hans, Nyström Lars, Nyström Örjan, 2011
  10. ^"Ett land likt himmelriket… Emigrationen via Gävle till Nordamerika vid mitten av 1800-talet", Severin, Göran, 1996
  11. ^ab"Gävleborg i första världskrigets skugga".digitaltmuseum.se(in Swedish).Retrieved2023-04-12.
  12. ^"Svenska Dagbladets historiska arkiv".Svenska Dagbladet(in Swedish).ISSN1101-2412.Retrieved2023-03-25.
  13. ^"Chapter II the release, dispersion and deposition of radionuclides".Chernobyl: Assessment of Radiological and Health Impact.Nuclear Energy Agency.
  14. ^[[:sv:Gävle stadsbibliotek|]] on theSwedish Wikipedia
  15. ^"Kungaparet besöker Gävle den 21 augusti"[The royal couple will visit Gävle on 21 August]. Cit of Gävle. February 2023.Retrieved3 December2023.
  16. ^"Gavle, Sweden Climate Summary".Weatherbase.Retrieved25 March2015.
  17. ^"Rekordstora dygnsnederbördsmängder"(in Swedish).SMHI.19 August 2021.Retrieved19 August2021.
  18. ^Kraftiga skyfall och stora översvämningar i Gävle
  19. ^Vilde billeder fra Sverige
  20. ^Förödelsen dagen efter skyfallet i Gävle
  21. ^"European Severe Weather Database".Archived fromthe originalon 2022-11-10.
  22. ^"SMHI Öppen Data nederbörd för Gävle A"[SMHI Open Data precipitation for Gävle A] (in Swedish).Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-04-11.Retrieved2019-05-21.
  23. ^"Statistik från Väder och Vatten"[Statistics from Weather and Water] (in Swedish). SMHI. 23 January 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 2 May 2019.Retrieved25 March2015.
  24. ^"Stämplar och Signaturer - Gefle Porslinsfabrik".www.signaturer.se.Retrieved2023-04-13.
  25. ^Gustafsson, Karl Erik."Gefle Dagblad".www.ne.se.Nationalencyklopedin.Retrieved11 September2015.
  26. ^Interactive, Gestrike Media AB, Dreamscape."Bra drag längs Gavleån".Gestrike Magasinet.Retrieved2022-09-04.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^"Program Å-Draget 2022".Gävle kommun(in Swedish).Retrieved2022-09-04.
  28. ^"About the University of Gävle".Archived fromthe originalon 3 September 2011.Retrieved21 December2022.
  29. ^"Om Högskolan".www.hig.se.Retrieved21 December2022.
  30. ^Gosse, Edmund William(1911)."Forssell, Hans Ludvig".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 10 (11th ed.). pp. 673–674.
  31. ^Andreas Rudman and his FamilyArchived2009-11-15 at theWayback Machine(by Peter Stebbins Craig. Swedish Colonial News, Volume 2, Number 1. Winter 2000)
  32. ^"Eurotowns – network of medium-sized cities".Eurotowns.Retrieved21 December2022.
  33. ^Gävle sjukhusat jobblanken.se, part of Internetmedicin. Updated 2012
  34. ^Centre for Clinical Research – Gävleborg (CFUG)Archived2014-03-17 at theWayback MachinefromUppsala Universityhomepage > Medicine and Pharmacy > Centres. Updated: 11/29/2011.
  35. ^"Vänorter, partnerskap och nätverk".gavle.se.Archived fromthe originalon 17 February 2015.Retrieved26 April2014.
  36. ^"Sadraudzības pilsētas".jurmala.lv.Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved26 April2014.(in Latvian and English)
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toGävle.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide forGävle.
KML file(edit•help)
w:sv:Wikipedia:KML/Gävle
KML is from Wikidata
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gävle&oldid=1232059970#Media"