Ekerö Municipality (
Ekerö kommun) is a
municipalityThe municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...
in
Stockholm CountyStockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Uppsala and Södermanland. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
in east central
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
. The name comes from the island
EkeröEkerö is a locality and the seat of Ekerö Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 10,322 inhabitants in 2005.Ekerö is the largest of the islands forming Ekerö Municipality. It consists of the formerly separate islets of Ekerö, Munsö and Kärsö....
, and literally means "Oak Island". Its seat is located in the town of
EkeröEkerö is a locality and the seat of Ekerö Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 10,322 inhabitants in 2005.Ekerö is the largest of the islands forming Ekerö Municipality. It consists of the formerly separate islets of Ekerö, Munsö and Kärsö....
.
Ekerö is the only municipality in the
Lake MälarenLake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. The lake drains, from southwest to northeast, into the Baltic Sea through Södertälje kanal, Hammarbyslussen, Karl Johanslussen and Norrström...
region composed exclusively of islands.
Land elevationPost-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostatic depression...
has reduced the number of islands to 140, the largest of which, distinguished on the map below, are
AdelsöAdelsö is an island in the middle of Lake Mälaren in Sweden, near southern and northern Björkfjärden. The administrative center of the important Viking settlement Birka was situated at Hovgården on Adelsö.-Geography:...
,
MunsöMunsö is a village and a former island in Ekerö Municipality, Sweden. Because of post-glacial rebound, this island in Lake Mälaren is now connected to the island Ekerö.The village has a 12th-century round church....
,
EkeröEkerö is a locality and the seat of Ekerö Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 10,322 inhabitants in 2005.Ekerö is the largest of the islands forming Ekerö Municipality. It consists of the formerly separate islets of Ekerö, Munsö and Kärsö....
,
FäringsöFäringsö or Svartsjölandet is an island of Mälaren lake in Sweden. It covers an area of 79km². The island is a part of Ekerö Municipality. The largest village on the island is Stenhamra. The island is also named after the village of Svartsjö....
, and
Lovö
. 2000 years ago, during the
Roman Iron AgeThe Roman Iron Age is the name that Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius gave to a part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the Netherlands....
, Färingsö was more of an archipelago of 20 islands.
Originally, when the first local government acts were implemented in Sweden in 1863, eight rural municipalities were created, each corresponding to an old
parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
. The municipal reform of 1952 grouped them in two new larger entities. The next reform in 1971 merged them into the present municipality.
Heritage
The municipality contains two
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
s. One is
BirkaDuring the Viking Age, Birka , on the island of Björkö in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers West of Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö...
, an old
Viking AgeViking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the eighth to eleventh centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
village, and the other is
Drottningholm PalaceThe Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm. It is built on the island Lovön , and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century...
and its surroundings.
Drottningholm, located on the
LovönLovön is an island located in the Swedish Lake Mälaren in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County. It was a municipality of its own until 1952, when it was joined with Ekerö Municipality. Lovön's greatest attraction is Drottningholm Palace and its many public gardens, which were built on the island...
island, was originally a
RenaissanceRenaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, in which there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture.The Renaissance style places...
palace built by King
John IIIJohn III was King of Sweden from 1568 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud. He was also quite autonomously the ruler of Finland from 1556 to 1563...
for Queen Catherine Jagellon. Starting in 1661, Queen Dowager Hedvig Eleonora had the old neglected palace rebuilt into a new
French BaroqueFrench Baroque is a form of Baroque architecture that evolved in France during the reigns of Louis XIII , Louis XIV and Louis XV...
palace to the design of architect
Nicodemus Tessin the ElderNicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...
, a work later completed by
Nicodemus Tessin the YoungerCount Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
,
Carl HårlemanBaron Carl Hårleman was a Swedish 18th century architect.Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who hade been ennobled in 1698, and began his architectural training under Göran Josua Adelcrantz...
, and Jean Eric Rehn. Since 1984 it is the official residence of the
Royal FamilyThe Swedish Royal Family consists of a number of persons in the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. They are entitled to royal titles and style , and some perform official engagements and ceremonial duties of state.-History:Until the 1620s Swedish provinces...
, but large parts of the park are accessible to the public. The palace features several uniquely preserved structures, including the
Palace TheatreThe Drottningholm Palace Theatre is an opera house located at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, which has been described by Per-Erik Öhrn, the theatre’s former artistic director, as "the Swedish jewel in our European cultural heritage crown of centuries-old theatres".Currently the...
, inaugurated in 1766 and still delivering operas using the preserved original machinery; and the
Chinese PavilionThe Chinese Pavilion , located in the grounds of the Drottningholm Palace park, is a Chinese-inspired royal pavilion built in 1753. The pavilion is currently one of Sweden's Royal Palaces....
, the Rococo design of Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz filled with Chinese luxury delivered by the
Swedish East India CompanyThe Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the far east...
.
Birka on the
BjörköBjörkö can signify:# In Sweden:## Björkö, a Lake Mälaren island in Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County, the location for the excavation and World Heritage Site Birka....
island is the oldest urban structure in Sweden, founded in the mid 8th century. In the 9th century,
AnsgarSaint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...
, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, made two failed attempts to convert its inhabitants. The settlement was finally abandoned in the late 10th century for unknown reasons. The excavations of the approximately 1.100 graves in the area started in 1871 and have continued since. A museum was create in 1995, and in summers various boats carry large numbers of tourists to the island.
Other notable historical sites
Other historical sights of interest are several runestones and other Viking remains, eight medieval churches, and old towns.
On the
AdelsöAdelsö is an island in the middle of Lake Mälaren in Sweden, near southern and northern Björkfjärden. The administrative center of the important Viking settlement Birka was situated at Hovgården on Adelsö.-Geography:...
Island is
HovgårdenHovgården is an archaeological site on the Lake Mälaren island of Adelsö in Ekerö Municipality in central-eastern Sweden. During the Viking Age, the centre of the prospering Mälaren Valley was the settlement Birka, founded in the mid-8th century and abandoned in the late 10th century and located...
, together with Birka a world heritage site, featuring barrows, thick walls, and runestones. There is also
Alsnö husAlsnö hus are the ruins of an old castle and a palace at the Hovgården settlement. It is located on Adelsö island, in Lake Mälaren in central-eastern Sweden...
, the ruins of the summer residence of
Magnus BarnlockMagnus Birgersson , usually called Magnus Ladulås, English: Magnus III Barnlock, was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290....
were the
Ordinance of AlsnöThe Ordinance of Alsnö is an act by king Magnus Ladulås of Sweden, probably produced in Alsnö hus in September 1280, giving exemption from land taxation to those nobles who committed to produce a heavy cavalryman to the king's service. This established the frälse, the tax-exempt secular nobility...
created the foundation of
Swedish nobilityThe Swedish nobility were historically a legally privileged class in Sweden, part of the so-called frälse . Today, the nobility is still very much a part of Swedish society but they do not maintain many of their former privileges...
, and a romanesque church from the 12th century.
Next to the royal palace is the residential area
Drottningholmsmalmen ("Drottningholm Ridge/
EskerAn esker is a long winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North America...
") which draws its history back to the
Torvesund manor built in 1579-80 and which served as a place of refuge for the Jesuits following the
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
. During the 18th century, soldiers, carpenters and other craftsmen working at the royal palace settled in the area. Intentions were to develop it into a suburb to the palace like at the Versailles Palace, and this end the area was granted the status of a city to attract entrepreneurs and artists to the royal court. During the reign of King Gustav III had several building erected, including the
Långa raden (the "Long Row") to accommodate the royal body guard. By 1815 78 properties existed in the area. However, it failed to develop in the direction sketched-out by the Gustav III, and instead evolved into a summer residence area inhabited by wealthy burghers, the large-scales villas in a wide range of styles have given the area its characteristics. In the middle of the 20th century several buildings by well-known Swedish architects, including Nils Tesch,
Ralph erskineRalph Erskine is the name of:*Ralph Erskine , British-Swedish architect*Ralph Erskine , the eighteenth century Scottish clergyman...
,
Peter CelsingPeter Celsing was a Swedish modernist architect.Celsing studied at the architectural school of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He later became professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology...
and Bengt Lindroos, were added.
Kanton is a group of 20 buildings next to the
Chinese PavilionThe Chinese Pavilion , located in the grounds of the Drottningholm Palace park, is a Chinese-inspired royal pavilion built in 1753. The pavilion is currently one of Sweden's Royal Palaces....
built in the 1750s and 1760s intended to be a
mercantileMercantilism is an economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable." Economic assets or capital, are represented by bullion held by the state, which is best increased through a...
prototype settlement. 70-80 people lived there for a few decades producing luxury items for the royal court and the nobility, including some of the interior of the China Pavillin. The buildings later inspired author
Elsa BeskowElsa Beskow was a Swedish author and illustrator of children's books.Beskow is the most well known of all Swedish children's book artists and her books are continually reprinted. Many of her books are classics...
to some of her fairy tales.
Kungshatt ("King's Hat") is a rocky island south of Lovön where, according to a legend, a king Erik Väderhatt ("Eric Weather Hat"), so named because of his fortune with the winds which he could foretell with his hat, escaped his enemies by jumping from the cliff with his horse. The location for this event was furnished with a copper hat, now substituted with an iron hat.
Svartsjö PalaceSvartsjö Palace is a palace situated in Svartsjö on the island of Färingsö in lake Mälaren. It is a 30 minute car ride from Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.-History:...
was originally a
FolkungIn modern Swedish, Folkung has two meanings, which appear to be opposites:# The medieval House of Bjelbo in Sweden, which produced several Swedish statesmen and kings....
mansion. The palace King
Gustav VasaGustav I, born Gustav Eriksson and later known as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Vasa, an influential noble family which came to be the royal house of Sweden for much of the 16th and 17th centuries...
and his sons had built here was destroyed by fire in 1687. The Rococo palace, built 1735-39 to the design of
Carl HårlemanBaron Carl Hårleman was a Swedish 18th century architect.Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who hade been ennobled in 1698, and began his architectural training under Göran Josua Adelcrantz...
and later expanded by Queen
Louisa UlrikaLouisa Ulrika of Prussia was a Swedish Queen, Queen consort of Sweden between 1751 and 1771 as wife of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden, and queen mother of King Gustav III of Sweden and King Charles XIII of Sweden.-Background:Louisa Ulrika was the daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and his...
, was neglected for centuries before being restored. Its
BaroqueBaroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. New architectural concerns for color, light and...
and
English gardenThe English garden or English landscape park is a style of landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe....
s are preserved.
The
Hilleshög Church is a mostly
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
edifice, built in
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
and
brickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.-History:The oldest shaped bricks found date back to 7,500 B.C. They have been found in Çayönü, in the upper Tigris region, and in south east Anatolia close to Diyarbakir. Other more recent findings,...
, with some parts from the 17th and 18th centuries and later additions. Many of the paintings in the interior, dating back to the end of 13th century and they early 15th century, were painted over in the 18th century but were restored in the 1920s and in 2002, together with some of the furniture.
Ekebyhov Palace is a mansion created around 1630. Its main building is a wooden structure begun in 1674 and completed in 1704. The gardens of the palace boasts several unique plants and features a café. It is owned by the municipality.
Skytteholm was one of the mansions
Johan SkytteJohan Skytte was a Swedish politician.Skytte was son of the Mayor of Nyköping, Bengt Nilsson Skräddare...
, mentor of King
Gustav II AdolphusGustav II Adolf , widely known in English by the Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus and variously in historical writings sometimes as simply just Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolf the Great, , was founder of the Swedish...
, had built in the Lake Mälaren region. Founded in 1631, its present appearance is mostly from around 1920. It is today mostly used for conferences.
In the 1950s, ancient remains were found on the island of
Helgö- Ancient ruins :Seldom visited today, this site at Lurudden began to be settled around the year 200. The first archaeological dig in 1954 found not only remains of the early settlement, but also a workshop area that became an international sensation. Among the finds were a small Buddha statuette...
. The excavations that followed unveiled eight groups of buildings and objects from
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
,
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, and
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
dating back to the 8th century offering a hint of the extent of the trade of the era. The settlement is, however, believed to be considerably older and have reached its peak around 500-600 CE. On Helgö is also the Kaggeholm Palace, with a history stretching back to 1370, the palace was built in the 1720s.
The
Barrow of Björn IronsideBjörn Ironside was a legendary Swedish king who would have lived sometime in the 9th century...
on
MunsöMunsö is a village and a former island in Ekerö Municipality, Sweden. Because of post-glacial rebound, this island in Lake Mälaren is now connected to the island Ekerö.The village has a 12th-century round church....
Island is part of the
Iron AgeIn archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
grave field Munsö-Husby. On Munsö is also
Munsö Church, one of three
round churchA round church is a special type of church construction, having a completely circular plan. Round churches are often found in Sweden and Denmark and were popular church constructions in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centuries.An example of a Swedish round church is Hedvig Eleonora Church...
es in the Stockholm area. Probably built in 1187, it contains several medieval wooden sculptures.
Nature
There are several outdoor activities that can be enjoyed, such as fishing and bicycling, as the nature is always nearby. Each of the islands also offers distinctive experiences and sights.
Public transport
Ekerö is served by the
Stockholm public transport systemPublic transport in Stockholm consists of bus, metro, regional/suburban rail, light rail, tram and archipelago boat operation in Stockholm County, Sweden. The bus and rail is organized by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik , SL, which is owned by the Stockholm County Council...
. All bus routes have connection with the
Stockholm metroThe Stockholm Metro is the metro system in Stockholm, Sweden. The system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are subterranean and 53 are above ground stations. There are seven lines numbered from 10 to 19, in three groups identified by a colour: the Green, Red and Blue Lines...
at Brommaplan.
Roads
The county road 261 offers connection to motorists from Brommaplan and other western suburbs of Stockholm. There is only one bridge connecting the municipality with the mainland, but there is also a car ferry taking motorists to
Botkyrka MunicipalityBotkyrka Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba....
south-west of Stockholm.
External links