Jönköping is a
cityUrban area is a common English translation of the Swedish term tätort. The official term in English, used by Statistics Sweden, is, however, locality. There are 1,940 localities in Sweden . They could be compared with census-designated places in the United States.A tätort in Sweden has a minimum of...
in
Småland' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small lands...
in southern
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
with 84,423 inhabitants in 2005. It is the 9th most populous city of Sweden.
The city is the seat of
Jönköping MunicipalityJönköping Municipality is a municipality in Jönköping County, southern Sweden. The city Jönköping is the municipal seat. The municipality is situated by the southern end of lake Vättern.-Historical background:...
which has a population of 122,194 (2006), and also the seat of
Jönköping CountyJönköping County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The capital is Jönköping.- Provinces :...
which has a population of 331,539 (2006).
Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration.
Jönköping is a
cityUrban area is a common English translation of the Swedish term tätort. The official term in English, used by Statistics Sweden, is, however, locality. There are 1,940 localities in Sweden . They could be compared with census-designated places in the United States.A tätort in Sweden has a minimum of...
in
Småland' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small lands...
in southern
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
with 84,423 inhabitants in 2005. It is the 9th most populous city of Sweden.
The city is the seat of
Jönköping MunicipalityJönköping Municipality is a municipality in Jönköping County, southern Sweden. The city Jönköping is the municipal seat. The municipality is situated by the southern end of lake Vättern.-Historical background:...
which has a population of 122,194 (2006), and also the seat of
Jönköping CountyJönköping County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The capital is Jönköping.- Provinces :...
which has a population of 331,539 (2006).
Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration. It is also the seat of the Swedish Board of Agriculture
Geographically the town is situated by the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake,
VätternVättern is the second largest lake in Sweden, after Lake Vänern. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden to the southeast of Vänern pointing at the tip of Scandinavia.-Name:...
. With a sandy beach running through Jönköping, it is considered a very beautiful city. The original town Jönköping has grown together with
HuskvarnaHuskvarna constitutes the eastern part of Jönköping, the municipal seat of Jönköping Municipality, Sweden and has a population of about 21,500. The distance to central Jönköping is about 5 km....
and Norrahammar forming a contiguous urban area, since 1971 wholly in the same municipality.
History
Jönköping is an old trading center (
KöpingThis article deals with the Swedish denomination for a market town. For the city, see Köping, Sweden. For the municipality, see Köping Municipality.Köping was a Swedish denomination for a market town...
), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces
ÖstergötlandÖstergötland is a one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Ostrogothia.-Administration: The provinces of Sweden serve no...
and
Västergötland' is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On 18 May 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island
VisingsöVisingsö is an island in the southern half of the lake Vättern in Sweden.Visingsö lies 30 km north of the city Jönköping and 6 km west of Gränna from which two car ferries connects the island...
. In the name of the city "Jön-" is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", which was situated in the nowadays western part of the city, Talavid. This was the location of the first known settlement in the area. The second part of the name "-köping", as mentioned above, is an old word for a trading center or market place.
However, the geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to foreign attacks, mainly from the
DanesDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
, coming from the south with the river roads; at that time, the provinces of what is today southern Sweden — Scania,
Halland' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
and
Blekinge' is one of the provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Skåne and the Baltic Sea.Blekinge consists of 5 municipalities; Karlskrona, Ronneby, Karlshamn, Sölvesborg and Olofström....
— belonged to Denmark. Consequently, the city was plundered and burned several times, until a fortification was built in the 16th and 17th century.
Jönköping is known for its
matchA match is a consumable tool for lighting a fire in controlled circumstances on demand. Matches are readily available, being sold by tobacconists and many other kinds of shops. Matches are rarely sold singly; they are sold in multiples, packaged in match boxes or matchbooks...
stick industry 1845-1970. Still today it is an important Swedish logistical center, with many companies' central warehouses situated there (like
IKEAIKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world...
,
ElectroluxThe Electrolux Group is a Swedish manufacturer of home and professional appliances and is the second largest appliance manufacturer in the world. According to the company, it sells more than 40 million products to customers in 150 countries annually...
and
HusqvarnaHusqvarna was a military arsenal founded in 1689 to produce muskets for the Swedish Army.The companies have since grown and split and the brand is used by several companies...
).
Present
The urban area of Jönköping today includes the eastern industrial town of
HuskvarnaHuskvarna constitutes the eastern part of Jönköping, the municipal seat of Jönköping Municipality, Sweden and has a population of about 21,500. The distance to central Jönköping is about 5 km....
, with which it has grown together.
A major fair and exhibition center,
ElmiaElmia is a trade fair in Jönköping, Sweden. The building was built in 1961 for agriculture trade fairs later it expendad to also hold other trade fairs like boat and auto shows...
is also located in Jönköping, with fairs including Elmia Wood, the world’s largest forestry fair. Elmia’s fairs are also the biggest of their kind in Europe for subcontractors, trucks, caravans and railways. Since 2002, Elmia has also been the site of the world's largest
LAN partyA LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people with computers, between which they establish a local area network , primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. The size of these networks may vary from the very small to very large installations...
,
DreamHackDreamHack is a LAN party, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record for the...
.
Notable natives
- Lillian Asplund
Lillian Gertrud Asplund was one of the last living survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.-Early life:...
, survivor of the RMS TitanicThe RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by British shipping company White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom...
sinking
- John Bauer
John Bauer was a Swedish painter and illustrator best known for his illustrations of Bland tomtar och troll...
, illustrator, painter
- Amy Diamond
Amy Diamond is a Swedish/English pop singer. She is known for her debut single "What's in It for Me" which was released when she was 12 years old. The song was a 2005 hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. It was the most-played song in Poland that year; it remained in the top ten for four...
, singer
- Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Fältskog is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter and record producer, most notable for having been a member of the popular Swedish pop group ABBA.-Biography:Agnetha Fältskog was born in Jönköping, Småland, Sweden...
, ABBAABBA was a pop music group formed in Sweden in November 1970. The band consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad , Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog. They topped the charts worldwide from 1972 to 1982...
- Anders Gustafsson
Anders Gustafsson is a Swedish sprint kayaker who has competed since the mid 2000s. He won two silver medals at the 2009 ICF Canoe/Kayak Sprint World Championships, earning them in the K-1 500 m and the K-1 1000 m events....
, kayaker, olympian
- Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat and author and was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. He served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously....
, United Nations Secretary-GeneralThe Secretary-General of the United Nations, acronym UNSYG, is the head of the Secretariat, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
- Mona Johannesson
Mona Johannesson is a Swedish model.Johannesson was discovered at the age of 14 by an IMG Models scout while she was at a horse trials event in Gothenburg, Sweden. She modeled only part time until she finished school. Once she finished her education, she moved to London...
, model
- Sven-Olof Karlsson, former CEO of Jonkoping County Council, advocate of the Esther Project, leader of one of the top five models of health care sysytem transformation ranked best in the world, dynamic public speaker.
- Fredrik Neij
Hans Fredrik Lennart Neij , a.k.a. TiAMO, is a co-founder of The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent index site and tracker. He also owns the web host PRQ, which previously hosted The Pirate Bay....
, Founder of The Pirate BayThe Pirate Bay is a Swedish website that indexes and tracks BitTorrent files. It bills itself as "the world's largest BitTorrent tracker" and is ranked as the 104th most popular website by Alexa Internet. The website is primarily funded with advertisements shown next to torrent listings...
BitTorrent-tracker.
- Nina Persson
is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish pop group The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and appearing on the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited...
, The CardigansThe Cardigans is a Swedish band formed in the town of Jönköping in 1992. The band's musical style has varied greatly from album to album and encompasses their early indie leanings passing through '60s-inspired pop and more band-based rock....
- Sofia Paldanius
Sofia Paldanius is a Swedish sprint canoer who has competed since the mid 2000s. She won three bronze medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships ....
, kayaker, olympian
- Johan Björnsson Printz
Johan Björnsson Printz was governor from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River in North America.-Background:...
, governor of the Swedish colony of New SwedenNew Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. It was centered at Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, and included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Along with Swedes...
- Viktor Rydberg
Abraham Viktor Rydberg was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877-1895...
, author
- Emil Svanängen, of indie pop band Loney, Dear
Loney dear is the pseudonym of Swedish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emil Svanängen. He has self-released four albums of music in his native Sweden. His first major release came in February, 2007 in the U.S. when Sub Pop re-issued his latest album Loney, Noir.-History:Emil Svanängen...
- Swante M. Swenson
Swante M. Swenson was the founder of the SMS Ranches in West Texas.-Biography:Svante Magnus Svenson was born at Lättarp, Barkeryds Parish, Jönköping, Sweden. He migrated to America in 1836, where he worked in New York City before traveling to New Orleans and then to Galveston...
, Founder of the SMS RanchesThe SMS Ranches were a famous group of cattle ranches located in West Texas.-Background:Swante M. Swenson migrated to America from Sweden during 1836. In 1850 Swenson moved to Austin, Texas and established a mercantile business with his uncle Swante Palm...
in TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
.
- Carl Peter Thunberg
Carl Peter Thunberg was a Swedish naturalist. He has been called "the father of South African botany" and the "Japanese Linnaeus".-Early life:...
, botanist
Local Musicians
- Her Bright Skies (previously called Herbrightskies), a post-hardcore band that was named as 'The Pride of Jönköping' after releasing their first EP 'Beside Quiet Waters'
- I'm From Barcelona
I'm from Barcelona is a pop group from Jönköping, Sweden, best known for its 29 band members and eclectic mix of instruments such as clarinets, saxophones, flutes, trumpets, banjos, accordions, kazoos, guitars, drums, and keyboards among others...
, a 29-piece indie popIndie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s such as Orange Juice and Josef K and the dominant UK independent band of the mid eighties, The Smiths...
band
- The Motorhomes
The Motorhomes was a Swedish rockband from Jönköping that was created in 1997. They released two albums: Songs For Me and The Long Distance Runner ....
, a rockband
Education
- Jönköping University Foundation
- Jönköping International Business School
Jönköping International Business School or Internationella Handelshögskolan is a business school with a strong focus on studies in entrepreneurship, SME and family businesses, and business renewal...
(Internationella Handelshögskolan)
- Jönköping School of Education and Communication (Högskolan för lärarutbildning och kommunikation)
- Jönköping School of Engineering
Jönköping School of Engineering is one of four schools which form Jönköping University. The School of Engineering was established in 1994 but has originally a history that dates back to 1975...
(Jönköpings tekniska högskola)
- Jönköping School of Health Sciences (Hälsohögskolan)
- Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola
Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola is a folk high school located in the town Jönköping, Sweden. In total it has around 300 students.The school offers a number of study programs in different fields: bible, journalism, graphic design and music. It has a program that will ensure a gymnasium diploma in...
- The Institute for Postgraduate Dental Education
Panorama of central Jönköping
Sport
- HV71
HV71, often commonly referred to as HV and internationally HV71 Jönköping, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish elite league Elitserien...
, ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
team in ElitserienElitserien, or the Swedish Elite League , as it is often unofficially called in English, is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden...
of ice hockey
- Jönköpings kanot klubb, successful kayak club both at national and international level
- JIK, floorball
Floorball, a type of floor hockey, is an indoor team sport which was developed in the 1970s. It is a fast paced sport, with limited physical contact allowed. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland...
team in Swedish Super LeagueSwedish Super League is the highest league in the league system of Swedish floorball and comprises the top 12 Swedish floorball teams. The first season began in 1995-96. The season ends with a play-off and a final.-History:...
- Jönköpings Södra IF
Jönköpings Södra IF is a Swedish semi-professional football club based in Jönköping. The club, founded on December 9, 1922, plays in Superettan, the second highest league in Sweden...
, football(soccer)team in SuperettanSuperettan is the second highest league in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 16 Swedish football teams. It was created in 2000. Before that, the second level league in Sweden had been Division 1....
(Second league of Sweden)
- Husqvarna FF
Husqvarna FF is a football club in Huskvarna, Sweden sponsored by the Husqvarna company.-Squad:...
, football(soccer)team in Division 1Division 1 Södra is one of two leagues in the third level, Division 1, in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 14 Swedish football teams. Division 1 Södra had status as one of the official second level leagues from 1987 to 1999, but was replaced by Superettan in 2000...
(Third league of Sweden)
- Jönköpings simsällskap (Jonkopings swimmingsociety), have Swedish champions in both swimming
The aquatic sport of swimming involves competition amongst participants to be the fastest over a given distance under self propulsion.The different events include 25, 50, 100, 200, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly, the 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 500, 800, 1000, 1500, and 1650 free and the 100,...
and divingDiving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
. There are also three other water disciplines in the club, lifeguarding, triathlonA triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, bike, and run components.Triathlon...
and synchronized swimmingSynchronized swimming is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, consisting of swimmers performing a synchronised routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music....
.
See also
- Jönköping Municipality
Jönköping Municipality is a municipality in Jönköping County, southern Sweden. The city Jönköping is the municipal seat. The municipality is situated by the southern end of lake Vättern.-Historical background:...
- Swedish National Board of Agriculture
The Swedish Board of Agriculture is a government agency in Sweden that answers to the Ministry of Agriculture. The agency headquarters is located in Jönköping....
- International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (2002, held in Jönköping)
External links