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Kristianstad
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Kristianstad (older spelling Christianstad) is a city in the province of Scania in southernmost Sweden and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Skåne County. It has 33,083 inhabitants (2005), less than half of the municipal total of 76,000.
History
The city was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV of Denmark as a planned city after the burning of the town of Vä and moving the city rights of the neighbouring town of Sölvesborg to the new town.
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Encyclopedia
Kristianstad (older spelling Christianstad) is a city in the province of Scania in southernmost Sweden and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Skåne County. It has 33,083 inhabitants (2005), less than half of the municipal total of 76,000.
History
The city was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV of Denmark as a planned city after the burning of the town of Vä and moving the city rights of the neighbouring town of Sölvesborg to the new town. The purpose of the town was to guard the eastern half of the Danish province of Scania against any future raids from Sweden, but also as a symbol of the power of Christian himself. One of these raids had sacked the nearby town of Væ in 1612. Væ then lost its charter and the people were moved to the new, better fortified city. The king also founded the town of Christianopel in eastern Blekinge to serve a similar purpose.
Construction of the towns was a great prestige project for the king, and Kristianstad's church (; ) is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful buildings constructed by King Christian IV, or even northern Europe's most beautiful Renaissance church. Also in Christianstad the townplanning of the Renaissance could be laid down for the first time at the foundation of the town. This makes the Kristianstad towncentre of today exceptionally well-kept and easy to get around in.
The city's coat of arms depicts two lions holding the King's crowned insignia, the monogram C4. The coat of arms was only slightly modified after the Swedish takeover following the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde in which the eastern third of Denmark was ceded to Sweden. The coat of arms is very similar to the coat of arms of the former town of Christianopel in eastern Blekinge, a town also founded by Christian IV. Since 1971, the coat of arms is used by Kristianstad Municipality.
The city served as capital of Kristianstad County between 1719 and 1997. It now houses the administration of the Skåne Regional Council. For a long time Kristianstad also was an important garrison town. One of Sweden's courts of appeal was located in Kristianstad before being moved to Malmö in 1917.
Geography
Sweden's lowest point, at 2.41 meters below mean sea level, is located in Kristianstad. Because of this, parts of the city have to be protected from flooding by a system of levees and water pumps. To expand the city, large areas of low-lying wetlands have had to be walled in. To prevent future flooding of the city center, the existing levees are in the process of being reinforced and new levees against both Helge å and Hammarsjön are under construction. An extensive system of ponds and dams is also under construction. The threat of flooding became substantial during late winter 2002, when the greater part of Tivoliparken was under water. However, the wetlands around the city are starting to be regarded more as an asset, not least thanks to the creation of the so called "Water kingdom" (Vattenriket).
The city is surrounded by the extensive Kristianstad plain. The only local peaks, Balsberget and Kjugekull, are located to the north and northeast (by Ivosjön), respectively. South of the city, by Ekenabben, lies a smaller area which sometimes is labelled as Sweden's only rain forest.
Industry
Absolut Vodka, owned by V&S Group, is produced by the town of Åhus located within the municipality. Kristianstad was the main military seat in Scania for a long time, boosting military camps and trainings. After the reforms and military cutbacks of the 1990s all of these have been closed.
Notable natives
- Johan Christopher Toll, soldier
- Bo Lundgren, politician
- Ann-Louise Hanson, singer
- Fredrik Böök, author
- Seved Malm, musician
- Åke Ohlmarks, writer
- Sixten Sparre, soldier
- Georg af Klercker, soldier
- Bror Erik Friberg, Judge of Assessment Court, New Zealand,1877
See also
Trivia
Kristianstad's coat of arms is one of the few coat of arms in the world depicting a foreign king's or queen's coat of arms. It is the coat of arms of King Christian IV of Denmark, the founder of the city.
The Swedish Film industry (Svensk Filmindustri) commenced its activities in Kristianstad in the 1910s, before moving to Stockholm in 1920.
Occasional mix-ups between Kristianstad and the Norwegian cities of Kristiansand and Kristiansund have been known to happen.
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