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Vaxholm is a town in the Stockholm archipelago
Stockholm archipelago

The Stockholm Archipelago is the biggest archipelago of Sweden, and one of the biggest archipelagos of the Baltic sea....
 in central Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
. It has 4,887 inhabitants and is the seat of Vaxholm Municipality
Vaxholm Municipality

Vaxholm Municipality is a municipalities of Sweden within Stockholm archipelago in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The municipal slogan is "Vaxholm – the capital of the archipelago", due to its central location in the archipelago....
.

Vaxholm is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city. According to Statistics Sweden
Statistics Sweden

Statistics Sweden, or Statistiska centralbyr?n , is the Government agencies in Sweden responsible for producing official statistics on Sweden....
, however, only localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants are counted as cities. Furthermore Vaxholm Municipality prefers to use the designation Vaxholms stad (City of Vaxholm) for its whole territory, including 64 islets in the Stockholm archipelago
Stockholm archipelago

The Stockholm Archipelago is the biggest archipelago of Sweden, and one of the biggest archipelagos of the Baltic sea....
, a usage which is somehow confusing.

The name Vaxholm comes from Vaxholm Castle
Vaxholm Castle

Vaxholm Castle sits on an island just east of the Sweden village of Vaxholm.The Castle was originally constructed by Gustav Vasa in 1544 to defend Stockholm against shipborne attacks from the east, but most of the current structure dates from 1833-63....
, which was constructed in 1549 on an islet with this name on the inlet to Stockholm, for defense purposes, by King Gustav Vasa.

The town Vaxholm was established in 1558, when King Gustav Vasa bought some farms from Count Per Brahe (the elder)
Per Brahe (the elder)

Per Brahe the elder was a Swedish statesman.Brahe was the nephew of King Gustavus Vasa and was among the first members of the Swedish nobility to be created a count when titles of nobility were introduced by King Eric XIV of Sweden on the occasion of his coronation in 1561....
.






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Vaxholm is a town in the Stockholm archipelago
Stockholm archipelago

The Stockholm Archipelago is the biggest archipelago of Sweden, and one of the biggest archipelagos of the Baltic sea....
 in central Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
. It has 4,887 inhabitants and is the seat of Vaxholm Municipality
Vaxholm Municipality

Vaxholm Municipality is a municipalities of Sweden within Stockholm archipelago in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The municipal slogan is "Vaxholm – the capital of the archipelago", due to its central location in the archipelago....
.

Vaxholm is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city. According to Statistics Sweden
Statistics Sweden

Statistics Sweden, or Statistiska centralbyr?n , is the Government agencies in Sweden responsible for producing official statistics on Sweden....
, however, only localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants are counted as cities. Furthermore Vaxholm Municipality prefers to use the designation Vaxholms stad (City of Vaxholm) for its whole territory, including 64 islets in the Stockholm archipelago
Stockholm archipelago

The Stockholm Archipelago is the biggest archipelago of Sweden, and one of the biggest archipelagos of the Baltic sea....
, a usage which is somehow confusing.

The name Vaxholm comes from Vaxholm Castle
Vaxholm Castle

Vaxholm Castle sits on an island just east of the Sweden village of Vaxholm.The Castle was originally constructed by Gustav Vasa in 1544 to defend Stockholm against shipborne attacks from the east, but most of the current structure dates from 1833-63....
, which was constructed in 1549 on an islet with this name on the inlet to Stockholm, for defense purposes, by King Gustav Vasa.

The town Vaxholm was established in 1558, when King Gustav Vasa bought some farms from Count Per Brahe (the elder)
Per Brahe (the elder)

Per Brahe the elder was a Swedish statesman.Brahe was the nephew of King Gustavus Vasa and was among the first members of the Swedish nobility to be created a count when titles of nobility were introduced by King Eric XIV of Sweden on the occasion of his coronation in 1561....
. It later received rights as a merchant town (köping
Köping

This article deals with the Swedish denomination for a market town. For the city, see K?ping, Sweden. For the municipality, see K?ping Municipality....
) and in 1652 was granted the Royal Charter
Royal Charter

A royal charter is a charter granted by a Monarch to create institutions or other forms of incorporated bodies . In the United Kingdom legal tradition a royal charter is in the form of letters patent....
. The designated coat of arms reminds of the fortifications as well as shipping industry.

During the 19th century, it hardly expanded. In the 1880s, it became a popular spa town, and many wooded summer houses were built by people from Stockholm
Stockholm

is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish Government of Sweden, the Parliament of Sweden, and the official residence of the Swedish Monarchy of Sweden....
.

Not until 1912 was it allowed to build houses from materials other than wood, giving the town a distinctive character.

Population figures

  • 1762: circa 600
  • 1810: 987
  • 1815: 1,077
  • 1840: 921
  • 1917: 3,322
  • 2006: 4,887


External links

  • - Official site
  • - Recent pictures of Vaxholm's surroundings
  • from Nordisk Familjebok
    Nordisk familjebok

    Nordisk familjebok is a Swedish language encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957.The first edition was published in 20 volumes between 1876 and 1899....