Åtvidaberg Municipality (''Åtvidabergs kommun'') is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Östergötland County Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or ''län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the n ...

in southeastern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Its seat is located in the town of

Åtvidaberg Åtvidaberg is a locality and the seat of Åtvidaberg Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,859 inhabitants in 2010. History Copper was mined in the area from the 14th century, and the name "Åtvidaberg" was originally the name of ...

, with some 7,000 inhabitants. The present municipality was established in 1971 when the market town (''

köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Munici ...

'') of ''Åtvidaberg'' (instituted in 1947) was amalgamated with its surrounding rural municipalities. A part of the present territory was transferred from

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg, Jönköping, Blekinge and Östergötland. To the east in the Baltic Sea is the island Gotland. The counties are mainly administrative units. Geo ...

Localities

*Berg *

Björsäter Björsäter is a locality situated in Åtvidaberg Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the K ...

*Falerum *Grebo *

(seat) *Fröjerum

Notability

The ''Åtvidabergs Vagnfabrik'' (Wagon Factory), was founded in 1910 and constructed early cars. A total of 12 cars were made. They resembled the American

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

with large wheels. The Åtvidaberg church "Stora Kyrkan" ("the Big Church") was built in the 1870s in

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. The remains of a 17th-century church were also of interest. It was rebuilt and is now functioning as a church again, "Gamla Kyrkan" ("the Old Church"). At the end of the 19th century almost one third of the population of Åtvidaberg Municipality in Sweden emigrated to

Ishpeming, Michigan Ishpeming ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,470 at the 2010 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as copper mines in the Åtvidaberg area closed down. In 1994 this was commemorated by a plaquette at the Mormorsgruvan mine of Åtvidaberg.

References

External links

*
Åtvidaberg Municipality
- Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Atvidaberg Municipality Municipalities of Östergötland County