Brätte, originally known as Vassända, was a settlement on

Vänern Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in ...

's southernmost bay, now Lake Vassbotten; it was a predecessor of today's Vänersborg,

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 ...

Origins

It is unclear when Brätte was founded, but it was a commercial center in the early 1500s. The name Brätte was first mentioned in 1556. Its site was important because the

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

and waterfalls on the

Göta Älv Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to: *Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer *Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast Other uses *Göta, Sweden *Göta älv, a river in Sweden *G ...

at Rånnum (current

Vargön Vargön is a locality situated in Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 4,919 inhabitants in 2010. Vargön is noted for Vargön Alloys Vargön is a locality situated in Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland Count ...

) and Trollhättan barred navigation to shipping on Vänern and obliged traders to unload their cargoes here for

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

on the Edsvägen. In addition, roads connected to the then Norwegian

Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...

, Skara and Dalsland. Sometime between 1580 and 1587 Brätte was granted town privileges. During the Kalmar War (1611–1613), Nya Lödöse was taken by the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

and some of its population moved to nearby market towns, principally Brätte, whose population increased from 200 to 450. While Nya Lödöse was Danish, Brätte became Sweden's only place of shipment to the west until 1619 when

regained its lost areas in Älvsborg's second strike.

Decline

Brätte could not survive because militarily it occupied a poor location and the natural separation of Lake Vassbotten from the rest of Vänern prevented ships from reaching Brätte. There had already been attempts to move the town, both by Gustav Vasa in 1560 and by Eric XIV a few years later. The next attempt was made by Charles IX in 1610 after a fire destroyed six of the town's 22 houses. The intended location was privately owned, however, but in 1641 an agreement enabled the acquisition of the estate. Brätte's residents were now able to establish their new city and on February 1, 1644, Queen Christina granted regency privileges for Vänersborg. The last inhabitants left Brätte in 1647.

Excavations

Archaeological excavations were made in 1918 and 1943 and the remains of the city are now visible. Many of the finds can be seen in the Vänersborg Museum, where a model (by Soren Elmqvist) depicts Brätte as it was in the early 1600s. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bratte Former populated places in Sweden Vänersborg Municipality