The history of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborg) begins with the foundation of the city in 1621, although by that time people had already been living in the area for thousands of years, since the

Neolithic Period The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

, and moreover there had already been a series of earlier settlements on the lower

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 ...

, including one which also bore the name Gothenburg. The Göta Älv has been of crucial importance throughout Swedish history as the country's only direct outlet to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, and thus to the wider world beyond the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. However, for many centuries the borders with

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

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 ...

and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...

ran right up to the river mouth, making Swedish settlements in the area extremely vulnerable to attack. The threat was significantly reduced by the conquests of both Bohuslän and Halland in the mid-seventeenth century, which gave Gothenburg the security to expand into Sweden's largest

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

and one of its main industrial centres.

Prehistory

The southwestern coast of the

Scandinavian peninsula The Scandinavian Peninsula ( sv, Skandinaviska halvön; no, Den skandinaviske halvøy (Bokmål) or nn, Den skandinaviske halvøya; fi, Skandinavian niemimaa) is a peninsula located in Northern Europe, which roughly comprises the mainlands ...

has been inhabited for several thousand years. During the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

, there was a settlement at , close to the mouth of the Göta Älv, which gives its name to the wider that flourished in southwest Scandinavia during the period 8400-6000 BC.Burenhult, G. 1999. ''Arkeologi i norden, del 1.'' Natur och Kultur. Stockholm. Sidan 200 There are eleven

rock carving A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s in the Gothenburg area. When the Kingdoms of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

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 ...

came into being in the late

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

, it appears that the entire western coastline of Scandinavia was claimed by Norway and Denmark, with the Göta Älv marking the frontier between the two kingdoms. However, during the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

the Swedes seem to have conquered or otherwise taken control of a sliver of land on the south bank of the Göta Älv, as well as a foothold on the southern side of

Hisingen Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of tha ...

island, and thereby secured access to the

for the first time. It is not clear exactly when this territorial acquisition occurred, but it was probably in the mid-

thirteenth century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 ( MCCI) through December 31, 1300 ( MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Eu ...

Predecessors of Gothenburg

Lödöse

The earliest predecessor of present-day Gothenburg was the town of

Lödöse Lödöse (), also known as Gamla Lödöse is a locality situated in Lilla Edet Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg and is considered the precursor to modern-day Gothenburg. Gamla ...

, located 40 kilometres upstream from the present city, on the east bank of the

. The town first emerged in the late

and became a flourishing trade centre during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. One of the earliest attestations of the name Lödöse is from the 1260 will of a certain Margareta Persdotter, in which the town is referred to as 'claustro lydosiensi'. Lödöse is also mentioned several times in the

Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...

Sturla Þórðarson Sturla Þórðarson ( ; ; 29 July 1214–30 July 1284) was an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century. Biography The life of Sturla Þórðarson was chronicled in the Sturlunga saga. Sturla was th ...

's ''

Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and style ...

'' incorporates a

skaldic verse A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

mentioning Lödöse in connection with a meeting at the town between the Norwegian prince Hákon the Younger and the Swedish ruler

Birger jarl Birger Jarl, also known as ''Birger Magnusson'' (21 October 1266), was a Swedish statesman, ''jarl'', and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, whi ...

in 1249. The verse ran, loosely translated: Lödöse had a major disadvantage in that it was located upstream of the Norwegian fortress at

Bohus Bohus Fortress (also known as ''Baahus'' or ''Båhus'', originally: ''Bágahús'') lies along the old Norwegian–Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches ( north ...

, which meant that in times of war the

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

there could interfere with river traffic between Lödöse and the sea. This was not an issue for much of the Middle Ages, as wars between Sweden and Norway were generally infrequent and short during this period. However, from 1448 onward Sweden was embroiled in frequent wars with Denmark-Norway, which seriously hampered Lödöse's ability to trade with the outside world.

Nya Lödöse

In 1473, the Swedish regent

Sten Sture the Elder Sten Sture the Elder ( sv, Sten Sture den äldre; 1440 – 14 December 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden from 1470–1497 and 1501–1503. As the leader of the victorious Swedish separatist forces against the royal unionist for ...

tried to establish an alternative settlement downstream of Bohus, at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the river with the Göta Älv, in order to prevent the fortress from interfering with Swedish trade. Formally it was known as ''Göthaholm'', but it soon came to be called "New Lödöse" ( sv, Nya Lödöse), as many of the first inhabitants were former citizens of (Old) Lödöse. However, the new location (in what is now the

Gamlestaden Gamlestaden is an urban district in Gothenburg, Sweden. The district has 7273 inhabitants (2009).sacked, notably in December 1507 by Henrik Krummedige.

Älvsborg Town

Älvsborg Castle Älvsborg or Elfsborg may refer to: Military Fortresses *Old Älvsborg, a ruined mediaeval castle on the Göta River in Gothenburg, Sweden * New Älvsborg, a sea fort on the island of Kyrkogårdsholmen in Gothenburg, Sweden *Älvsborg Fortress, a ...

had originally been built in the 1360s at the mouth of the Göta Älv. In November 1545, King Gustav I decided to relocate Nya Lödöse to a site directly adjacent to the castle so that the town could benefit from its protection. The relocation of the townspeople was effected in summer 1547, and on 30 July of the same year the new town is attested in documents for the first time, with the name "Älvsborg Town" ( sv, Älvsborgs Stad). However, in 1563, at the outbreak of the

Northern Seven Years War The Northern Seven Years' War (also known as the ''Nordic Seven Years' War'', the ''First Northern War'' or the ''Seven Years War in Scandinavia'') was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611), Kingdom of Sweden and a coalition of Denm ...

, a Danish army attacked Älvsborg, captured the castle and razed Älvsborg Town.

The Gothenburg of Charles IX

In 1607 Gustav's son, King Charles IX, founded a new settlement directly across the Göta Älv from Älvsborg, on the south side of the island of

, in what is now the district of . It was named ''Göteborg'' (Gothenburg), and was the first settlement to bear this name. Charles's Gothenburg was almost wholly inhabited by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

merchants and immigrants, and

was the official language within the town. The settlers were attracted to Sweden with the promise of free trade and

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

. They enjoyed privileges such as 20 years of tax exemption and lowered customs rates. In return, Sweden and the west coast could benefit of the skills and trade connections of the Dutch. However, Gothenburg proved to be just as vulnerable to Danish-Norwegian attacks as its predecessors at Nya Lödöse and Älvsborg Town, indeed arguably even more so, as part of Hisingen () was in fact Norwegian territory at this time. Soon after the outbreak of the

Kalmar War The Kalmar War (1611–1613) was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. Though Denmark-Norway soon gained the upper hand, it was unable to defeat Sweden entirely. The Kalmar War was the last time Denmark-Norway successfully defended its ''dom ...

, on 12 June 1611, the town was attacked and burnt by a Danish-Norwegian force.

Foundation of Gothenburg

In 1621, King Gustav II Adolf, the son and successor of Charles IX, decided to make yet another attempt at founding a city on the Göta Älv. According to legend, the king was searching for a suitable location when suddenly a

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

fleeing from an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

landed at his feet, seeking shelter. Gustav took this as a sign from God and declared, ''Här skall staden ligga!'' ('Here shall the city lie!'). In order to ensure the new settlement did not suffer the same fate as its predecessors, it was provided with a substantial network of fortifications, later augmented by the twin fortresses of

Skansen Kronan Skansen Kronan ("the Crown Sconce") is a redoubt on the hill Risåsberget, in the Haga district of Gothenburg, Sweden. The fortress and its twin, Skansen Lejonet, were built to protect the city of Gothenburg against possible Danish attack, a ...

and

Skansen Lejonet Skansen Lejonet ("the Lion Sconce"), formally Westgötha Leijon ("the Westrogothic Lion"), is a redoubt on the hill Gullberg in Gothenburg, Sweden, built in 1687-92 on the site of an earlier medieval castle. It was decommissioned in 1822 and ...

. As at Charles IX's Gothenburg, the majority of the initial inhabitants of Gustav Adolf's Gothenburg were immigrants, and above all from the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. Indeed, the initial city council comprised ten Dutchmen, seven Swedes and one Scot. Dutch builders were contracted to plan the new city and construct its fortifications, in part because of their expertise in building on marshland. In order to drain the swampy ground and provide access for shipping, Gothenburg was given a network of

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s, akin to those of Dutch cities like

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and indeed it appears the plans for the canal network were modelled on those used for the recent Dutch colonial settlement of

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

(modern

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). The Dutch influence over Gothenburg in its early decades was so strong that it was sometimes regarded as a Dutch

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

on Swedish soil; for example one contemporary writer described it as, ''Gotheburg ab Hollandis aliisque Belgis incolitur'' ('Gothenburg, inhabited by Hollanders and other Belgians') Suecia 3-037 ; Göteborg

Over time, however, more and more native Swedes started to move to the city, and they soon represented a majority of the population. This demographic shift is reflected by the fact that the city council became homogeneously Swedish after 1652, when the last Dutch councillor died.Henriksson, Dick and Älveby, Rustan. (1994). ''Vårt Levebröd - Göteborgregionens näringsliv Igår, I dag och I morgon''. Publisher: Akademiförlaget. Page 5. . During these first few decades of its existence, Gothenburg also acquired a

fire brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

, which, having been founded in July 1639, is generally reckoned to be the oldest fire brigade in Sweden. Under the

Treaty of Roskilde The Treaty of Roskilde (concluded on 26 February ( OS), or 8 March 1658) ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde. After a devastating defeat, ...

(1658),

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...

ceded the Danish province of

and the Norwegian province of ''

'' to Sweden, thereby moving the frontiers with both Denmark and Norway away from the Göta Älv and leaving Gothenburg in a much less exposed position. The city was subsequently able to grow into an important port, in part due to the fact that it was one of only two ports on the Swedish west coast (the other being

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histori ...

), which was granted the right to trade with merchants from other countries.

Early modern Gothenburg

During the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

, Gothenburg became the base for

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s attacking Danish-Norwegian shipping, the most famous of these being

Lars Gathenhielm Lars Gathenhielm (originally Lars Andersson Gathe; 1689–1718) was a Swedish sea captain, commander, shipowner merchant, and privateer. Biography Lars Gathenhielm was born on the Gatan estate in Onsala Parish in Halland. His parents were th ...

, known as ''Lasse I Gatan''. The Danish-Norwegians had their own naval hero in the form of the charismatic Norwegian captain

Peder Tordenskjold Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the ran ...

, who attacked Gothenburg and the network of fortresses surrounding it on several occasions during the years 1717-9, At the beginning of the

eighteenth century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

was Gothenburg's primary industry, but over the course of the next few decades it came to be eclipsed by trade. In 1731 the

Swedish East India Company The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...

was founded in Gothenburg, and the city flourished due to its highly profitable commercial expeditions to Asian countries. One of the Company's ships was the ''Götheborg'', which was wrecked in the

Gothenburg Archipelago The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern archipelagoes. The southern archipelago is part of Gothenburg municipality located in the province of Västergötland while the northern archipelago is Öck ...

in 1745, on its return from a voyage to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. A replica of the ''Götheborg'' was built in 1995-2005 and is now a major tourist attraction. The harbour developed into Sweden's main harbour for trade towards the west, and was the main port of departure for Swedish emigrants to North America. This history is reflected by the foundation of the House of the Emigrants (''Emigranternas Hus'') museum in the city in 2004. The impact of Gothenburg as a main port of embarkation for Swedish emigrants is reflected by

Gothenburg, Nebraska Gothenburg is a city in Dawson County, Nebraska, Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lexington, Nebraska Lexington micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,574 at the 2010 United States Census, 20 ...

, a small Swedish settlement in the United States.

Modern Gothenburg

With the 19th century, Gothenburg evolved into a modern industrial city that continued on into the 20th century. The population increased tenfold in the century, from 13,000 (1800) to 130,000 (1900). In the 20th century, major companies that developed included

SKF AB SKF (Swedish: ''Svenska Kullagerfabriken''; 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and l ...

(est. 1907) and

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

(est. 1926). In more recent years however, the industrial section has faced a recession, which has spurred the development of new sectors such as increased merchandising, tourism and cultural and educational institutions. The city acquired a

mass transit system Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

in 1902, in the form of a network of electric trams. Gothenburg was one of only two Swedish cities (the other being

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

) to retain its trams after the

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

driving on the right Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

in 1967, and as such the city has become particularly associated with this form of public transport in the Swedish imagination, even though several other cities have created new tram networks in the decades since. In June 2001, major protests occurred in the city during the EU summit and the visit by US president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...