Mariestad () is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and the seat of Mariestad Municipality,

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

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 ...

. It had 16,611 inhabitants in 2019. Until 1997 it was the capital of the former

Skaraborg County Skaraborg County ( sv, Skaraborgs län ) was a county of Sweden from 1634 until 1997. It was disestablished at the end of 1997 when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus and Älvsborg to form Västra Götaland County. The count ...

and an

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

between 1583 and 1646.

History

The city was founded in 1583 by Duke Charles, who later became King

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl ( sv, Karl IX; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric X ...

. The city is named after the his wife Marie of Pfalz. The coat of arms for Mariestad, an ox stepping out of the water, is said to be what Marie of Pfalz saw by the bay of

Tidan Tidan is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Skövde Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 935 inhabitants in 2010. References

Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Skövde Municipali ...

in Mariestad when she first arrived there.

Diocese

Mariestad is one of two Swedish cities with a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

without a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

's seat, the other being

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

. For political reasons, the diocese of Mariestad was presided over by a

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

rather than a bishop from 1583 until 1646, when the superintendent was moved to

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

and the

diocese of Mariestad The Diocese of Mariestad ( sv, Mariestads stift) was a division of the Church of Sweden between 1583–1646. The diocese was never an episcopal see, as it was under the supervision of a superintendent rather than a bishop. Mariestad cathedral is th ...

was absorbed by that of

Skara Skara is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecc ...

Notable natives

Gustavus Schmidt Gustavus Schmidt (16 June 1795 – 20 September 1877) was an American lawyer and lecturer on Civil Law at the University of Louisiana. He was the author of a number of law books and also founded the predecessor of the School of Law at Tulane U ...

(1795–1877), American lawyer and lecturer *

Axel Lindahl Axel Theodor Lindahl (27 July 1841 – 11 December 1906) was a Swedish photographer notable for his early photography of Norwegian landscapes. Lindahl was born in Mariestad in southwestern Sweden. With his brother Udo he opened his own pho ...

(1841–1906), photographer *

Dag Wennlund Dag Bengt Wennlund (born 6 October 1963 in Mariestad, Västra Götaland) is a retired javelin thrower from Sweden, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympi ...

(born 1963), javelin thrower *

Evelyn Mok Evelyn Mok (born 29 November 1987) is a Swedish-born Chinese stand-up comedian and actress. Early life Mok was born in Sweden to a Chinese immigrant family. Her father came from British Hong Kong, and her mother is Chinese and grew up in India. ...

(born 1987), actress and comedian * Helena Andersson * Anni Dewani

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Mariestad: *

IFK Mariestad IFK Mariestad is a Swedish football team based in Mariestad currently playing in Division 3 Mellersta Götaland . Background IFK Mariestad was formed on the 18 December 1985 when the men's football section broke away from Mariestad Bois to for ...

Mariestads BK Mariestads BK is a Swedish football club located in Mariestad, currently playing in Division 5 Västergötland Norra. Background Mariestads Bollklubb was formed in July 1929 by Alla Lindqvist. The club name is often abbreviated as MBK or nicknam ...

* Mariestad BoIS HC * IBK Lockerud Mariestad

Climate

Mariestad has a

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

influenced by its position on lake

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 ...

and the relative proximity to the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. The town has warmer weather than elsewhere in western Sweden due to the influence of Vänern counterbalancing the low-pressure systems from further west. Mariestad is also shielded behind the archipelago and the peninsula to its west, which makes it warmer than areas further southwest on the lake shore. This leads to sunny summers with average afternoon temperatures being about . Summer nights are very mild by inland standards due to the lake influence. Winters are often mild with infrequent snow cover with the lake being large enough to provide further moderation of cold snaps compared to towns on the east coast like

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 ...

and

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

on the same latitude. Vänern often remains in a liquid state during winters due to mild temperatures.

References

Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Mariestad Municipality Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places established in 1583 {{VästraGötaland-geo-stub