Ronneby is a
locality and the seat of
Ronneby Municipality in
Blekinge County
Blekinge County ( sv, Blekinge län) is a county or '' län'' in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative counties ...
,
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 countries, Nordic c ...
with 12,029 inhabitants in 2010.
Ronneby is regarded as the heart of "the Garden of Sweden", and in 2005 the park "Brunnsparken" in Ronneby was voted Sweden's most beautiful park. 2006 the park was voted Europe's 4th most beautiful park. The church ''Heliga Kors kyrka'' was founded in the 12th century, modified and extended until the 15th century, and badly damaged during
Northern Seven Years' War in the 16th century.
History
The city's oldest surviving city privileges are from 1387. The first recorded spelling of the name (around the year 1300) is ''Rotnæby'', "the village upon the roaring (river)", so named because of the rapids on the spot. In 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 ...
, Ronneby was an important trading and shipping town.
In 1564, Ronneby was the location of a bloody battle during the
Northern Seven Years' War between the Swedish and the Danish armies during which the Swedes under King
Erik XIV besieged the city, killed many inhabitants (
Ronneby Bloodbath Ronneby Bloodbath ( Swedish: ''Ronneby blodbad'') was a massacre conducted by the Swedish army in the then-Danish city of Ronneby in Blekinge during the Northern Seven Years' War on Monday, 4 September 1564.
Campaign
During the Swedish invasion o ...
) and burnt it to the ground.
[Peterson, Gary Dean (2007): "Warrior Kings of Sweden. The Rise of an Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries." McFarland. p.55ff.] Erik later reported that "The Water was red from blood of the Danes." The number of victims was heavily exaggerated, for different propagandistic reasons, by both sides.
Following 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, ...
in 1658, whereby Blekinge and other southern provinces became Swedish, a navy base was built in
Karlskrona
Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to S ...
– east of Ronneby – which accordingly was granted city rights, while revoking the city rights of Ronneby.
But Ronneby did attract some industries in the 18th century. Besides the industry, it also hosted the Ronneby
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneo ...
, with water believed to have healing qualities. The park around the spa can still be visited. The first source of
chalybeate
Chalybeate () waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.
Name
The word ''chalybeate'' is derived from the Latin word for steel, , which follows from the Greek word . is the singular form of ...
(
ferruginous
The adjective ferruginous may mean:
* Containing iron, applied to water, oil, and other non-metals
* Having rust on the surface
* With the rust (color)
See also
* Ferrous, containing iron (for metals and alloys) or iron(II) cations
* Ferric, cont ...
) water was found in May 1705. But the high period of the spa was in the 19th century.
After a fire in 1864, Ronneby was rebuilt according to a check pattern, which is still the model of today. Ronneby finally regained its city title in 1882. From 1971 it is the seat of the larger
Ronneby Municipality.
In the 1970s, the local
diving
Diving most often refers to:
* Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water
* Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes
Diving or Dive may also refer to:
Sports
* Dive (American football), ...
club discovered a
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
off the coast of Ronneby that was eventually identified by archaeologists as ''
Gribshunden
''Gribshunden'' or ''Griffen'' (English: "Griffin-Hound" or "Griffin"), also known by several variant names including ''Gribshund'', ''Gripshunden'', ''Gripshund'', ''Griff'', and ''Griffone'', was a Danish warship, the flagship of John, King o ...
'', a 15th-century
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 ance ...
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and ...
.
The shipwreck is significant as one of the best-preserved wreckages from the
early modern period.
Arms
Ronneby did use a
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
with the letter R between a star and a crescent at least since 1542. In 1882, the arms were redesigned, with the R substituted with the Ronnebyå River. The same coat of arms is used today by the municipality.
Images
File:2006-06-12 7662 Ronneby Brunnspark.jpg, Rhododendron and lake in Brunnspark
File:Ronneby Munktrappan.jpg, Monks stairs with Heliga Kors kyrka in the background
File:Ronneby, Helga Korskyrkan, von Außen.JPG, Heliga Kors kyrka
File:HeligaKorsKyrkan_Ronneby.jpg, Heliga Kors kyrka, window
File:Ronneby, Helga Korskyrkan, zum Chor hin.JPG, Heliga Kors kyrka, view to chorus
File:Ronneby, Helga Korskyrkan, Chor und Altar.JPG, Heliga Kors kyrka, paintings
File:Ronneby, Helga Korskyrkan, Detail der Deckenmalerei im Chor.JPG, Heliga Kors kyrka, detail of paintings
Education
*
Knut Hahn Secondary School, a school aimed primarily at students in their late teens. It was completely renovated in 2004, at a cost of well over 100 million SEK (roughly US$16 million). It is funded and run by the
Ronneby Municipality. It features most of the national programmes, teaching arts, science, industrial work and economics among many other subjects. It has about 700 students.
*
Blekinge Institute of Technology (moved to
Karlskrona
Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to S ...
in August 2010)
Ronneby also has many schools for lower ages, all run by the municipality save for a secondary school which is run by a company, called Thoren Framtid.
Climate
Ronneby has an
oceanic 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 ...
(''Cfb''), similar to most of Southern Sweden. The climate is very similar to neighbouring city
Karlshamn, but has a somewhat higher rainfall and cooler nights throughout the year at the site located inside the premises of the local airport.
Sports
These are two of the more prominent sports clubs in Ronneby:
*
Ronneby BK, association football
*Fredriksbergs BK, bandy
Notable residents
*
Josefina Wettergrund (1830-1903), writer
*
Messiah Marcolin, vocalist best known for his work in the Swedish doom metal band Candlemass
See also
*
Ronneby, Minnesota
References
External links
*Collection o
Ronnebylinks
*
{{Authority control
Municipal seats of Blekinge County
Swedish municipal seats
Populated places in Ronneby Municipality
Market towns in Sweden