Uddevalla (old no, Oddevold) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the seat of

Uddevalla Municipality Uddevalla Municipality ( sv, Uddevalla kommun) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Uddevalla. The present municipality was created in 1971 when the ''City of Uddevalla'' (which had ...

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 ...

. In 2015, it had a population of 34 781. It is located at a bay of the south-eastern part of

Skagerrak The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea. The ...

. The beaches of Uddevalla are filled with seashells and Uddevalla has one of the largest

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

in the world. Uddevalla has a port and it once had a large shipyard, the ''Uddevallavarvet'' ("Uddevalla wharf"), which was the largest employer in

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 ...

during the 1960s. The 1970s

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

, that affected the Swedish shipyard industry severely, led to the closing of the wharf in 1985.

History

Uddevalla received its

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1498, but thought to have been a place of

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

long before that. Formerly, Uddevalla belonged to

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 its name today comes from the original Norwegian ''Oddevald'', which later turned into ''Oddevold''. Due to its close location to Sweden and

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 ...

, it was often besieged. In 1612, it was burnt down by Swedish troops led by Jesper Mattson Krus and in 1644, it was once again burnt down, this time by Swedish commander

Harald Stake Harald Stake (1598-1677) was a Swedish military commander. In his early life, he was in military service in the Low Countries. After returning to Sweden, he served with distinction during the Swedish wars 1630-1648 as an officer in the cavalry. I ...

. In 1658, it was ceded to Sweden at 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, ...

. The Norwegians recaptured the town a year later, and in 1660, it was once again ceded to Sweden at the peace treaty of Copenhagen. Later, Norway annexed Uddevalla and the nearby fortress on the ''Galleberg'' repeatedly, the last time in 1788. In the 18th and 19th century, Uddevalla's main source of income was

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

fishing. The town was also noted for the great fires that damaged the city on several occasions. The most devastating fire was in 1806, when the whole town burned to the ground. Only four houses were left untouched and 4,000 people became homeless. During the 19th century, Uddevalla had trouble getting out of its own recession; poverty and alcoholism were widespread among the population. The reasons were mainly the aftermath of the fire in 1806, the decrease in herring fishing and the opening of the

Trollhätte Canal The Trollhätte Canal ( sv, Trollhätte kanal) is a canal in Sweden. Trollhätte Canal connects the Göta river with the lake Vänern. The canal was opened in 1800. In 2004, the canal was proclaimed a national monument. The Trollhätte Canal and ...

. In 1870–80, Uddevalla began to attract new industries. Much of that development can be attributed to the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

businessman William Thorburn, who is said to have been amazed by the town's beauty and therefore settled down in Uddevalla with his wife Jessy Macfie in 1822. He founded a number of industries, starting mostly with textile companies. The building of a new

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, the

Bohus Line The Bohus Line ( sv, Bohusbanan) is a long railway line from Gothenburg via Uddevalla and Munkedal to Strömstad. The line is single track and electrified at . Bohus Line has seventeen stations; Strömstad, Skee, Överby, Tanum, Rabbalshede ...

, also contributed to the town's recovering economy. A prominent person in Uddevalla's history was

Ture Malmgren Ture Robert Ferdinand Malmgren (7 June 1851 – 3 August 1922) was a Swedish journalist, book publisher, and municipal politician. A prominent figure in his home Uddevalla, Malmgren became a colourful and well-known part of the city's history thro ...

, newspaper publisher and progressive liberal politician. During the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

, Uddevalla was one of twelve Swedish towns to host matches, which were played at the

Rimnersvallen Rimnersvallen is a multi-use stadium in Uddevalla, Sweden. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 10,605 people. The ground was opened on 5 May 1923 and was then rebuilt for the 1958 World Cup for which the stadi ...

stadium.

21st century

After the Swedish shipyard crisis during the 1980s, resulting in the closing of the ''Uddevallavarvet'', Uddevalla suffered an economic setback. Over the thirty years following that, the town has recovered and the population is once again increasing, slowly but steadily.

Education

All the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s in Uddevalla are administered as one school, the ''Uddevalla Gymnasieskola'' ("Uddevalla High School"), which is now the largest

in Sweden. The school has 4,000 students attending the following branches of the high school: * Agneberg – Social studies * Sinclair (High school) –

The arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

and

Media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

* Östrabo 1 –

Science studies Science studies is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in broad social, historical, and philosophical contexts. It uses various methods to analyze the production, representation an ...

* Östrabo Y – Heavy industry schooling * Margretegärde – Social studies and

There are also many primary schools in Uddevalla, some of them are: * Äsperödskolan * Västerskolan * Fridaskolan * Ramnerödsskolan * Norgårdenskolan * Norrskolan * Sommarhemsskolan

Sports

Arenas

Agnebergshallen is an indoor sports arena for various sports including

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

. The

home ground In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a team sport. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sch ...

for the

IK Oddevold IK Oddevold is a Swedish football club located in Uddevalla, the name "Oddevold" being an older form of Uddevalla. The club, formed on 3 July 1932, currently plays in Sweden's third-flight league, Division 1. They play most of their home games ...

is the outdoor arena

. A large indoor arena, the Rimnershallen, is next to the Rimnersvallen. It is used for

and

floorball Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...

as well as other sports.

Sports clubs

The following sports clubs are located in Uddevalla:

Football

IFK Uddevalla IFK Uddevalla is a Swedish football club located in Uddevalla and played two seasons in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan, in 1925–26 and 1926–27. Background Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Uddevalla were formed on 19 May 1905 and i ...

* IFK Lane * Herrestad AIF * IK Rössö *IK Svane * Rosseröds IK

Futsal

* IFK Uddevalla Futsal Swedish Championship gold season 2016/2017. * IK Oddevold Futsal

Twin towns – sister cities

Uddevalla is twinned with: *

Jõhvi Jõhvi is a town in northeastern Estonia, and the administrative centre of the Ida-Viru County. The town is also an administrative centre of Jõhvi Parish. It is situated about 50 km west of the Estonia–Russia international border. ...

, Estonia *

Loimaa Loimaa (; historical sv, Loimijoki) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is ...

, Finland *

Mosfellsbær Mosfellsbær (, colloquially Mosó) is a town in south-west Iceland, east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The town of Mosfellsbær is a 15-minute drive from midtown Reykjavík. The district includes the Leiruvogur cove, which forms part of ...

, Iceland *

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom * Okazaki, Japan *

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

, Norway *

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Fjällhyddan Fjällhyddan (English: the Mountain Hut), also known as Jakthyddan (English: the Hunting Hut) and other variants of that name, was a building constructed in Uddevalla, Sweden, during the late 19th century. It was created by Ture Malmgren (1851–1 ...

Tureborg Castle Tureborg Castle is a faux-medieval castle located in Uddevalla Municipality, Sweden, it sits atop a hill overlooking the neighbourhood of Tureborg . It was constructed during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Today a ruin after a ...

Ture Valleys Ture Valleys or Ture's Valleys ( sv, Ture dalar and ''Tures dalar'') is a nature reserve in the town of Uddevalla, Sweden. Located by the foot of the mountain Fjällsätern, on which Tureborg Castle stands, close to the Tureborg district, the ...

Jeanna Oterdahl Jeanna Louise Oterdahl (9 August 1879, in Uddevalla, Sweden – 25 July 1965) was a Swedish educator, author and poet. She was educated at the Högre lärarinneseminariet The Royal Seminary, fully the Royal Advanced Female Teachers' Semina ...

Eastern Cemetery Eastern Cemetery is a historic cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Congress Street in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, it is the city's oldest historic site, and has more than 4,000 marked ...

Uddevalla Suffrage Association The Uddevalla Suffrage Association ( sv, Uddevalla Rösträttsförening) was a late-19th-century political movement founded in Uddevalla, Sweden. Local historians and the Swedish Social Democratic Party consider it the first political predecessor ...

References

;Bibliography * *

Nationalencyklopedin ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 19 ...

External links

Article Uddevalla, from NF

Uddevalla Gymnasieskola
Official site for Uddevalla Gymnasieskola
Official website of Uddevalla
{{Authority control Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Uddevalla Municipality Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Former Norwegian towns Cities in Västra Götaland County