Vänortsparken (), is a park in central

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

Västerbotten County Västerbotten County (), sometimes called Westrobothnia, is a county or '' län'' in the north of Sweden. It shares the borders with the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

History

The park was constructed in 1858 on the initiative of the Umeå Garden Society (which was founded in 1851). However, the park was destroyed by a devastating town fire in 1888. It was rebuilt and it got its present shape and present name in 1985 after a major reconstruction. At that time a man-made stream in the eastern and northern parts was added to the greenery and paved and furnished spots were dedicated to the six

twin towns A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

of Umeå. These spots were decorated with artifacts that symbolize each town:

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

in Denmark,

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022. ...

in Russia,

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

in Norway,

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

in Germany and

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

in Canada.Facts about Vänortsparken (Swedish)
, retrieved 27 July 2014. Würzburg is spelled Wurtzburg in this reference. The sculpture ''Tellus'' by artist Ante Dahlstedt, is in the form of a globe with the location of the six twin towns marked. It was also raised in 1985 and it illustrates the twin town theme of the park. The park area is surrounded by lines of

Norway maple ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

. Other trees species are inter alia

Swiss pine ''Pinus cembra'', also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine, Arolla pine, Austrian stone pine, or just stone pine, is a species of pine tree in the subgenus ''Strobus''. Description The Swiss pine is a member of the white pine group, ''Pinu ...

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, Swiss mountain pine, bog pine, creeping pine, or mugo pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and So ...

, Alpine currant,

European ash ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of Fraxinus, ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus ...

and

horse-chestnut ''Aesculus hippocastanum'', the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. It is also called horse-chestnut, Europ ...

. There is also an Ornäs birch (Betula pendula 'Dalecarlica'), the Swedish

national tree This is a list of countries that have officially designated one or more trees as their national trees. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. Additionally, the list includes trees that we ...

, planted in 1985. ää Until 1925 the parl was the city's main football field. Older names of the area is Kyrktorget (Church Square) and Skolparken (School Park).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanortsparken, Umea Parks in Umeå 1858 establishments in Sweden 19th-century establishments in Västerbotten County