Ydre Municipality (''Ydre kommun'') is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

Östergötland County Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the ...

, southeast Sweden. The municipal seat is located in the town of

Österbymo Österbymo is a locality and the seat of Ydre Municipality, Östergötland County Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southe ...

. The municipality was created through the local government reform of 1952, when six former entities were united. The name was taken from the old Ydre Hundred. Its area remained unchanged by the reform of 1971. The name Ydre, which was formerly applied to most of the area around Sommen, is interpreted to mean "place of

yews

Yew is a common name given ...

". Two localities in particular appear to be further associated with yews these are Idhult and Idebo.

Localities

There are 3

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

s (also called a tätort or locality) in Ydre Municipality. In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population as of December 31, 2005. The municipal seat is in bold characters. Other localities include Sund, Torpa, Norra Vi, Asby, Rönnäs, Svinhult and Ydrefors.

Climate and vegetation

Relative to other areas of southern Sweden Ydre stands out for its low precipitation and low humidity. The rainiest months of the years are September followed by July and August. Each of these months had a precipitation of c. 70 mm. The driest months are February and March, with 35 mm each. The hottest months are July, Juni and August averaging 14–15 °C. The coldest months are January and February with about -4 °C. The climate is expected to become warmer and drier in future. The

growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Wh ...

around Sommen is of about 216 days with 2614 degree days. The vegetation in Ydre is mostly dominated by

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ( taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the sub ...

forest. Broad-leaf forest and open agricultural fields can also be found at some locations. In particular the southern shores of lake Sommen contain more lush vegetation and broad-leaf forest than the northern side, which has more cliffs and contiguous pine forests. The rare and endangered flower '' Anthericum liliago'' can be found along the lake's rocky shores. This is one of the northernmost locales where it grows. In Torpön island grows Sweden's largest

wych elm ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches ...

and at Asby, a few kilometers from the southern shores grows Sweden's thickest

. The name Ydre, which was formerly applied to most of the area around Sommen, is interpreted to mean "place of

yews

Yew is a common name given ...

". One locality in particular appear to be further associated with yews this is Idebo along Norra Vifjärden. Some plants usually associated to

carbonate rock Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and dolomite rock (also known as doloston ...

areas appears as rarities near Sommen, since there are no known carbonate rock

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...

s in the area. The plants are ''

Vicia pisiformis ''Vicia pisiformis'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Fabaceae. Its native range is Europe to Western Siberia, and Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly ...

'' and the

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

'' Ophrys myoides'', '' Malaxis monophyllos'', '' Herminium monorchis''.

History

Trolls, jättar and Christianization

There are various tales of jättar and

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

s opposing the spread of Christianity in Ydre. Likely church building followed a tradition that "the king" should begin the building, and then the local populace finish it. This was later codified in Östgötalagen. It is not known when the first churches around the lake were built, for comparison the church in nearby Tidersrum was built in 1300 and Leonhard Fredrik Rääf assert the church in Sund was built in the 12th century.

Reformation and wars

Nils Dacke Nils Dacke (died 1543) was a Swedish yeoman who was the leader of a mid-16th century peasant revolt in the historic province of Småland in southern Sweden. The resulting Dacke War ( sv, Dackefejden) was fought against King Gustav I of Sweden ...

's and his army advanced north through Ydre in 1542, local priests from Sund and Asby, and the populace in general, welcomed the rebellion as they were rejected church reforms imposed on them by

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

. In particular, the priest of Sund and Norra Vi preached uprising. However local aristocrat Måns Johansson

Natt och Dag Natt och Dag (, literally "night and day") is a Swedish noble family and the oldest surviving family of pure Swedish extraction, with origins stretching back at least as far as the late thirteenth century. However, the actual name ''Natt och Dag' ...

who owned the manor of Ringshult sided with the king despite having a troublesome relation to him. He was put in charge of an army to suppress the rebellion. As Dacke's troops continued their advance north reaching as far as Mjölby the area around lake Sommen was spared from war. Skirmishes did occur near Kisa, tens of kilometers northeast of Sommen. Unrest in Ydre continued well after the death of Dacke and ended only after Gustav Vasa sent a force of 400 men to pacify the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

. Despite earlier defense of Catholicism at the

Uppsala Synod The Uppsala Synod in 1593 was the most important synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Sweden had gone through its Protestant Reformation and broken with Roman Catholicism in the 1520s, but an official confession of faith had never been declared. ...

in 1593 church representatives from Ydre voted to adopt the Lutheran creed.

Sights

At least two churches have

medieval 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 ...

foundation: The ''Church of Asby'' in Asby, and the ''Church of Torpa'' on the countryside. There is also an attractive church from the 18th century, ''Church of Norra Vi'', located just by the lake

Sommen Sommen () is a lake in the South Swedish highlands lying across the border of the provinces of Östergötland and Småland. Situated about 147 metres above mean sea level, the lake has an area of and has a maximum depth of 60 metres. The lake is s ...

. Another tourist attraction is Naturum Sommen in Torpön Island, a

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

and

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

Notes

References

Statistics Sweden

External links

Ydre Municipality
- Official site {{authority control Municipalities of Östergötland County