Gränna () 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 ...

Jönköping Municipality Jönköping Municipality ( sv, Jönköpings kommun) is a municipality in Jönköping County, southern Sweden. The city of Jönköping is the municipal seat. The municipality is situated by the southern end of lake Vättern. Historical backgroun ...

Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in Sept ...

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 ...

with 2,665 inhabitants in 2018. Founded in 1652 by Count Per Brahe, it is in

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

on the eastern shores of the lake

Vättern Vättern ( , ) is the second largest lake by surface area in Sweden, after Vänern, and the sixth largest lake in Europe. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden, to the southeast of Vänern, pointing at the tip of ...

, about 40 km north of

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

. The town is at the foot of Gränna mountain and is characterized by its steep streets and old wooden houses. Up until the local government reform of 1971, Gränna and its immediate surroundings constituted a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

municipality of its own; since then it has become an integral part of

. Gränna is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a ''city''.

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsib ...

, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. Gränna is known for its red and white

polkagris Polkagris (plural: ''polkagrisar'') is a Swedish stick candy that was invented in 1859 by Amalia Eriksson in the town of Gränna, Sweden. It remains a well-known albeit old-fashioned candy in Sweden, often sold at fairs, Christmas markets, and t ...

(literally "polka pig" in Swedish) stick candy, also known as peppermint rock. This was first made by the widow

Amalia Eriksson Amalia Elisabeth Eriksson, née Lundström (25 November 1824 – 19 January 1923), was a Swedish businesswoman, known as the inventor of the '' Polkagris'', a type of candy stick known to have inspired the candy cane, which she invented in Gränna ...

in 1859.Gränna-Visingsö Turistbyrå
A statue of Amalia can now be seen in the park at the foot of Gränna mountain. The town is popular with tourists and is a connection point for the ferry service to the island

Visingsö Visingsö is an island in the southern half of Lake Vättern in Sweden. Visingsö lies north of the city Jönköping and west of Gränna from which two car ferries connect the island. The island is long and wide, with a total area of . Ac ...

. The balloonist

Salomon August Andrée Salomon August Andrée (18 October 1854, in Gränna, Småland – October 1897, in Kvitøya, Arctic Norway), during his lifetime most often known as S. A. Andrée, was a Swedish engineer, physicist, aeronaut and polar explorer who died while ...

, who died in an attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon, was born in Gränna. The Grenna Museum hosts an exhibition of the expedition together with a comprehensive collection of related objects and photos. Gränna harbour, Jönköping County, Sweden.jpg, Gränna harbour Grenna museum 2015 01.jpg, Local museum Granna kyrka View01.jpg, Church Lena Lervik Amalia Eriksson..JPG, Statue of

Gränna in popular culture

*When

Niklas Strömstedt Bo Anders Niklas Strömstedt (born 25 July 1958) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Early life Niklas Strömstedt was born on 25 July 1958 in Lund as the first child of Margareta (née Henriksson) and Bo St ...

wrote lyrics in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

for the musical '' Mamma Mia!'',

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

was replaced by "Gränna" as the place which the singer calls from in the lyrics of the song Super Trouper.

References

External links

Gränna-Visingsö Tourist InformationGrenna Museum - Andréexpedition Polarcenter
Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Jönköping Municipality {{Jönköping-geo-stub