Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational

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 ...

at the mouth of the

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

river, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County. The city had a population of 70,480 in 2019, out of a municipal total of over 100,000 (19th most populous — 2019). Halmstad is Sweden's 19th-largest city by population and located about midway between

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

(the second most populous) and

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popul ...

(the third).

Timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

architecture is common.

History

Halmstad, at the time part of the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of metropolitan Denma ...

, received its first

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

in 1307, and the city celebrated its 700th anniversary in 2007. The oldest remains of that first town are to be found at " Övraby" upstream on Nissan, just south of and quite close to the present day regiment buildings. The remains of the church can still be seen today between a defunct brick industry and a former landfill. In the 1320s the town moved to the present day town centre. At this time there were two monasteries in the town and during the 15th century the St. Nikolai church was built. Halland was the object of numerous battles, sieges and occupations by Swedish troops. During the

Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union ( Danish, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under a single monarch the three kingdo ...

— a Nordic Union between Sweden,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

and Denmark which lasted between 1397 and 1523 – it was in Halmstad that the Union King was to be finally selected. At the end of the 16th century

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mona ...

ordered the fortification of Halmstad and in the beginning of the 17th century to build a crescent-shaped fort with Nissan as part of the defences. 1619 is an important date in the history of Halmstad. In March of that year, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden and Christian IV met at the castle. Over a period of a week they celebrated the payment in full of the Älvsborg ransom. August of the same year saw the destruction of Halmstad by fire. Halland became part of Sweden for a period of thirty years when peace was declared at the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645 and Danish rule ended. The Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 made this acquisition permanent. Sweden defeated Denmark in the Battle of Fyllebro which took place in 1676 just outside Halmstad. In 1678, a parliamentary meeting (

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

) was held in Halmstad. The Riksdag decided in 1734 that the city's fortifications would be demolished. Some residues of fortifications have been preserved, including one of the four city gates, Norre Port. For a period, the old fortifications were used for tobacco cultivation. The city's first major industry, Wallbergs Factory AB was built in 1823. The brewery Appeltofftska (now Krönleins) was founded in 1836 and brewery Östra Bryggeriet in 1846. AB Malcus Holmquist, also called Malcus, was formed in 1902. Nordiskafilt AB started in 1904 and Halmstads Järnverk in 1916. Lundgren's foundry started in 1917 and Waco in 1918. A large rebuilding of Halmstad's port was conducted in 1837—1840. The Halländska steamship company was formed in Halmstad in 1850 and started traffic between Gothenburg and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, which was soon expanded with several connections. The first railway line, Halmstad—Värnamo, opened in 1877. Halmstad was continually industrialized at the end of the 19th century. The city grew from 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants during the 1890s. Every year, 1,000 people moved to Halmstad and 800—900 moved away. Halmstad's first union was formed in 1885 by tailor workers. The first May Day demonstration in Sweden was held in Halmstad in 1897. After expanding in 1967, Halmstad become central town in 1971 in Halmstad's municipality.Sveriges kommunindelning 1863-1993 The population grew from 48,800 in 1990 to 58,577 in 2010.

Climate

Halmstad has the south Scandinavian variety of the relatively wet

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

('' Dfb'') with warm summers and cold winters, closely bordering on 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'').

Demographics

Education

Primary education

:''Some of these schools might also have secondary education''

Secondary education

* Kattegattgymnasiet * Sturegymnasiet * Sannarpsgymnasiet

Tertiary education

Founded in 1983, Halmstad University is a public higher education institution offering bachelor's and master's programs in various fields of study. In addition, it conducts Ph.D. programs in three fields of research: Information Technology, Innovation Science and Health Science.Swedish Universities & University Colleges - Short Version of Annual Report 2012
, p. 51 Halmstad University has more than 9 000 students, including 245 exchange students (2013) and 163 international programme students (2013).

Sport

Event host

In September 2007 the city hosted the

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force ...

, which was played at the Halmstad Golfklubb. In 2011 Halmstad was the final port of the

Tall Ships' Races The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and c ...

. Halmstad also hosted the

2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships were held in Halmstad, Sweden from 29 April to 6 May 2018. The quarterfinal between North Korea and South Korea in the women's tournament did not take place, as the teams choose to continue as a uni ...

Local sportsteams

*American Football **Halmstad Eagles *Association football ** Halmstads BK ** IS Halmia ** Alets IK ** BK Astrio ** IF Centern ** IF Leikin ** Snöstorp/Nyhem FF ** IS Örnia *Badminton **Halmstad Badmintonklubb *Bowling **BK 91:an Halmstad **BK Hallandia **BK Nyhem **BK Pantern **BK Safir **BS Tylön **Halmia BS **IF Tre Hjärtan **Team Halmstad BF *Dancing ** Laxbuggarna *Fencing ** Halmstads Fäktsällskap *Figure skating ** Halmstads konståkningsklubb *Golf ** Halmstad GK ** Bäckavattnets GK ** Garnisonen GK ** Holms GK ** Ringenäs GK ** Haverdals GK *Gymnastics ** Halmstad Frigymnaster **

Halmstad Kvinnliga GF Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of the Nissan river, in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County. The ci ...

** Halmstad Rytmiska GF ** Nissaflickorna *Ice hockey ** Halmstad Hammers HC ** Halmstad Ungdom HC ** Sannarps HC *Swimming ** SK Laxen *Table tennis ** Halmstad BTK *Team handball **

HK Drott HK Drott Halmstad is a handball club, based in Halmstad, Sweden. The club has won the Swedish Championship eleven times, last in 2013. Together with Redbergslids IK, HK Drott have dominated Swedish handball between 1984 and 2003. This club has ...

**Halmstads HP *Tennis ** Söndrums TK *Track & Field ** IFK Halmstad *Cricket ** Halamstad Cricket club

References

External links

*
Official homepage for the MunicipalityOfficial homepage for visitors and tourists
{{Authority control County seats in Sweden Municipal seats of Halland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Halmstad Municipality Port cities in Sweden Port cities and towns of the North Sea Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Cities in Halland County