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Kungälv () (old no, Konghelle) is 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 ...
and the seat of
Kungälv Municipality Kungälv Municipality (''Kungälvs kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Kungälv. The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of the ''City of Kung ...
in
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 ...
. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010. In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - Kareby conurbation had a combined population approaching 30,000. In total, the whole municipality had 47,050 inhabitants.


History

According to official Swedish sources the city was founded in 1612, when the city of Konghelle was moved closer to the
Bohus Fortress Bohus Fortress (also known as ''Baahus'' or ''Båhus'', originally: ''Bágahús'') lies along the old Norwegian–Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches ( north of ...
. However, this is disputed because other sources indicate that it was just a strategic relocation of the existing Norwegian city, the capital of Norway at one point under Sigurd I Magnusson, something frequently used for marketing and tourist purposes. For this reason, Kungälv could celebrate its "1000-year anniversary" in 1959. Sigurd I Magnusson (''Sigurd Jorsalfare'', i.e., Sigurd the Crusader) was the King of Norway (1103–1130) and is the best-known crusader king of Scandinavia. He was also the first European king to join the crusades at a time where Kungälv was Norwegian territory. Sigurd returned to Norway in 1111, where he made his capital in Konghelle (in the vicinity of Kungälv in present-day Sweden) and built a castle there, where he kept a relic given to him by King Baldwin, a splinter reputed to be from the True Cross. Sigurd died in 1130 and was buried in ''Hallvardskirken'' (Hallvards church) in
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, in present-day Norway. In the 1120s
Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
n ships from
Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
(present-day Szczecin, Poland), from the southern coast of the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
attacked the Danish coast. On 10 August 1135 Duke Ratibor assaulted the Norwegian towns. Konghelle, was captured and burnt to the ground by the forces of prince Ratibor, assisted by a fleet of 550 ships with cavalry on board (each carrying forty-four men and two horses). They laid the town to ruins, killed a large part of the population, and abducted most of the survivors as
thrall A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts wi ...
s to Szczecin.
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...
, writing a century later, said that Konghelle never completely recovered. The former settlement at Konghelle burned down in 1612, and was subsequently moved by
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 mon ...
and Norway to the open slope below
Bohus Fortress Bohus Fortress (also known as ''Baahus'' or ''Båhus'', originally: ''Bágahús'') lies along the old Norwegian–Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches ( north of ...
, and rebuilt as Kongelf. The
Bohus Fortress Bohus Fortress (also known as ''Baahus'' or ''Båhus'', originally: ''Bágahús'') lies along the old Norwegian–Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches ( north of ...
is, along with the cookie and biscuit store Bräckboden, which closed permanently in August 2022, the most popular tourist attraction in Kungälv.


Notable people

* Mikael Andersson, Former NHL-forward and Olympian was raised in Kungälv. *
Niklas Andersson Niklas Per Andersson (born 20 May 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey left winger. In his career, he spent time with several National Hockey League (NHL) teams as well as various minor professional teams in North America, but most ...
, Former NHL-forward and younger brother of Mikael was born and raised in Kungälv. * P. J. Axelsson, Former Boston Bruins forward and Olympian was born and raised in Kungälv. *
Mirsad Bektašević Mirsad Bektašević (born 30 July 1987), alias Maximus, is a Swedish citizen born in Montenegro, Yugoslavia who in 2005 was arrested in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, charged with planning a terrorist attack against an unnamed target. Bektaše ...
the jihadist was born in Serbia and grew up in Kungälv *
Carin Koch Anna Carin Pernilla Hjalmarsson Koch (née Hjalmarsson; born 23 February 1971) is a Swedish professional golfer who previously played on the Ladies European Tour and on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was captain of the 2015 European Solheim Cup te ...
, Professional golfer was born and raised in Kungälv. *
Erik Lindh Erik Lindh (born 24 May 1964, in Kungälv) is a former international Swedish table tennis player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics and in the 1992 Summer Olympics. In the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul he finished in third place and won ...
, Former table tennis player and Olympic bronze medalist *
Lise Meitner Elise Meitner ( , ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on rad ...
, Austrian physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics; resided in Kungälv *
John Hron John Hron (25 January 1981 – 17 August 1995) was a Swedish 14-year-old boy who was tortured to death and drowned by four young neo-Nazis. The month before his death, Hron had won a bronze medal in the national canoeing youth championships. Mu ...
, the victim of a high-profile murder / hate crime was raised in Kungälv *
Fredrik Sjöström Fredrik Per Oscar Sjöström (; born May 6, 1983) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey winger, currently the general manager of Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Drafted by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Phoenix Coyotes ...
, Former NHL-forward was raised in Kungälv. * Ernst Skarstedt, Swedish-American author, journalist and editor was born in Kungälv. *
Pontus Wernbloom Pontus Anders Mikael Wernbloom (; born 25 June 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Beginning his professional career with IFK Göteborg in 2005, he went on to represent AZ, CSKA Moscow, and PAOK befor ...
, Professional football player.


Transport

* European route E6 *
Västtrafik Västtrafik is the agency responsible for public transport services involving buses, ferries, trains, and the Gothenburg tram network in the county of Västra Götaland, Sweden (plus Kungsbacka Municipality). It was established with the Västra ...
regional buses * Bohusbanan railway (Ytterby station)


Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Kungälv: * Kungälvs VBK - multiple Swedish champions in volleyball in the 1980s and 90s *
IFK Kungälv IFK Kungälv is a sports club in Kungälv in Sweden, founded in 1940, and mostly concentrated on the sport of bandy. The club has been playing in the Swedish bandy top division Elitserien for many seasons, at present since 2008/09. The home ki ...
*
Ytterby IS Ytterby IS is a Swedish football team from Kungälv, currently playing in Division 3 Västra Götaland. The team was founded in 1947. Background Ytterby IS men's team plays in Division 3. The club was founded by Harry Karlsson in 1947. Club f ...
* IK Kongahälla * Kungälvs SK * Kungälvs simsällskap * Kongahälla AIK


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kungalv Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Kungälv Municipality Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats Former Norwegian towns