Mölndal () is the seat and administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality, located just south of

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 ...

on the west-coast of

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 countries, Nordic c ...

. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live in Mölndal proper.

Geography

Mölndal is located on the western main line railway between

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 ...

and the European highways E6/ E20 run through the area from north to south. Mölndal is served by the

Gothenburg tram The Gothenburg tramway network ( sv, Göteborgs spårvägar) is part of the public transport system organised by Göteborgs Spårvägar, controlled by Västtrafik in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The system's approximately of single track &m ...

way system.

History

The name of the city derives from two words; ''Möln'', which is a short form for Möllor, an old word for

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

, and the word ''dal'', which is the

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 ...

word for

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

. Mölndal is the "Valley of mills". The narrow but high and long

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

s in Kvarnbyn gave the necessary power to all the

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

s that together with the

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

s on the hills gave birth to the early

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

of Mölndal.

Industry

Aerial photo of Gothenburg 2013-10-27 192

Mölndal is best known for its high concentration of companies in life sciences.

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...

has one of its global research centres here with more than 3,100 employees. Several other companies in areas of research such as

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

biomedicine Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

, and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

are also located here. The proximity to the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...

and to

Chalmers University of Technology Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international le ...

- with their technology parks - has supported development of other sectors, such as

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...

technology and

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

. Two national research institutes, IFP SICOMP AB and IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation, are also located in Mölndal.

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Mölndal: * Fässbergs IF * Balltorps FF * IF Mölndal Hockey *

Jitex BK Jitex BK, more commonly known as just ''Jitex'', is a football club in Mölndal, Sweden, that competes in Elitettan, the second tier of Swedish women's football. The club was founded January 21, 1971 and previously played in the Elitettan, Sweden ...

* Dalen/Krokslätts FF * Kvarnby Basket The town is also home to the Hills Golf Club.

European Cooperation

* Mölndal is a member city of

Eurotowns network Eurotowns is a network of medium-sized European cities with a population between 50,000 and 250,000 inhabitants. The organisation was founded in 1991. Its members include Avilés, Böblingen, Chelm, Detmold, Eskilstuna, Gävle, Girona, Haarlem, ...

Notable people

Mölndals Kvarnby, den 11 sept 2006, bild 4

Oscar Dronjak Oscar Fredrick Dronjak (born 20 January 1972) is a Swedish guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band HammerFall. Prior to the success of HammerFall, he also played and released albums with the death metal acts Ceremonial Oath and Crystal A ...

, guitarist and founder of the Swedish heavy metal band

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial ...

Anders Frisk Anders Frisk (born 18 February 1963) is a Swedish insurance agent by trade and a former football referee. Frisk chose to go into early retirement from refereeing due to pressure from death threats made against him and his family. He is fluent ...

, football (soccer) referee *

Björn Goop Björn Olov Goop (born 13 October 1976 in Mölndal), is a Swedish trotting trainer and driver. Together with his father, Olle Goop (until his death in 2022), he runs one of Sweden's most successful training camps for trotting horses, Goop Stable, ...

, horse driver and trainer (trotting) *

Erica Johansson Erica Johansson (born February 5, 1974) is a Swedish former athlete who specialized in the long jump. She is the 1992 World Junior Champion, the 1993 European Junior Champion, and the 2000 European Indoor Champion. She also competed at the 2000 ...

, long jumper * Anna Kjellbin, ice hockey player *

Mats Levén Mats Leven is a Swedish singer. Some of his most notable collaborations have been with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, symphonic metallers Therion and doom metallers Candlemass. In 2011, due to family issues on the part of Firewind's lead singer A ...

, metal singer *

Claes Malmberg Claes Malmberg (real name ''Clas-Peder Malmberg'', born 8 April 1961 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor and stand-up comedian. He has worked together with Anders Aldgård. He has appeared in theatre plays and in films and TV series. Ca ...

, actor and stand-up comedian * Annelie Pompe, world record holder in variable weights freediving *

Ulla Jacobsson Ulla Jacobsson (23 May 1929 – 20 August 1982) was a Swedish actress. She had the lead role in One Summer of Happiness (1951) and played the only female speaking role in the film '' Zulu'' (1964). Early life Jacobsson was born in Mölndal ...

, actor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molndal Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Mölndal Municipality Metropolitan Gothenburg Gothenburg and Bohus