Sollefteå () 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 ...

and the seat of

Sollefteå Municipality Sollefteå Municipality ( sv, Sollefteå kommun) is a Swedish municipality in Västernorrland County. Its seat is located in Sollefteå. The former ''City of Sollefteå'' (instituted in 1917) was amalgamated with the surrounding entities in 1974 ...

Västernorrland County Västernorrland County ( sv, Västernorrlands län) is a county (''län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. The name ''Västernorrland'' means "Western ...

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 ...

with 8,562 inhabitants in 2010. The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name of the village was given as De Solatum - a name that can be interpreted as a composition of ''Sol'' (sun) and ''at'' (property) i.e. literally The sunlit region. ''De Solatum'' also can be interpreted as desolation, which means loneliness or remoteness (see

Remote and isolated community In Canada, the designations remote, isolated, outport and fly-in refer to a settlement that is either a long distance from larger settlements or lacks transportation links that are typical in more populated areas. Definition In responding to t ...

). With Sollefteå being located at the lowest rapids of the Ångermanälven thereby making it the last outpost to which it was possible to sail. The village developed into a

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

. The town changed from a commercial town into a town dominated by the military when the two regiments T 3 (Logistics) and I 21 (Infantry) were located there in 1898 and 1911 respectively. In 1902 Sollefteå obtained the status of market town or ''

köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Municip ...

'' before finally being granted a town charter in 1917 thereby making it 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 ...

. It is now the seat of the much larger Sollefteå Municipality. Sollefteå is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city''.

Notable buildings

The pharmacy

The pharmacy building was erected in 1889. It is a brick building, two and a half storeys high. The style of the building is influenced by the late 19th-century architectural style and is dominated by the

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. The house was designed by the architect Niclas Wahrgren. The many various architectural styles represented in the building is seen in the medieval inspired

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

corner tower, Norman arches, North German gothic styles, blind windows with pointed arches and

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

supported by

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

s. There are also

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

elements in the design, for example the staircase's orientalic/antique and geometric mosaics with

meanders A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

. The overall style of the building is reminiscent of the palatial buildings erected on Strandvägen in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

and in the Stenstaden in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History The ...

at the same time. In 1984, the building was declared a historic building and thereby protected from demolition or major alterations. It is today the home of the local library as well as the city's museum.

Hotel Appelbergs

The hotel is located in the centre of Sollefteå, along the pedestrian district. It is also the oldest hotel in the city, built in 1882 by timberman and innkeeper Erik Appelberg. The hotel became a hub for timber-merchants as well as local potentates. Notable guests include Crown Princess Stéphanie of Austria, King

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

and

Gustav V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

of Sweden, and Kaiser

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

. The hotel also provided accommodation for King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and four of his princes during their tour of Ångermanland in the early 20th century. Their journey is commemorated in the hotel with a plaque, and in the village of Utanede with a

royal pavilion The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Princ ...

. The building is a good example of the early architecture of Sollefteå, being built of wood. * Sollefteå Church

Multrå transmitter

A facility for FM/TV broadcasting with a 288 metre tall mast.

Climate

The nearest weather station to Sollefteå is located in Österforse, slightly more than by air to its south-west. The station's slightly more southerly latitude is likely even exceeded by a 50–80 metres higher elevation depending on location within Sollefteå. This likely renders Sollefteå slightly milder, particularly during afternoons. Österforse has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...

( Dfc) that is quite moderate in nature considering its inland position and latitude. Summer days are very warm for North Central Sweden, being heavily affected by its low elevation in comparison to areas further west such as

Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...

. Temperatures are heavily dependent on wind direction and the convergences of warm southerly and cold northerly air.

Temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. Nor ...

is also a factor due to its position beneath the

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

. As a result, cold snaps can be quite extreme, resulting in an all-time low of . The all-time heat record is from July 2, 2015 with in an otherwise chilly summer.

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Sollefteå: *

Sollefteå GIF Sollefteå GIF is a Swedish football club located in Sollefteå. Background The club was founded in 1898 catering for a variety of sports. From 1905 the club gradually developed its football section. In the 1953/54 season the club played in D ...

br>official website
(Swedish) * Sollefteå Hocke
official website
(Swedish) * Remsle UI
official website
(Swedish) * Sollefteå Handboll

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

br>official website
(Swedish) * Sollefteå BTK

Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

br>official website
(Swedish)

Notable people from Sollefteå

Helena Jonsson Helena Ekholm (née Helena Jonsson) (born September 6, 1984 in Helgum) is a former Swedish biathlete. She was born in Helgum, Sollefteå Municipality. She is the 2009 world champion in pursuit and the 2011 world champion in individual. She al ...

, 1984-, biathlete *

Emma Johansson Emma Karolina Johansson (born 23 September 1983) is a Swedish retired professional racing cyclist. Nicknamed ''Silver Emma'', Johansson accumulated many second and third places at major championships and one-day classics. In 2013 she finished t ...

, 1983-,

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. Won two Olympic silver medals. *

Pelle Svensson Per Oskar "Pelle" Svensson (6 February 1943 – 17 December 2020) was a Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler and lawyer. His achievements included a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in the light heavyweight class and two gold medals at the Worl ...

, 1943-, lawyer and distinguished wrestler * Ulf Eriksson, 1942-association football referee *

Mona Sahlin Mona Ingeborg Sahlin ( born 9 March 1957) is a Swedish politician who was leader of the opposition and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2011. Sahlin was a Member of Parliament, representing Stockholm County, from 198 ...

, 1957-, former chairman of

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-de ...

and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Urban Bäckström Urban Bäckström (born 25 May 1954, Sollefteå, Västernorrlands län) is a Swedish economist who was CEO of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise from 2005 to 2014 and governor of the Bank of Sweden from 1994 to 2002. Personal Bäckström g ...

, 1955-, former Governor of the Bank of Sweden, president of the

Confederation of Swedish Enterprise The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise or Swedish Enterprise ( sv, Svenskt Näringsliv) is a major employers' organization for private sector and business sector companies in Sweden. It has 49 member associations representing 60,000 member comp ...

* Ingrid Thulin, 1926-2004, actress *

Marie-Helene Östlund Marie-Helene Östlund (née Westin, born 14 May 1966), is a retired Swedish cross-country skier. Östlund won a world championship title on the 20 km in Oberstdorf, West Germany, in 1987. For the feat, she was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet G ...

, 1966-, skier *

Per Svartvadet Per Eric Svartvadet (born May 17, 1975) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. Svartvadet was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in the 6th round, as the 139th pick overall. In the summer of 1999 he was traded t ...

, 1975-, ice-hockey player *

Mattias Timander Mattias Erik Timander (born April 16, 1974) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flye ...

, 1974-, ice-hockey player *

Therese Sjölander Eva Therése Sjölander (born 4 May 1981 in Sollefteå, Sweden) is an ice hockey player from Sweden. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially ...

, 1981-, ice-hockey player * Helen Svedin, 1976, supermodel, wife of

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one ...

Frida Karlsson Frida Karlsson (born 10 August 1999) is a Swedish cross-country skier. She won a silver medal in the women's 10 kilometres classical, bronze medal in the women's 30 kilometre freestyle mass start, and gold as a member of the women's 4 × 5 kilom ...

, 1999-, cross-country skier * Lennart Ljung, 1921-1990, former Supreme Commander Of The Swedish Armed Forces

Sister city

* Madison, Mississippi Madison has been Sollefteå's sister city since 1997. Talks began in 1995 when Madison officials were meeting with the board of Sollefteå-based forestry products company, Haglof, Inc, for the latter was interested in opening a plant in Madison. The Madison officials came to Sollefteå and were more interested to learn about Swedish culture. A delegation of 30 members of the city of Sollefteå's board came to Madison to tour the city and make the sister city relationship official. During the visit, Haglof opened its new office in Madison, and another Swedish company, Mini Tube, was also interested in opening offices in Madison. After the people of the delegation of Sollefteå came to Madison, the latter sent 34 delegates to Sollefteå, once again to tour the city. The Madison delegates learned about Swedish culture and traditions, came to Haglof Inc.'s facilities, and toured an environmental center. Because of Sollefteå's and Madison's relationship, the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce was created in the latter.

Gallery

File:Sollefteå1.jpg, Northern entrance to Sollefteå, crossing Ångermanälven

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solleftea Populated places in Sollefteå Municipality Ångermanland Municipal seats of Västernorrland County Swedish municipal seats Diocese of Härnösand fi:Sollefteån kunta