Örebro Castle () is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

Svartån Svartån in Västmanland County, Sweden is a river that is 91 kilometers long. It passes through the towns of Skultuna and Västerås and has its outlet in Mälaren. The name Västerås derives from the Swedish language, Sueco-Latin language, L ...

Örebro County Örebro County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly northern region of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It was expanded during the reign of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

Vasa (

House of Vasa The House of Vasa or Wasa was a Dynasty, royal house that was founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its members ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668. Its agnatic line became extinct with t ...

) and finally rebuilt about 1900. Some of the rooms are used as classrooms for pupils from Karolinska gymnasiet.

History

The castle lies on an island in the river

. The name of Örebro comes from the small stones ("ör") that the river transports. The second part of the word comes from the bridge ("bro") . The oldest part of the castle, a defence tower, was erected in the latter half of the 13th century. It was probably built during the reign of King

Magnus IV of Sweden Magnus Eriksson (April or May 1316 – 1 December 1374) was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By adversaries he has been called ''Magnus Smek'' (). Medi ...

(1316–1374). In 1364, Albrecht von Mecklenburg (ca 1340–1412) captured a fortress in Örebro. That was probably a predecessor of today's castle, which was built on the small island within the Svartå river. The fortress is supposed to have consisted of a defence tower with a surrounding wall. The tower was added to in the 14th century to make a larger stronghold. Under King

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl (; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric XIV and of ...

(1550–1611), the fortress was rebuilt into a Renaissance castle. Since 1764, the castle has served as the residence of the governor of Örebro County.

References

External links

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Örebro slott website
Castles in Örebro County Official residences of Swedish county governors Buildings and structures in Örebro 14th-century establishments in Sweden {{Sweden-castle-stub