Burs () is a populated area, a ''

socken Socken ( or ) is the name used for a part of a counties of Sweden, county in Sweden. In Denmark, similar areas are known as , in Norway or and in Finland or . A is a rural area formed around a church, typically in the Middle Ages. A socken ...

'' (not to be confused with

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

), on the Swedish island of

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. It comprises the same area as the administrative Burs District, established on 1January 2016. , Gustaf Edman from Burs was probably Sweden's tallest man.

Geography

Burs is the name of the socken as well as the district. It is also the name of the small village surrounding the Burs Church, sometimes referred to as ''Burs kyrkby''. Located on the southeast coast of Gotland it is a flat country. Part of the farmland has been gained by draining the Rone and Lye mires, as well as the Lake Burs. , Burs Church belongs to Stånga-Burs

in Burs

pastorat The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest Lu ...

, along with the church in

Stånga Stånga is a urban areas in Sweden, locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 491 inhabitants in 2014. Stånga is also the name of the larger populated area, socken (not to be confused with Parishes of the Church of Sweden, parish). It compr ...

. One of the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s in the

asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

, 8681 Burs, is named after this place.

Etymology

The name Burs is derived from ''burg'' meaning "gravel ridge" or "gravel ground".

History

A hoard of 646 Roman

denarii The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It continued to be mi ...

was discovered by farm workers, between Sigdes and Burs, which was published by numismatist

Rosa Norström Rosa Norström (13 November 1860 – 24 May 1944) was a Swedish numismatist and museum curator at the Economy Museum - Royal Coin Cabinet, Royal Coin Cabinet, who published an account of the discovery of a hoard of 646 Roman denarii in Gotland. ...

in 1907. Burs dates back to

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 ...

times. It is the name of a larger area surrounding the medieval Burs Church. It was originally part of the Burs thing, which in turn was in the southernmost of the three original districts (similar to ridings) that Gotland was divided into during the Middle Ages. In 1862, it became an independent municipality. In 1952, it was incorporated into the

municipality and in 1971, all of Gotland became one

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

. The

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, or the third hand on a fishing vessel, is the most senior Naval rating, rate of the deck department and is responsible for the ...

s from Burs under the allotment system, were part of the Second Gotlandic Boatswains Company. Burs has a number of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

grave mounds and

stone ship The stone ship or ship setting was an early burial custom in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial was surrounded by slabs or stones in the shape of a boat or ship. The ships vary in size and were ...

s. The remnants from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

consists of about ten grave fields, house foundations, collapsed stone walls and grinding grooves. At Sigdes farm in Burs, there is a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

ring-cross dating from the later part of the 16th century. According to one legend, it marks the place of an ancient battle. Another legend tells the story about a groom who died there. The cross is inscribed with and almost obliterated Latin text, which has been interpreted by L F Läffler: "This cross marks the place where Ragnvald, former vicar and now buried in Lau, was struck by death in the year of 1448 on Michael's day to whom You, oh almighty king may show kindness." The cross have some

runes Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...

chiseled on the back.

The Giant

Karl Gustaf Emmerik Edman (also known as The Giant) (4February 18823October 1912) born at Bondare in Burs and died in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, is probably Sweden's tallest man up to date. He is listed as the eleventh-tallest in the world in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

. His parents were both of normal length. When he died he was supposedly tall and weighed . A photograph indicates that he was in fact His shoes in size 56 are still kept in a small museum in Burs. He started life as a farmhand and later toured with circuses and sideshows at markets. He married Anna Regina Edman from

Jämtland Jämtland () is a historical provinces of Sweden, province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland, Sweden, Lapland to the north and Trøndelag and Norw ...

and they had two children of normal size. He died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

during a tour in Finland, 30 years old. A wooden statue of Edman has been erected in Burs at the crossroads to Busskveia. The statue was made by Armin Irwahn in 1996.

References

External links

Objects from Burs at the Digital Museum
by

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum () is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said to begin in 1520) to the ...

{{Authority control Populated places in Gotland County