HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kräklingbo () 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 Kräklingbo District, established on 1January 2016. The most visible feature at Kräklingbo is the Torsburgen, a fortified plateau. In 1992, it was the site of a large wildfire.


Geography

Kräklingbo is the name of the ''socken'' as well as the district. It is also the name of the small village surrounding the medieval Kräklingbo Church, sometimes referred to as ''Kräklingbo kyrkby''. It is situated near the central part of Gotland's east coast. , Kräklingbo Church belongs to Östergarn
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 ...
in Romaklosters
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 churches in
Östergarn Östergarn () is a populated area, a ''socken'' (not to be confused with Parishes of the Church of Sweden, parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the Registration districts in Sweden, administrative Östergarn Dis ...
, Gammelgarn,
Anga Anga was an ancient Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India, Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great na ...
and Ala. 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 ...
, 8682 Kräklingbo, is named after this place.


Etymology

The name Kräklingbo dates from the 15th century, and was originally the name of a farm. The first part of the name (Kräkling) probably means "dry hook" as in dry twig or fork of a bough, the second part (''bo'') is old Swedish for "settlement".


History

The most visible feature at Kräklingbo is the ancient fortress of Torsburgen, a fortified plateau towering above the rest of the landscape. Nearby, at Hajdeby farm, there are a number of visible
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 ...
grooves.


Events

The annual Kräklingbo Market is one of the major autumn markets on Gotland. There are five official markets held on the island in August–October:
Slite Slite is a locality situated in Gotland Municipality, Gotland County, on the island of Gotland, Sweden with 1,500 inhabitants in 2014. Geography Slite is situated on the northern east coast of Gotland. The town is divided by the Sjuströmmar in ...
, Havdhem, Kräklingbo,
Klintehamn Klintehamn () is a locality in Klinte on the Swedish island of Gotland with 1,350 inhabitants in 2010. Transportation Klintehamn is a shipping port on the west coast of Gotland where timber and agricultural products are shipped to mainland Swe ...
and
Hemse Hemse is a locality situated on the Swedish island of Gotland with 1,700 inhabitants in 2014. It is the second largest locality (after Visby) on the island. Hemse is the main center of population in the southern part of the island, and it is know ...
, each usually spanning a weekend.


The great forest fire

The Gotland wildfire of 1992, sometimes called the Kräklingbo fire, started early in the morning on 9July 1992 in the forest in the southern part of Torsburgen. It is one of the largest ancient fortresses in Sweden. Although no one died in the fire, it developed into one of the largest wildfires in Sweden. The fire destroyed vegetation over an area of more than , of which was productive forest land. The fire resulted in one of the biggest rescue operations in modern times on Gotland.


Wildfire

The early summer of 1992 was unusually warm with little rain, leaving the ground extremely dry. On 9July there was a moderate gale of about 7 on the
Beaufort scale The Beaufort scale ( ) is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. It was devised in 1805 by Francis Beaufort a hydrographer in the Royal Navy. It ...
, coming from the south. The fire, probably started by a burning cigarette,TV3
, ''Larmet går–Skogsbrand på Gotland'' 1993.
started in the southern part of Torsburgen, a couple of hundred meters north of the Arde opening. The fire spread rapidly and soon developed into a canopy fire. Due to the wind a fire storm, about two kilometers wide, formed and advanced north toward Hajdeby farm and Kräklingbo church. The fire had three fronts. Two flanks, each approximately wide, slowly spreading outwards and a wide front advancing very rapidly in the north.


Suppression

A day later, on the morning of 10July, the fire was wide and about long. On site were approximately one hundred firefighters, sixty enlisted soldiers from the P 18 regiment in
Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...
and some volunteers. A command centre was established at Kräklingbo fire station. Helicopter Q 90 with crew from Visby also participated in suppressing the fire. Later on another helicopter, the Q 97 with a hastily formed crew, joined the operation as did helicopter Q 91. These three helicopters logged a total of 43 hours and 45 minutes in flight during the fire. They dropped 414 tanks, about , of water. During the day the fire advanced on the three farms at Hejdeby while the rescue command prepared to evacuate all residents in the area. There was a great deal of confusion about what to do until Nisse Olofsson, a former chief at the Kräklingbo fire station, more or less took over the fire suppression at Hejdeby with the help of about 20 volunteers. They succeeded in establishing a counter fire and stopped the main blaze just from Tors farm. At this time the flames were approximately high. On the evening of 11July,
firebreak A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebre ...
s had been established around the area, but the fire continued to rage inside. On the morning of 13 July, the local radio station broadcast an announcement requesting all firefighters on vacation to report at the Visby fire station. Later it was announced that the worst stage of the fire had passed as a light rain fell on Gotland suppressing the fire. During the night the firefighters had also gone into the Torsburgen and conducted intense work to prevent the fire from spreading further within that area, but they were forced to retreat due to falling trees. About fifty firefighters now monitored the south part of Torsburgen and the fire was declared to be under control. By this time, the police had trouble keeping away curious people gathering in the area. Even families with children had gone into the fire site despite warnings on local radio to respect the cordons and the risk of falling trees.


Aftermath

Suppression of the fire was the largest rescue operation on Gotland in modern times. The post–fire work continued for several years . The fire destroyed more than of land. About 740 ha of these were productive forest land in the Kräklingbo and Gammelgarn area (total value of 20 million crowns, about US$3 million) and 41 land owners were affected. Nearly all of the forest in the central and north part of Torsburgen was more or less destroyed by the fire. It was more than a month later that the Rescue Department declared the operation finished. The total cost of the rescue operation was about 18.5 million crowns (about US$2.85 million) The
Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...
contributed with 400 military personnel, communication equipment, helicopters and vehicles. The fire in 1992, was by no means the first on the Torsburgen. In the summer of 1741, when
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
visited the fortress, he noted that it was almost without trees, "since wildfire had not so long ago destroyed it". The "wildfire" he spoke of was probably the large forest fire of 1655, which raged during that summer destroying parts of Alskog, Ala, Ardre and Kräklingbo parishes.


Gallery

File:Hajdeby södra gården 01.JPG, South Hajdeby, Kräklingbo. File:Kraklingbo tomb stone02.jpg, Tomb stone at Kräklingbo church. File:Kraklingbo paintings 01.jpg, Paintings in Kräklingbo church. File:Ardre lucka - kmb.16001000057664.jpg, Ardre opening at Torsburgen, Kräklingbo. File:Torsburg-Gotland.jpg, Torsburgen from a distance, Kräklingbo. File:Slipskåror vid Torsburgen.jpg, Grooves at Torsburgen, Kräklingbo. File:Efter branden vid Torsburgen Gotland.jpg, Torsburgen after the fire


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links


Objects from Kräklingbo 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 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraklingbo Populated places in Gotland County