Strängnäs is a locality and the seat of

Strängnäs Municipality Strängnäs Municipality () is a municipality in Södermanland County in eastern Sweden, located by Lake Mälaren. Its seat is located in the city of Strängnäs. The present municipality was created in 1971, when the ''City of Strängnäs'' wa ...

Södermanland County Södermanland County (, ) is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is the ...

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 ...

with 15,363 inhabitants in 2020. It is located by Lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

and is the episcopal see of the

Diocese of Strängnäs The Diocese of Strängnäs () is a part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden and has its seat in Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, south of Lake Mälaren. The diocese is made up of the two provinces Närke and Södermanland (except for eastern S ...

, one of the thirteen dioceses of the

Church of Sweden 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 List ...

. Prominently located on a hilltop,

Strängnäs Cathedral Strängnäs Cathedral () is a Lutheran cathedral church in Strängnäs, Sweden, since the Protestant Reformation the seat of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Strängnäs. Architecture Construction of the cathedral began in about 1260 with inaug ...

, built between 1291 and 1340, is an important landmark.

Etymology

The city's name is first encountered in 1120, in reference to the Diocese. The name Strängnäs is derived from the fact that the city is located near a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

and on several hills, especially on two major ones, the "Mill Hill" and the "Cathedral Hill". In

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''strengr'' indicates a "narrow channel of water" and ''nes'' refers to an "

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

", "narrow peninsula", or " headland", a very common toponymic in Scandinavia.

History

A monastery was established around 1250, and the cathedral inaugurated in 1291, with the town subsequently evolving around these two institutions. The oldest known city

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

was granted in 1336 by King

Magnus Eriksson 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 ...

. Strängnäs became a city of importance in the

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

province, as the location of the governing thing and also of an annual market. King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

was elected king in Strängnäs in 1523, and delivered his first speech from a position adjacent to the cathedral. In the 15th and 16th centuries Strängnäs had an important place in the

history of Sweden The history of Sweden can be traced back to the melting of the Northern polar ice cap. From as early as 12000 BC, humans have inhabited this area. Throughout the Stone Age, between 8000 BC and 6000 BC, early inhabitants used sto ...

, particularly through the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

era. Strängnäs was the native city of prominent reformer Laurentius Andreae and the home city of both Andreae and

Olaus Petri Olof Persson, sometimes Petersson (6 January 1493 – 19 April 1552), better known under the Latinisation of names, Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri (or less commonly, Olavus Petri), was a clergyman, writer, judge, and major contributor to the ...

. It became a regional centre of education and scholarship, and in 1626 the Thomas Gymnasium was established by King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

, and is today Sweden's second oldest operating gymnasium. The urban and economic development of Strängnäs seems to have slowed after the Reformation, only flourishing temporarily with the arrival of energetic bishops. The city was slow to engage with the 19th century industrial development and investment found in other areas. A significant fire in 1871 led to large-scale reconstruction of the city, from which time its current appearance stems. The city was accidentally bombed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, causing minor damage. In 1962 a

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

known as Strängnäs stone was discovered during the demolition of an old stove in a house at Klostergatan 4. The stone is a piece of jotnian sandstone inscribed with runes written in

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

, in

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...

alphabet.

Contemporary life

Many of the inhabitants of Strängnäs commute to Stockholm, Södertälje and Eskilstuna.

European route E20 European route E20 is a part of the United Nations International E-road network. It runs roughly west–east through Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Russia. Its length is but it is not continuous; at three points, a ...

passes the city, and there is a mainline railway station operated by the Swedish national railway company, with direct services to and from the capital

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Tourism is a significant element of the city's economy, with the brick gothic cathedral (with celebrated statues, artworks, and historical archives)Regional touris
website
attracting many visitors, as well as the attraction of natural features, particularly the lake. The extreme metal band Merciless was formed in Strängnäs.

Museums

* Swedish Tank Museum Arsenalen

Gallery

Strängnäs Windmill.JPG, Harbour and old windmill Houses in Strängnäs.JPG, Houses in Strängnäs Väderkvarn, Strängnäs.JPG, Old mill in Strängnäs Strängnäs Dom vy26.jpg, The Cathedral of Strängnäs

References

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

.
article ''Strängnäs'' online
��in Swedish)

External links

Strängnäs
- Official site * https://www.panoramio.com/photo/24440240 {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangnas Municipal seats of Södermanland County Swedish municipal seats Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Strängnäs Municipality