Trelleborg () is a town in

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

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 43,359 inhabitants as of 31 December 2015. It is the southernmost town in Sweden located some west from the southernmost point of Sweden and the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is one of the most important ferry towns in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

as well as around the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, and the main town of the Söderslätt agricultural areas.

Etymology

The first written record of the name is from 1257, ''Threlæburgh''. The name is found in many places in

. ''Borg'' means ''castle'' or ''stronghold'' and ''träl'' can mean thrall, but can also refer to the leaning poles on the outside of the medieval Viking stronghold. Remains of the original stronghold were excavated in 1988. The name may also have originated from the stronghold that still remains in the center of the city. Strongholds like that have been found at several places around Scandinavia, mostly in the south of Sweden and Denmark, and are all called trelleborgs. The name is likely to have originated from that borg.

History

The earliest written record of Trelleborg is from 1257. Three years later Trelleborg was presented as a wedding gift from the Danish

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 ...

to the Swedish Prince Valdemar. It was soon reconquered by the Danes, and continued to belong to Denmark until 1658, when Scania was lost to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde. In medieval times, Trelleborg had an important part in herring fishing. At that time, this was conducted along the entire coastline of what is now Sweden, as the herring shoals were of such great numbers that fishermen were said to have been able to stand on the shore and land fish with nets. Trelleborg became an important merchant city as merchants from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

came to trade herring. In 1619 following a devastating fire, the Danish King decided that one merchant city on the coast was sufficient and revoked Trelleborg's status as a merchant city in favour of

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. Not until 1840 was Trelleborg allowed to become a merchant city, and not until 1867 did it regain its rights as a city of Sweden. Mostly this was thanks to the work of a few stubborn men, who had continuously been petitioning the Swedish

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

with these requests since 1658. In 1962, in Trelleborg, a group of Macedonian political emigrants founded the Movement for the Liberation and Unification of Macedonia. The local government reform of 1971 made Trelleborg the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, covering both rural and urban areas.

Transport

Road

Trelleborg is the southern endpoint for the European route E6 that goes north to Kirkenes, Norway. The E6 is a major artery for shipping goods into Sweden, connecting to the E22 in Malmö, and the E4 in Helsingborg.

Harbour and ferries

CarFerryTerminalTrelleborg Kontinentbron

The harbour has a very strategic position, in the very far south of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The first ferry connection to

opened in 1897. This was replaced with a train-ferry line to

Saßnitz Sassnitz (, before 1993 in ) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, and ...

, in 1909 as a part of the line

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. During the GDR era, a longer car ferry line opened to Travemünde ("modern harbour" of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

), initially as line owned by the Swedish national railways (SJ), but known as TT-Line from 1962. After the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

in 1989, several new shipping lines and routes opened. Trelleborg municipality built a joint ferry terminal for all services, known as "''Kontinentbron''", or "the Continental Bridge". Both Germany and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

can be reached by ferries from the terminal. As of 2018, the following shipping lines and routes are in operation: TT-Line * to

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

(

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

) * to Travemünde (Germany) * to

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

(Germany) * to Swinoujscie (Poland) Stena Line * to

(Germany) Unity Line * to Swinoujscie (Poland) Most of the ferry transports are lorries, and this makes Trelleborg's port the largest in Sweden in terms of goods by weight. In 2005, 11 million metric ton of goods passed through the port (along with almost 2 million passengers).

Climate

Although Trelleborg does not have an official month to month weather station featured in SMHI's reports, its nearest weather stations in Falsterbo and

both indicate an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

( Cfb) with warm and sometimes hot summers averaging in the low twenties Celsius most of the time and cool but generally not very cold winters with means at or just above freezing.

Today

At the end of the 19th century, Trelleborg became an industrial town and the foundation of modern Trelleborg has largely been created by a few large companies; most notably Trelleborg Industries and the

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

company and business related to the seaport. Much of it has been the work of the influential businessman Johan Kock. Other important industries he established were ''Akzo Nobel Inks'', Today called Flint Group Sweden, manufacturing printing inks (established as ''Gleitzman Industries'' in the 1890s), and DUX, who make beds. Later in the 1950s, Perstorp (Flooring) Industries was established in Trelleborg and it manufactures flooring boards and other plastic material. Trelleborg continues to be a working-class-oriented city and is politically a traditional stronghold for the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

. However, since the latest elections in 2006 the Social Democratic Party is in opposition in the municipality. It is today often visited by people travelling from Sweden to

because of the ferries to

, Sassnitz, and

- Travemünde in Germany. These ferries began sailing on 1 May 1897, with the Sassnitz line; the route to Travemünde was established in 1962, while the line to the former East German city Rostock was inaugurated after the fall of the

in 1989. The ferries carry both passengers on one-day journeys, cars with vacationing families, and heavy trucks on their way through Europe. In April 1917,

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

arrived with the ferry from Sassnitz to Trelleborg on his way from exile back to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

to lead the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. Today Trelleborg has the second largest

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

of Sweden, behind

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. Every year it transports more than 10 million metric tonnes of cargo. Overlooking the harbour of Smygehuk near Trelleborg is a statue of a nude woman that was installed in 1930. Actress

Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...

's grandmother, Birgit Holmquist, the mother of Nena von Schlebrügge, was the model for this statue. The entrance road from west has a row of palm trees, illustrating the southern location of the city. They are moved indoors during winter as they can't tolerate freezing temperatures. On 12 October 2017, several people were injured in shootings in the town, linked to gang violence.

Sports and other leisure activities

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs in Trelleborg include Trelleborgs FF, IFK Trelleborg, and FC Trelleborg the basketball team is called Trelleborg Basket. The local scout corps is called Trelleborgs scoutkår. Other places of interest include the bathhouse, local golf club, sporthalls, beaches and several parks.

Notable individuals

* Andreas Isaksson - retired football player, played for Trelleborgs FF for two seasons. * Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh - current mayor of

Malmö Municipality Malmö Municipality (), or City of Malmö (''Malmö stad''), is a Swedish municipality in Skåne County, the southernmost of the counties of Sweden (and conterminous with the historical province (''landskap'') of Scania). The central city is ...

since 2013, raised in Trelleborg * Patric Kjellberg - retired ice hockey player * Björn Kjellman - actor and singer * Andreas Nilsson - handballer * Olivia Nordgren - politician * Amanda Ooms - actress and writer * Alice Timander - dentist * Kim Wall - journalist * Mark Weinberg - former judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria in Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, born in Trelleborg in 1948 and later relocated to the United States before emigrating permanently to Australia in 1958. * Franz Brorsson - football player

Culture

Trelleborg has two museums as of 2022, Trelleborgs Museum centered around the old viking castle rebuilt in the city, and another depicting different installations at different times. Several different statues can be found around the city especially depicting the works of . An art i gallery can be found in the city depicting his works.

Gallery

20th century

File:Trelleborg 1930.png, Map of Trelleborg dated 1930 File:Antiaircraft defence Sweden 1940.jpg, Acoustic air-plane locator stationed in Trelleborg 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 ...

21st century

File:Hamn Trelleborg.jpg, Part of Trelleborg harbour File:Trelleborg tower.jpg, Trelleborg Old Water Tower File:Trelleborg, St Nikolai-Kirche (2008-07-27).JPG, Church of St. Nicolai File:Trelleborgs museum.jpg, Trelleborgs Museum

Twin cities

Trelleborg is twinned with: * Sassnitz,

References

External links

{{Authority control Viking ring fortresses Municipal seats of Skåne County Swedish municipal seats Viking Age populated places Market towns in Sweden Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Port cities in Sweden Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea 13th-century establishments in Scania Cities in Sweden