The Västgöta Nation, colloquially known as VG's, is one of thirteen student nations at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

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 its 2,670 members, it is the fifth-largest nation in Lund - ranking behind

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 ...

but ahead of Kalmar Nation.

History

The

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

traces its history to 28 January 1669, exactly one year after the founding of Lund University. Due to the

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

from 1675 to 1679, the university's and the nation's activities were halted until 1685 for the nation's part. Since 1685, its traditions have followed an unbroken succession, although it merged with Östgöta Nation and Kalmar Nation as the united '' Götiska Nationen'' ("the Gothic Nation"), between 1767 and 1821 as a result of low student numbers at the university. Since its founding, the purpose of the nation was to offer social support and a meeting place for students who came from

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...

. Membership numbers remained low, however, hovering around only 20-30 students up until the 1900s. During its first centuries of existence the nation had no house of its own. The primary meeting spot tended to be the home of the

Inspektor Inspektor or inspehtori, Swedish and Finnish for inspector, is the largely honorary chairman of student nations in Lund and Uppsala universities in Sweden and University of Helsinki in Finland. The inspektor has a supervisory role in their nati ...

. The founding of the

Academic Society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

in the mid-1800s allowed for the nation to operate out of the society's Castle. Around a hundred years later, during a looming shortage of student housing, plans for a Västgöta nation house were put into motion, with Västgötagården being inaugurated in 1954. Sports, culture and dance parties were the core tenets of the nation's activities. By the 1990s, the nation had around 500 members. With student union and nation membership for students in Lund and Uppsala becoming voluntary in 2010, all nations had to reorganize their activities to attract students. On Västgöta's part, food and cooking was made the nation's staple along with its Metro nightclub. The nation is commonly referred to as a restaurant and bar, as well as a nightclub; it is one of many venues to host "" (formal dinners) and events.

References

Printed sources

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Footnotes

External links

Västgöta Nation
- Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastgota Nation, Lund Nations at Lund University 1669 establishments 17th-century establishments in Malmöhus County