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Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality,
Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; ) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is the city of V ...
, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County and the
episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
of the Diocese of Växjö and the location of Växjö Cathedral. The town is home to
Linnaeus University Linnaeus University (LNU) () is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University a ...
.


Etymology

The city's name is believed to be constructed from the words ("road") and ("lake"), meaning the road over the frozen Växjö Lake that farmers used in the winter to get to the marketplace which later became the city.


History

In contrast to what was believed a century ago, there is no evidence of a special pre-Christian significance of the site. The pagan cultic center of Värend may have been located at Hov, a nearby village. An
episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
since the 11thcentury, the city did not get its city charter until 1342, when it was issued by
Magnus Eriksson Magnus Eriksson (April or May 1316  â€“ 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 ...
. The cathedral of St Sigfrid dates from about 1300, and has been subsequently restored. Otherwise, during the Middle Ages, Växjö did not have many pious institutions. A
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
monastery was established in 1485. A hospital of the Holy Ghost was first mentioned in 1318. In the 14th century Växjö got its first school, Växjö katedralskola. In 1643 it received gymnasium status. At the beginning of Gustav Eriksson's war of liberation, the peasantry joined forces, under the guidance of the union-hostile bishop Ingemar Pedersson, with the mountain men and peasantry of
Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...
,
Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to by the Latin name Helsingia, is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of ...
, and
Gästrikland Gästrikland () is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Uppland, Västmanland, Dalarna, Hälsingland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Gästrikland is the southernmost and the most densely populated of the No ...
, who urged fidelity to their leader Gustav Eriksson. During the Dacke War, a peasant uprising, the city was under the authority of Nils Dacke and his supporters from the summer of 1542 until after New Year 1543. Several times during the
Northern Wars "Northern Wars" is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern Europe, northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, primarily between the territorial rivals of the Swedish Empire, Tsardom of Russia, Poland–Lithuani ...
and 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 ...
s, and thereafter, the city was affected by fire (in 1277, 1516, 1570, 1612, 1658, 1690, 1749, 1753, 1799, 1838 and 1843). After the last fire in 1843, when 1,140 citizens were rendered homeless, Växjö received its current street plan.


Modern times

Växjö is the city in which the photograph "''
A Woman Hitting a Neo-Nazi With Her Handbag ''The Woman with the Handbag'' (; also , "The lady with the handbag") is a photograph taken in Växjö, Sweden on 13 April 1985 by photojournalist Hans Runesson. It depicts a 38-year-old woman, Danuta Danielsson, hitting a marching Neo-Nazi with ...
''" was taken in 1985 by . In its December 2015 report, Police in Sweden placed the Växjö district Araby in the most severe category of urban areas with high crime rates.


Historic buildings

Växjö Cathedral is located near the centre of the city. Immediately north of Växjö is Kronoberg Castle, a ruined
fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...
constructed in the 15th century. This castle was used as a base by the rebel, Nils Dacke, during the Dacke War. The fortress has thick walls and
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
portals that face north towards lake Helgasjön. Teleborg Castle is also located near the city. It was built near the
Linnaeus University Linnaeus University (LNU) () is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University a ...
in 1900, it now functions as a hotel and conference facility.


Amenities

The Swedish Emigrant Institute was established in 1965, and is housed in the House of Emigrants near Växjö Lake in the heart of the city. It contains archives, a library, a museum, and a research center relating to the
emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
period between 1846 and 1930, when 1.3million (or 20%) of the Swedish population emigrated, mainly to the United States. Archives dating to the 17thcentury contain birth and death records, as well as household records, that are available on microfiche.


Economy

Industries include GE Power and Aerotech Telub, as well as Volvo Articulated Haulers which is located in Braås , north of Växjö. One of the best-known service providers is Fortnox and Visma. Växjö houses Sweden's National Glass Museum and claims to be the capital of the " Kingdom of Crystal" as well as of the " Kingdom of Furniture"
Växjö Linnaeus Science Park
focuses on supporting entrepreneurs focusing on circular economy, smart city, forestry and digitalization.


Demography


Population numbers by city districts

* Teleborg: 12,834 * Hovshaga: 9,541 * Hov: 8,020 * Araby: 6,520 * Norr: 4,518 * Väster: 4,829 * Öster: 4,489 * Söder: 3,694 * Sandsbro: 3,090 * Högstorp: 2,710 * Öjaby: 2,213 * Centrum: 2,086 * Räppe: 1,260 * Kronoberg/Evedal: 279 * Regementstaden: 88 * Västra mark: 69 * Norremark: 29


Transport

The Coast to Coast track cuts through the municipality from north-west to south-east. SJ's long-distance trains travel between Gothenburg, Alvesta (with connections to the southern trunk line) and Kalmar, with stop in Växjö. Öresundståg's long-distance trains travel the Kalmar – Alvesta – Malmö - Copenhagen route. Regional trains Krösatågen travel the Växjö – Jönköping route. Trunk roads 23, 25, 27, 29, 30 and 37 meet in the municipality. A new city hall and railway station building was completed in 2021. In air transport, the city is served by the nearby Växjö/Kronoberg Airport.


Environmental policy

In 1996 the city adopted a policy for the elimination of the use of fossil fuels by 2030. This decision was taken in reaction to pollution and
eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...
in the lakes that surround the town.
Greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
emissions were cut by 41% from 1993 to 2011, and were reduced by 55% by 2015. The city's economy has grown during this time. Växjö uses a variety of strategies to make progress towards being fossil fuel-free. Waste from the local forest industry is burned to generate power. Half of Växjö's electricity and over 90% of the energy used for heating comes from trees.
Biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...
and
renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
fuel the city's public transportation, and cycling is promoted as an alternative mode of transport. New buildings are constructed using wood and are designed to be energy efficient. By 2014, Växjö's CO2 emissions had dropped to 2.4tonnes per capita, well below the EU average of 7.3tonnes.


The Greenest City in Europe

Växjö has called itself "The Greenest City in Europe" since 2007. It has its foundation in a long history of commitment to environmental issues, and ambitious goals for a green future. It is a vision shared with the citizens and the local companies. In 2017 Växjö was awarded the European Green Leaf Award 2018 by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
. The prize is awarded to cities with less than 100 000 inhabitants that show good results and ambitions in terms of environment and are committed to generate green growth.


Education

The city has three municipality-run
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
s ("gymnasiums"): Teknikum, Katedralskolan, and Kungsmadskolan.
Linnaeus University Linnaeus University (LNU) () is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University a ...
had a student body of 42,000 students (including its Kalmar campus) or 15,000 students (
full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...
s) . There are many public and private middle/high schools, such as Kronoberg Skola.


Notable people

*
Joachim Björklund Joachim Björklund (; born 15 March 1971) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently assistant coach for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg. Beginning his playing career with Öste ...
, footballer * Jonas Björkman, tennis player with 50 doubles titles including Grand Slams * Karl-Birger Blomdahl, 20th century music composer * Maria Cederschiöld (deaconess) * Bjorn Englen, bass player of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force * Knute Heldner, 20th-century
Swedish American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...
artist * Emil Johansson (ice hockey), Ice Hockey player for the Providence Bruins of the AHL *
Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Johansson won the 24 Hours of Le Mans ...
, Formula 1 racing driver * Jonas Jonasson, writer * Owe Jonsson, track and field athlete and European champion * Martin Kellerman,
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
creator * Carolina Klüft, track and field athlete and Olympic gold medalist at Athens 2004 * Pär Lagerkvist, author and winner of the
Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
, 1951 * Otto Lindblad, 19th century music composer *
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 ...
, botanist, physician and zoologist *
John Lundvik John Lundvik (; born 27 January 1983) is a Swedish singer and former Sprint (running), sprinter. He was part of the athletic team for IFK Växjö. Lundvik also has a singing and songwriter career having composed songs for films and the Wedding o ...
, singer, represented Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2019 * Melody Club, rock band *
Christina Nilsson Christina Nilsson, Countess de Casa Miranda, also called Christine Nilsson (20 August 1843 – 22 November 1921) was a Swedish operatic dramatic coloratura soprano. Possessed of a pure and brilliant voice (B3-F6), first three then two and a ha ...
, 19th century soprano celebrity * Andreas Ravelli, footballer * Thomas Ravelli, football goalkeeper * Sophie Sager, 19th century writer and feminist * Peder Sjögren, 20th century author and playwright * Jonas Swensson, President of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church * Håkan Syrén, a military
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
and Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces * Esaias Tegnér, poet and bishop of Växjö * Per Tengstrand, pianist *
Mats Wilander Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
,
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player with seven Grand Slam victories 1982–1988 * Björn Wirdheim, racing driver * The Ark, rock band


Sport and leisure

The following sports clubs are located in Växjö: * Östers IF – football * Hovshaga AIF – football, floorball, and tennis * Växjö BK – football * Växjö Lakers – ice hockey * Växjö Vipers – floorball * Wexjö RK – rugby * Växjö Ravens BBK - basketball * – orienteering * Växjö DFF – football * Växjö United FC – football * Växjö VK – Volleyball


Speedway

*A speedway team rode at the Växjö Motorstadion, inaugurated on 5 June 1949 (the site of the current Räppe football pitch on Solängsvägen). They team competed in the 1950 Swedish speedway season before being the home for Dackarna in 1956. The venue held rounds of the
Individual Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...
in 1952, 1957 and 1958.


Climate

Växjö has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
('' Dfb''), using temperature data from 1961 to 1990. Temperatures have risen in recent years, and using the -3 Celsius isotherm, it can also be classified as 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 2002-2015 temperature data. It is milder, wetter, and cloudier than the rest of the country, with the number of hours of sunshine being associated more with the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
than with areas further north in Sweden. Considering its relative distance to all three coasts surrounding South Sweden, the climate is markedly maritime, with winter temperatures being relatively mild for an inland location. When compared with sunnier inland areas further north, Växjö has relatively cool summers.


References


External links


Växjö Municipality
– Official site
Växjö tourist information in english
in Nordisk familjebok {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaxjo County seats in Sweden Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Växjö Municipality Municipal seats of Kronoberg County Swedish municipal seats Cities in Sweden Värend