Lödöse

	Lödöse
	Lödöse
State :	Sweden
Province (län):	Västra Götalands län
Historical Province (landskap):	Västergötland
Municipality :	Lilla Edet
Coordinates :	58 ° 2 ' N , 12 ° 9' E Coordinates: 58 ° 2 ' N , 12 ° 9' E
SCB code :	4944
Status:	Crime scene
Residents :	1540 (December 31, 2015)
Area :	1.8 km²
Population density :	856 inhabitants / km²
	List of perpetrators in Västra Götaland County

Lödöse local history museum

Skeleton find (man and woman) 1915 from the Nya Lödöse kyrka

Lödöse is a locality ( tätort ) in the Swedish municipality of Lilla Edet on the river Göta älv . It is located in the province of Västra Götalands län and the historical province of Västergötland . From the 13th to the 15th century, the place was an important city, which was characterized by Sweden's only port with a direct connection to the North Sea . The city is seen as the predecessor of Gothenburg .

history

middle Ages

The origin of the city is documented by archaeological finds for the 12th century, but could have been a century earlier. In the 12th century there were three churches, a royal court and a mint, as well as a defense tower. The coinage started around 1150 after the mint in Sigtuna was shut down around 1030. After that, with the exception of the reign of Magnus Ladulås (1275–1290) up to 1365 coins were minted here. Around 1200 the city was first mentioned in Saxo Grammaticus work Gesta danorum with the Latin name Liuthusium . In Icelandic sagas that emerged a little later, events are reported that are said to have taken place in Lödöse around 1150.

Around 1250 Sweden received a land connection to the Kattegat and in the following 200 years Lödöse experienced its heyday due to the port. The trade with other Scandinavians, Germans, British, Scots and Dutch increased strongly and the German Hanseatic League had representatives in the city's magistrate. From here animal products, wood and iron were exported and in return goods were imported that could not be manufactured in Sweden. Duke Erik of Södermanland had the city burned down in 1304 during a minor war against his brother Valdemar , but subsequently developed it into an administrative center in the region. The actual decline of the place began with the establishment of better fortifications at the mouth of the Göta älv and the Engelbrekt uprising around 1434.

Later Wasa period and Swedish great power period

Gustav Wasa had the town charter of Lödöse revoked in 1526 . Regardless of this, the fortification of the place was extended by several towers due to the unrest connected with the deposition of Christian II . Gustav's son Johann III. gave the place back the town charter in 1586. In the following years, Lödöse was the scene of armed conflicts several times. After the Skåne War , which ended in 1679, the place lost its strategic importance and began to decline.

Modern times

Lödöse experienced a brief boom between 1877 and 1905, as a railway line was built nearby to transport products from the Bergslagen region to the Kattegat. From 1952 to 1970 Lödöse was the capital of a municipality of the same name. The excavations of the medieval complex took place between 1916 and 1920 and since 1961. Currently, about a third of the former city has been archaeologically examined. The found objects can be viewed in the local museum and in the History Museum in Stockholm .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Statistiska centralbyrån : Land area per Tatort, folkmängd and invånare per square kilometer. Vart femte år 1960 - 2015 (database query)

[scb_aktuell-1] Statistiska centralbyrån : Land area per Tatort, folkmängd and invånare per square kilometer. Vart femte år 1960 - 2015 (database query)