Utö (Sweden)

Utö
Utö
State :	Sweden
Province  (län):	Stockholm County
Historical Province (landskap):	Södermanland
Municipality  :	Haninge
Coordinates :	58 ° 57 ′  N , 18 ° 17 ′  E Coordinates: 58 ° 57 ′  N , 18 ° 17 ′  E
SCB code :	S0747
Status:	Småort
Residents :	72 (December 31, 2015)
Area :	1.38 km²
Population density :	52 inhabitants / km²

Utö [ ˈʉːtøː ] is one of the main islands in the southern Stockholm archipelago and is located in the Swedish municipality of Haninge . Utö also designates the main town on the island in the central part of the island with the status of a Småort .

The village of Gruvbryggan on Utö, seen from the youth hostel

The island is ten kilometers long, up to three and a half kilometers wide and has a total of 191 permanent residents on an area of ​​29.36 km² (as of December 31, 2013). Utö is a main tourist destination in the region with around 300,000 visitors annually. It is known, among other things, for the remains of mining that has been in operation since the Middle Ages. In the south of the island there is a military training facility (Utö skjutfalt).

The island can be reached from the Stockholm suburb of Årsta Havsbad by regular ferry boat (35–40 minutes in summer and 50–55 minutes in winter). In summer there are also connections from Strömkajen in central Stockholm (3.5 hours). There is also a road connection to the neighboring island of Ålö via a bridge . As Utø written in the 14th century, the name refers to the main island of the parish and its location furthest out in the sea.

history

Utö was the first to be settled by Vikings. In the south of the island there is a burial site from the 8th century. Finds from the grave are exhibited in the Historical Museum in Stockholm.

Iron ore was discovered in the north of the island around 1150, about three kilometers northeast of today's main town near the present-day settlement of Gruvbyggan. The first written evidence of mines on the island dates from 1607. In 1624, nine mines were in operation. The element lithium was first discovered in a rock sample from Utö.

In 1709 most of the residents died of the plague . In 1719 Utö was devastated by Russian troops in the Great Northern War . The residents then left the island for a few years. The mines were reopened by Matthias Wefwerstedt. Utö was owned by his family until 1804 when the island was sold to a mining company.

In 1879 the mines were closed, which was the main reason for the subsequent population decline of more than two thirds. The island was sold to Magnus Andersson. The former hut owner , also known as Plank-Anders (" Planken -Anders"), had a large part of the trees cut down to sell the wood. In 1889 Andersson sold the island to the wholesaler Ernst Wilhelm Lewin (1846–1914), who had it built on Utö in a seaside resort (Utö havsbad) that was flourishing especially at the beginning of the 20th century .

The southern part of the island was acquired by the Swedish army in 1943 and the few inhabitants of this part of the island had to leave their homes.

Web links

Commons : Utö  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Statistiska centralbyrån : Småorter 2015, byggnader, areal, överlapp tatorter, coordinater (Excel file)
2. ↑ Statistiska centralbyrån : Öar utan fast landförbindelse med minst 10 invånare  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   (Excel file)
3. ↑ Svenskt local dictionary . Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet, Uppsala 2003, p. 339, ISBN 91-7229-020-X .
4. ^ Ann Wallin: Magnus Andersson “Plank-Anders”: en brukspatrons levnadshistoria under 1800-talet . Utö hembygdsförening, 2013.