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Uddevalla

Place in Bohuslän, Sweden From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Uddevalla is a town in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It’s the seat of Uddevalla Municipality. In 2015, it had a population of 34,781, making it the largest town fully in Bohuslän. Uddevalla is located where the river Bäveån opens up into Byfjorden, a fjord in the south-eastern part of Skagerrak.[1]

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The beaches of Uddevalla are filled with seashells and Uddevalla has one of the largest shell-banks in the world.[2] Uddevalla also has a port that once was a large shipyard, the Uddevallavarvet ("Uddevalla wharf"), which was the largest employer in Bohuslän during the 1960s.[3]

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History

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Uddevalla around 1700, from the Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna

Uddevalla originally belonged to Norway and received its town privileges in 1498. It’s probable that the town was founded some time before that, but we have no proof about that. The Norwegians originally named the city “Oddevald”, which later became “Oddevold”. [4]

Due to the town’s former proximity to Denmark and Sweden, as well as its strategic position, there were many wars in and around Oddevold. Oddevold has changed nationalities a total of seven times throughout its history. In 1658, Oddevold (and the rest of Bohuslän) was handed to Sweden as part of the Treaty of Roskilde. Norway invaded the city a year later before it was handed back as part of the Treaty of Copenhagen 1660. That was the last time Oddevold changed nationality and it was soon thereafter renamed to Uddevalla. The old name remains today in the form of IK Oddevold, the local football team.[4][5]

City fires

Uddevalla has been burned to the ground a total of six times. The first five times were attempts to claim the city by the different Scandinavian nations. After the fifth fire in 1690, the town was rebuilt and became larger than it ever was. Uddevalla was the 5th largest city in Sweden when the sixth great fire started in 1806. The small fire which started in a barn spread quickly and burnt down the entire city. Only a few houses located in the city outskirts remained intact, and the city had to be rebuilt. It is because of this fire that central Uddevalla has a grid-like structure.[4][6][7]

Industries

When the industrial revolution reached Sweden, Uddevalla had fully recovered from the fire. Uddevalla's first major industry was a cotton mill named Kampenhof AB. It was built in 1857 and had 10 000 machines driven by a steam engine. A few years later in 1875, Adolf P. Zachau built a match factory called Uddevalla Tändsticksfabrik. The match factory, along with their trademark “Svalan” (translated: “The Swallow”), eventually became successful all over the world. Despite this, it was closed down in 1938. Kampenhof AB remained until 1954, when it too was closed down. The cotton mill however, stood untouched until 1982 when it was demolished. In its place today is Kampenhof Resecentrum, the main bus station of Uddevalla.[8][9]

Uddevallavarvet was at its time the biggest employer in all of Bohuslän with approximately 4 000 workers at its peak. It was founded in 1946 by Gustav B. Thordén, who bought two kaiser shipyards, one from Portland, Maine and one from Providence, Rhode Island, and transported them across the Atlantic. When Uddevallavarvet was closed down in 1986 they had built 221 supertankers. Their biggest ship was the T/T Nanny which, with a length of 364 meters and a width of 79 meters, is the biggest ship ever built in Sweden. [3][10]

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Education

All the high schools in Uddevalla are administered as one school, the Uddevalla Gymnasieskola ("Uddevalla High School"), which is now the largest high school in Sweden.[citation needed] The school has 4,000 students attending the following branches of the high school:

There are also many primary schools in Uddevalla, some of them are:

  • Äsperödskolan
  • Västerskolan
  • Fridaskolan
  • Ramnerödsskolan
  • Norgårdenskolan
  • Norrskolan
  • Sommarhemsskolan
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Sports

Arenas

Agnebergshallen is an indoor sports arena for various sports including handball.

The home ground for the IK Oddevold is the outdoor arena Rimnersvallen. A large indoor arena, the Rimnershallen, is next to the Rimnersvallen. It is used for handball and floorball as well as other sports.

Sports clubs

The following sports clubs are located in Uddevalla:

Football

Hockey

  • Uddevalla HC

Handball

  • GF Kroppskultur(GFK)
  • Uddevalla HK(UHK)

Floorball

  • Walkesborg 99
  • Herrestad AIF

Futsal

Sites of interest

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Transportation

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Highways and major roads

The European Route E6 passes through Torp Köpcentrum in west Uddevalla. From there, county road 161 goes west towards Lysekil, while national road 44 goes east. The 44 passes through Uddevalla city centre and Kuröd industrial area before continuing to Trollhättan and Götene. County road 172 starts in Kuröd, connects with the 44, and continues north through Dalsland.

Bus

Most public transport in Uddevalla is operated by Västtrafik since it is a part of Västra Götaland County. Uddevalla has a network of city buses featuring 50 stops and 6 lines, all of which stop at Kampenhof Resecentrum, one of Uddevalla’s two bus stations. The other bus station is called Torp Terminalen which is located at Torp Köpcentrum. Most regional buses stop at Torp instead of Kampenhof because of Torp’s proximity to four major roads. Some notable destinations Västtrafik offers bus routes to from Uddevalla are Ljungskile, Färgelanda, Bengtsfors, Trollhättan, Munkedal, Kungshamn, Smögen, Tanumshede, Strömstad, Henån, Stenungsund, Lysekil, Kungälv, and Gothenburg.[15] Additionally, Vy bus4you offers long distance buses between Copenhagen and Oslo, which stop at Torp Terminalen.[16]

Train

Uddevalla has two train stations: Uddevalla Central and Uddevalla Östra (“Uddevalla East”). Both are a part of the Bohus Line, while the Central Station also is a part of the Älvsborg Line.

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Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Sweden

Uddevalla is twinned with:[17]

Notable people

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See also

References

External links

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