upper right: Building at Lilla torget;
27-422: Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality , Kalmar County , Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010. Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then changed to Oscarshamn (meaning: Oscar's port) after the king Oscar I of Sweden . The spelling has later changed to Oskarshamn. The location of Oskarshamn was known as Döderhultsvik since
54-554: A locality with more than 10,000 inhabitants of which there are currently 127. Largest urban areas in 1850: Largest urban areas in 1900: Oskarshamns Stadspark Oskarshamns Stadspark (literally Oskarshamn City Park ) is a public park in Oskarshamn , in the south-east of Sweden . The park has an urban location just south of the city center. The plans for an urban park took shape shortly after Oskarshamn got its town charter in 1856. The city council bought
81-605: A long time was the Oskarshamn Shipyard , which at its height had almost 1500 employees. But in the 1970s, the Swedish shipbuilding industry suffered a large financial crisis and many shipyards closed down. In Oskarshamn, the shipyard went through a large downsizing which left many people unemployed. However, at around the same time, two major industries were established in Oskarshamn. In 1966, Scania AB bought
108-611: Is a Swedish term that historically was used for urban centers of various sizes. Since 1971, stad has no administrative or legal significance in Sweden. The status of towns in Sweden was formerly granted by a royal charter , comparable to the United Kingdom 's status of borough or burgh before the 1970s or city status today. Unless given such town privileges , a municipality could not call itself stad . To receive
135-491: Is open to the public to visit. The two top employers in Oskarshamn are Scania truck manufacturer and the OKG nuclear power plant. Other companies include Liljeholmens candle factory, battery manufacturer SAFT , Elajo, and Bygg Hemma. In the port of Oskarshamn there are tourist boats which take visitors to the island and national park Blå Jungfrun . There are also boats that cruise the coastal waters closer to Oskarshamn. Within
162-451: Is still active, as well as commercial and passenger shipping. Three different ferry lines transport passengers to Gotland , Öland and Blå Jungfrun . Between 1965-1985, a nuclear power facility was constructed outside Oskarshamn. Three BWR units were built, that today delivers about 10% of Sweden's electrical supply. There is also a laboratory for research concerning long-time storage of spent nuclear fuel. The Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory
189-802: Is the Swedish equivalent to Springfield, the Simpsons' hometown . Each summer there is a music festival located to the harbor area. The festival, named Latitud 57 and connected to the other international Latitude music festivals, is taking place simultaneously as the annual Oskarshamn Offshore Race which is a popular competition for powerboats. The world championship in Offshore was held here in 2011. There are four main elementary schools in Oskarshamn, Norra skolan , Vallhallaskolan , Rödsleskolan and Kristinebergskolan . There are also two high schools, Oscarsgymnasiet (the main high school) and Elajogymnsiet (specializing in electricity). The rail traffic
216-407: Is today limited to a few passenger trains a day to and from Nässjö and freight trains to and from the harbour. There is also a ferry line between the town and Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland . Oskarshamn also has its own airport , situated some 11 kilometres (7 miles) to the north of the city centre. The connection with Stockholm-Arlanda was closed down on 17 April 2014. In May 2014 there
243-559: The Medieval age. In 1645, the city of Kalmar, to the south, made a request to the Royal Government on holding commerce in the bay there, which was granted, giving it merchancy rights as a köping . There followed 200 years of merchancies in the town, during which it was governed and dependent on Kalmar; while the surrounding towns and municipalities made frequent requests to grant it a charter , consequently turned down each of
270-613: The truck cab factory, which had been building truck cabs since 1948, and started expanding. The Scania factory is today one of the biggest employers in Kalmar county with almost 2000 employees. Liljeholmens Stearinfabriks AB , established in Oskarshamn in 1970, is the world’s largest candle manufacturer, specialized in stearin candles. The oldest person in Sweden, Astrid Zachrison was born Åby in Fliseryd, just west of Oskarshamn. She died on her 113th birthday. The shipyard founded in 1863
297-587: The 18th century was Östersund (1786). In 1863 the first local government acts were implemented in Sweden. Of the around 2,500 municipalities that were created, 88 were chartered towns. The main difference between these and other municipalities was that a stad had its own jurisdiction , i.e. independent town courts. There were also laws on urban planning and building ( Byggnadstadgan 1874 ), fire prevention ( Brandstadgan 1874 ), public order ( Ordningsstadgan 1868 ) and public health ( Hälsovårdsstadgan 1874 ) which were compulsory applicable to towns. Prior to 1900,
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#1732793884958324-482: The 19th century. The area is called Besväret and Fnyket. Oskarshamns Stadspark is a public park located immediately south of the towns central parts. Fredriksbergs Herrgård is a manor-house built in 1784 situated just outside the city center of Oskarshamn. It is open for the public to visit and houses a restaurant, café and a small museum. Oskarshamn has an oceanic climate ( Cfb ), mild for its latitude, with winter means slightly below freezing and summer days among
351-408: The attempts made in the years: 1786, 1798, 1800, 1815, 1818, 1823, 1825, 1830 and 1838. In 1843 it got some independence, with a local council, but the council itself was occupied by citizens of Kalmar. In 1854, King Oscar I of Sweden promised to grant it a charter as soon as it had fulfilled certain demands, including building a prison and a council hall, among other things. When they had accomplished
378-455: The bench there is a panorama view over the harbor and the quite lively shipping activity going on there. There is a marina for private boats at the innermost of the harbor. Another panorama-view of Oskarshamn and the sea outside is obtained from the top of the town’s northern water-tower which is open to the public. The older part of Oskarshamn is preserved fairly well. In one particular part of town there are older wooden houses originating from
405-422: The difference between rural and urban areas. Police forces and district courts , as well as taxation, were centralized under state agencies, making the administration uniform all over Sweden. The amalgamations of municipalities reduced the number of local government units from a maximum of 2,532 in 1930 to less than 300 today. Consequently, by 1970 most municipalities contained both rural and urban areas. Since
432-505: The feats, the charter was granted, and the city became one of the Cities of Sweden starting 1856, on May 1. This status has today no legal significance, but Oskarshamn is now the seat of the much larger Oskarshamn Municipality, without being a political entity of its own. Industrialisation began with the inauguration of the railway line to Nässjö. From then on, industries as well as the harbour began to expand. The biggest private employer for
459-428: The land necessary in 1863-1864. It was bought from the private land owner Johan Fredrik Hultenheim. Today a stone memorial of J.F. Hultenheim can be found in the northern part of the park. The park was originally formed on three bogareas surrounded by smooth rocks of granite. From the elevated areas in the eastern park there are views over the port and the surrounding waters outside Oskarshamn. The northern part of
486-460: The municipality there is the Oskarshamn archipelago which consists of over 5, 000 islands and small islets. In the harbor area there are some restaurants, pubs and cafés. There are also viewpoints over the harbour. On the south side of the port there is a 72-metre (236 ft) wooden bench called Långa Soffan . It was built in 1867 and it is believed to be the longest of its kind in Europe. From
513-487: The name of the floorball team which is playing in the division 1-league. IFK Oskarshamn and Oskarshamns AIK are two of the towns' soccer teams . The latter plays in the division 1-league. During 5th to 10 July 2011, Oskarshamn hosted the world championship in offshore powerboat racing . Oskarshamn is twinned with: City status in Sweden Stad (Swedish: ' town; city ' ; plural städer )
540-461: The privileges, there were several requirements a municipality needed to fulfill, like being of a certain size, and to have certain facilities. The criteria varied over time as they were at the discretion of the Riksdag or the monarch , but they could include a permanent town council hall and a prison. In the majority of cases, before a town received its charter, it would have previously been given
567-419: The seat of Gotland Municipality , but is no political entity of its own. Some former towns have also grown together, forming one urban area. A few municipalities which used to be towns still style themselves as stad , e.g. Stockholm , Gothenburg and Malmö . There are also municipalities with considerable rural areas that market themselves with the term. Statistics Sweden defines the term stad as
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#1732793884958594-545: The seat of their respective municipalities though the term is no longer an administrative term. In some municipalities there can be more than one former town, e.g. Eskilstuna and Torshälla in Eskilstuna Municipality , Kungälv and Marstrand in Kungälv Municipality , or Jönköping , Huskvarna and Gränna , which all three now are part of Jönköping Municipality . The town of Visby is
621-526: The status of köping or "merchant town". Exceptions to this would be when a town was founded under Royal supervision, in which case it would often bear the name of the monarch, such as Kristianstad or Karlskrona (named after kings Christian IV of Denmark and Karl XI of Sweden ). In the Late Middle Ages , c. 1450 , Sweden (excluding Finland ) had 41 chartered towns. By 1680 there were 83. The only town founded and chartered during
648-428: The two minor towns of Borgholm and Haparanda lost their courts, but retained the title of stad . Of the new towns chartered between 1901 and 1951 (44, making the total number of towns 133), not a single one was given its own jurisdiction, but remained under what was called landsrätt ("rural jurisdiction"). In the middle of the 20th century many administrative reforms were carried out that continued to diminish
675-454: The urban and rural municipalities also with time got the same duties towards citizens, it became unnecessary to differentiate between towns and other municipalities, as all had the same powers. Since 1 January 1971, all municipalities are designated as kommun , regardless of their former status. Most of the urban areas of Sweden which once were chartered towns are today still usually referred to as stad . The majority of them are also house
702-507: The warmest in Sweden and Scandinavia. Precipitation is light to moderate, typical of Southeastern Sweden. Oskarshamn was the home of the famous woodcarver Axel Petersson Döderhultarn . His studio, as well as the Döderhultarn Museum , contains more than 200 of his carvings. There is also a maritime museum in Oskarshamn . At the release of The Simpsons film, Swedish newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet concluded that Oskarshamn
729-473: Was a decision by the municipality to close down the airport totally. The nearest other airport is Kalmar Airport , 75 kilometres (47 mi) from Oskarshamn. The airport is still used for some general aviation . IK Oskarshamn is the name of the local ice hockey team. The team has played in the highest hockey-league in Sweden, the Swedish Hockey League , since 2019. Craftstaden IBK is
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