Landskrona

The old water tower in Landskrona is a landmark that can be seen from far away

Coat of arms

Landskrona

Coordinates: 55°52′N 12°50′E / 55.867°N 12.833°ECoordinates: 55°52′N 12°50′E / 55.867°N 12.833°E

Landskrona Municipality

Charter

15th century

Area

• Total

12.09 km² (4.67 sq mi)

Population (31 December 2010)

• Total

30,499

• Density

2,524/km² (6,540/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Landskrona is a late medieval town located at the shores of Øresund, founded at the location of the former Danish fishing village Sønder Sæby in the province of Scania by king Erik VII of Pomerania early in the 15th century. In 1720 the town, like its province, became a formal part of Sweden. Around the Castle build by Danish king Christian III in 1549, Landskrona Citadel, a huge system of moats emerged over the centuries, also in the town's Swedish history. Today the Citadel is famous for its well-preserved moat system, which includes parts of four moats. At the northern part of the Citadel, Sweden's second, and today oldest allotment area is located. Its port is based on a natural chute in the sandy sea floor, despite the lack of any nearby debouching river.

The town is the seat of Landskrona Municipality. The town, which in March 2013 celebrated its 600th birthday, had close to 33,000 inhabitants at that time.

For many years the town had a car ferry line to Copenhagen (Tuborg harbour, 70 minutes). Landskrona is located close to the Danish capital. From Rådhustorget (Town Hall Square) in Landskrona to Amalienborg Royal Palace in central Copenhagen, the crow flight distance is around 22–23 km. In the later parts of the 19th century, the town was transformed from a military settlement to a heavy industrial town. Between 1917 and 1983 Öresundsvarvet shipyard had up to 3,500 employees, but the town also had large manufacturers in the chemical and textile industry sectors. The football club Landskrona BoIS, which has participated in either of the top two Swedish league divisions during all but six seasons (as of January 2017, and there will be at least one more), ever since the Swedish football league system began in 1924–25, has always been important for the town and its inhabitants.

The city of Landskrona was founded at the location of Scania's (at that time a part of Denmark) best natural harbour, this an example of King Eric of Pomerania's anti-Hanseatic policy intended to compete with Danish towns under Hanseatic control. The foundation was done at a place for a fishing settlement, historically described as Sønder Sæby ("sønder" means "southern"). Today, there is still a very small settlement just north of the town, known as Säby (Sæby in Danish). This probably was the Nørre Sæby ("nørre" means "northern") in the beginning of the 15th century, but since the southern village became the town, the need for distinguishing northern and southern Sæby disappeared. The original name of the officially founded town was Landszcrone. But changed to Landskrone sometime before 1450.

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Wikipedia