Båstad () is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and the seat of

Båstad Municipality Båstad Municipality (''Båstads kommun'') is a municipality in Skåne County in South Sweden, located in Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Båstad. The present municipality was established in 1971 when the market town (''köping'') ''B ...

, Scania County,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably more than twice as large between April and September, and even larger during July. Its municipality follows a similar pattern: some 15,000 permanent residents, but more than 30,000 during July. Some villages within the municipality are almost empty during the winter, but have more than 2,000 "summer guests" during July.

Torekov Torekov () is a locality situated in Båstad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 863 inhabitants in 2010. It is still a fishing village but it is today known as a summer resort. In August, 1971 Torekov hosted a meeting in which it was decided ...

is a good example of this. Within Sweden, Båstad is well known for

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

. The largest centre court in Sweden is located in the town's centre, and can take more than 5,000 attendants. Several top national players, such as

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at ...

Mats Wilander Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven major singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one major ...

and

Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 19 ...

, have played tennis in Båstad.

Geography

The town of Båstad is located in a sheltered bay with the Hallandian ridge stretching behind it. The town borders the shore, whereafter the terrain raises until the dense vegetation of the ridge takes over.

History

The first city privileges were granted in the 14th or 15th century, when the area belonged to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The first certain date is 1513 when it was re-granted. At the time, the name in print was ''Botstœdœ'', which would translate to "Boat (landing) place". In 1658, the area was conquered by

, and Båstad was given new "special" privileges in 1664, because it was of too insignificant size to receive the full

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

as one of Sweden's cities. The minor privilege allowed the town to be used for commerce,

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

and

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or share ...

ry. The minor privilege was in effect until 1858 when it got proper rights as a ''merchant town'', or ''

köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Municip ...

''. It has been the seat of

since 1971. Båstad is known for its

tournament

Swedish Open Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

, held each summer since 1948. The tournament boasts the largest number of courts in the country, and has fostered many internationally successful tennis players, such as

Magnus Larsson Per Henrik ''Magnus'' Larsson (born 25 March 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. Playing career Larsson turned professional in 1989 and won his first top-level singles title at Florence in 1990. His first doubles title ...

. It attracts some 20,000 visitors and puts the town in a festive mood for a few weeks. Since 2009, the women's WTA tournament, previously held in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, also is played in Båstad as part of the Swedish Open. The city is also home of the Troentorp Clog, formerly known as Båstad Clogs. Troentorp Clogs have been handcrafted in Båstad since 1907 and continue to be produced with the original wooden design. The botanist

Carl Adolph Agardh Carl Adolph Agardh (23 January 1785 in Båstad, Sweden – 28 January 1859 in Karlstad) was a Swedish botanist specializing in algae, who was eventually appointed bishop of Karlstad. Biography In 1807 he was appointed teacher of mathematics ...

was born in Båstad in 1785.

Sights

The Church of Båstad or Saint Mary's Church is located in central Båstad. It was constructed in the 15th century. It is a Romanesque church, and contains several wall paintings from various centuries; a madonna image; and a Danish altarpiece, among other things. A few kilometers outside of Båstad there is a large garden called Norrviken Gardens, which was founded by Rudolf Abelin in the 1900. It once had been chosen as the most beautiful park in Sweden, and the second most beautiful in Europe in 2006.

Notable people

(1785–1859), botanist, born in Båstad * Arne Bjerhammar (1917–2011), geodesist notable for independently describing

Moore–Penrose inverse In mathematics, and in particular linear algebra, the Moore–Penrose inverse of a matrix is the most widely known generalization of the inverse matrix. It was independently described by E. H. Moore in 1920, Arne Bjerhammar in 1951, and Ro ...

in 1951, born in Båstad * Erik Paulsson, billionaire businessman

References

External links