Strängnäs 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 Strängnäs Municipality,

Södermanland County Södermanland County ( sv, Södermanlands län) is a county or ''län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is th ...

, Sweden with 15,363 inhabitants in 2020. It is located by Lake Mälaren and is the episcopal see of the

Diocese of Strängnäs The Diocese of Strängnäs ( sv, Strängnäs stift) is a part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden and has its seat in Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, south of Lake Mälaren. The diocese is made up of the two provinces Närke and Södermanland ...

, one of the thirteen dioceses of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

. Prominently located on a hilltop,

Strängnäs Cathedral Strängnäs Cathedral ( sv, Strängnäs domkyrka) is a Lutheran cathedral church in Strängnäs, Sweden, since the Protestant Reformation the seat of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Strängnäs. Architecture Construction of the cathedral bega ...

, built between 1291 and 1340, is an important landmark.

Etymology

The city's name is first encountered in 1120, in reference to the Diocese. The name Strängnäs is derived from the fact that the city is located near a strait and on several hills, especially on two major ones, the "Mill Hill" and the "Cathedral Hill". In

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''strengr'' indicates a "narrow channel of water" and ''nes'' refers to an "

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

", "narrow peninsula", or " headland", a very common toponymic in Scandinavia.

History

A monastery was established around 1250, and the cathedral inaugurated in 1291, with the town subsequently evolving around these two institutions. The oldest known city charter was granted in 1336 by King Magnus Eriksson. Strängnäs became a city of importance in the

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

province, as the location of the governing

thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...

and also of an annual market. King

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

was elected king in Strängnäs in 1523, and delivered his first speech from a position adjacent to the cathedral. In the 15th and 16th centuries Strängnäs had an important place in the

history of Sweden The history of Sweden can be traced back to the melting of the Northern Polar Ice Caps. From as early as 12000 BC, humans have inhabited this area. Throughout the Stone Age, between 8000 BC and 6000 BC, early inhabitants used st ...

, particularly through the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

era. Strängnäs was the native city of prominent reformer

Laurentius Andreae Laurentius Andreae ( Swedish: Lars Andersson ) (c. 1470 – 14 April 1552) was a Swedish Lutheran clergyman and scholar who is acknowledged as one of his country's preeminent intellectual figures during the first half of the 16th century. In h ...

and the home city of both Andreae and

Olaus Petri Olof Persson, sometimes Petersson (6 January 1493 – 19 April 1552), better known under the Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri (or less commonly, Olavus Petri), was a clergyman, writer, judge, and major contributor to the Protestant Reformatio ...

. It became a regional centre of education and scholarship, and in 1626 the Thomas Gymnasium was established by King Gustavus Adolphus, and is today Sweden's second oldest operating gymnasium. The urban and economic development of Strängnäs seems to have slowed after the Reformation, only flourishing temporarily with the arrival of energetic bishops. The city was slow to engage with the 19th century industrial development and investment found in other areas. A significant fire in 1871 led to large-scale reconstruction of the city, from which time its current appearance stems. The city was accidentally bombed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, causing minor damage. In 1962 a

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones d ...

known as Strängnäs stone was discovered during the demolition of an old stove in a house at Klostergatan 4. The stone is a piece of

jotnian In north European geology, Jotnian sediments are a group of Precambrian rocks more specifically assigned to the Mesoproterozoic Era ( Riphean), albeit some might be younger. Jotnian sediments include the oldest known sediments in the Baltic area ...

sandstone inscribed with runes written in

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a ...

, in Elder Futhark alphabet.

Contemporary life

Many of the inhabitants of Strängnäs commute to Stockholm, Södertälje and Eskilstuna.

European route E20 European route E20 is a part of the United Nations International E-road network. It runs roughly west–east through Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Russia. Its length is but it is not continuous; at three points, a ...

passes the city, and there is a mainline railway station operated by the Swedish

national railway The National Railway or National Air Line Railroad was a planned railroad between New York City and Washington, D.C. in the United States around 1870. Part of it was eventually built from New York to Philadelphia by the Delaware and Bound Brook ...

company, with direct services to and from the capital Stockholm. Tourism is a significant element of the city's economy, with the brick gothic cathedral (with celebrated statues, artworks, and historical archives)Regional touris
website
attracting many visitors, as well as the attraction of natural features, particularly the lake. The extreme metal band Merciless was formed in Strängnäs.

Museums

* Swedish Tank Museum Arsenalen

Gallery

Strängnäs Windmill.JPG, Harbour and old windmill Houses in Strängnäs.JPG, Houses in Strängnäs Väderkvarn, Strängnäs.JPG, Old mill in Strängnäs Strängnäs Dom vy26.jpg, The Cathedral of Strängnäs

References

* Nordisk familjebok.
article ''Strängnäs'' online
��in Swedish)

External links

Strängnäs
- Official site * https://www.panoramio.com/photo/24440240 {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangnas Municipal seats of Södermanland County Swedish municipal seats Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Södermanland County Populated places in Strängnäs Municipality