Ulricehamn is a
locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localitie ...
and the seat of
Ulricehamn Municipality
Ulricehamn Municipality () is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Ulricehamn.
The present municipality was created in 1974 when the former City of Ulricehamn was merged with three forme ...
,
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden.
The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, with 9,787 inhabitants in 2010.
History
Ulricehamn, originally known as ''Bogesund'', has been populated at least since the Middle Ages. The town has had
city privileges
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
since at least the 15th century. There are still several old buildings from the 17th and 18th century and the picturesque main street ''Storgatan'' has existed in its present form for centuries. Among other historical structures, there is the
city hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
, located at the market square, a yellowish
rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
building from 1789.
The town is situated on ''Ätranstigen'' ("The Ätran path"), a trail following the river
Ätran, stretching from the
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...
strait in the west an inwards the country, connecting with other roads leading eventually to the eastern cities
Sigtuna
Sigtuna is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in the eponymous Sigtuna Municipality, in Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,689 inhabitants in 2020. It is the namesake even though the seat of the municipality is in another locality, Märsta.
S ...
and
Uppsala
Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Loc ...
. In 1520, the
Battle of Bogesund
The Battle of Bogesund was an important conflict in the campaign of Christian II to gain power over Sweden. In 1520, Christian's army of mercenaries had landed in Sweden, seeking to consolidate Christian's powers over Sweden within the Kalmar Un ...
took place on the ice of the lake
Ã…sunden.
In 1741, it was renamed Ulricehamn in honour of Queen
Ulrica Eleonora. Following a fire in 1788 it encountered a recession, but several textile industries were established in the 19th century. Together with its first railroad in 1874 the town's importance as a center of trade increased.
Geography
The town is located on the slopes of a lakeside, where the river
Ätran flows into lake
Ã…sunden. The geography is signified by the scenic nature of trees and water, which offers popular activities such as bicycling, inlining and boat trips.
Climate
Ulricehamn has a transitional climate between
maritime
Maritime may refer to:
Geography
* Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps
* Maritime Region, a region in Togo
* Maritime Southeast Asia
* The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...
(''Cfb'') and
humid continental
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depe ...
(''Dfb'') on the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
. The climate in Ulricehamn differs slightly from surrounding areas. Situated on the slopes on the south side of Lake Ã…sunden it reaches up to 350 m.a.s.l. making the climate considerably colder than low-lying cities on the plains somewhat further north. Annual temperature in altitudes over 300m is further cooler in winter compared to data, since the weather station is located 180 m.a.s.l. During wintertime, Ulricehamn has become something of a skiing centre for the southwestern parts of Sweden. For
alpine skiing
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...
, there are 7 lifts and 6 slopes; while for
cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...
there are some 25 kilometers of prepared courses. The town centre on the lake is less likely to build up a snow cover due to the milder weather.
Being in the interior but also influenced by maritime westerlies, the summers closely resemble coastal locations to its west due to its elevation and more frequent cloud cover. Similar to other parts of southwestern Sweden, a lot of winter precipitation falls as rain due to the low-pressure systems originating over the warm waters of the
North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
. The weather station was set up in the 19th century, but closed after 2021.
References
{{authority control
Populated places in Ulricehamn Municipality
Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County
Swedish municipal seats