Mariestad () is a locality and the seat of Mariestad Municipality,

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 ...

. It had 16,611 inhabitants in 2019. Until 1997 it was the capital of the former Skaraborg County and an

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

between 1583 and 1646.

History

The city was founded in 1583 by Duke Charles, who later became King

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl (; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric XIV and of ...

. The city is named after his wife Marie of Pfalz. The coat of arms for Mariestad, an ox stepping out of the water, is said to be what Marie of Pfalz saw by the bay of Tidan in Mariestad when she first arrived there.

Diocese

Mariestad is one of two Swedish cities with a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

without a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

's seat, the other being Kalmar. For political reasons, the diocese of Mariestad was presided over by a superintendent rather than a bishop from 1583 until 1646, when the superintendent was moved to

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

and the diocese of Mariestad was absorbed by that of Skara.

Notable natives

* Gustavus Schmidt (1795–1877), American lawyer and lecturer * Axel Lindahl (1841–1906), photographer * Dag Wennlund (born 1963), javelin thrower * Evelyn Mok (born 1987), actress and comedian * Helena Andersson * Anni Dewani

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Mariestad: *

IFK Mariestad IFK Mariestad is a Swedish football team based in Mariestad currently playing in Swedish Division 3, Division 3 Mellersta Götaland . Background IFK Mariestad was formed on the 18 December 1985 when the men's football section broke away from Ma ...

* Mariestads BK * Mariestad BoIS HC * IBK Lockerud Mariestad * Mariestads Motorklubb run a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

team called Örnarna at the Grevby Motorstadion.

Climate

Mariestad has a maritime climate influenced by its position on lake Vänern and the relative proximity to 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 town has warmer weather than elsewhere in western Sweden due to the influence of Vänern counterbalancing the low-pressure systems from further west. Mariestad is also shielded behind the archipelago and the peninsula to its west, which makes it warmer than areas further southwest on the lake shore. This leads to sunny summers with average afternoon temperatures being about . Summer nights are very mild by inland standards due to the lake influence. Winters are often mild with infrequent snow cover with the lake being large enough to provide further moderation of cold snaps compared to towns on the east coast like

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

and Nyköping on the same latitude. Vänern often remains in a liquid state during winters due to mild temperatures.

References

Populated lakeshore places in Sweden Populated places in Mariestad Municipality Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places established in 1583 {{VästraGötaland-geo-stub