Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv 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 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for historical reasons Marstrand is often referred to as a ''city''. The city had free port status, which was declared by King Gustav III, from 1775 to 1794. Religious liberty established by the same sovereign allowed an early Swedish congregation of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

to be established there in 1775 and one of

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

's first synagogues was set up in Fort Fredriksborg in 1780, making the village a notable site to the history of the Jews in Sweden. Following the abolishment of the free port status and the decline of herring fishing, Marstrand established itself as a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

in the 19th century. Important annual sporting events held in Marstrand include the Stena Match Cup Sweden and Marstrand Regatta. Marstrand is known as a playground for celebrities and wealthy Swedish residents alike, who come in the summer for the sea, shopping and the nightlife.

History

Marstrand has held

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

privileges since 1200. The most striking feature of Marstrand is the 17th-century fortress Carlsten, named for King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. During the last quarter of the 18th century Marstrand had free port status granted by King Gustav III. In the 1790s, the Jewish inhabitants of Marstrand numbered around 60 individuals at its peak Jewish population time. In 1805, all the Jews, except for one family, had left Marstrand for

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. Notable families of the Marstrand Jewish community were the Henriques, Delbanco, Warburg, von Reis and Magnus families. Administratively Marstrand with immediately surrounding islands was a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of its own until the local government reform of 1971 when it was merged into Kungälv Municipality. In 1969, around 200 stateless

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

arrived there.

Sports

Sailing

Being an island makes Marstrand popular for sailing and boat races. Marstrand is the host venue for ''Match Cup Sweden'', part of the World Match Racing Tour. The event draws international sailing teams to Marstrand. DS-37 boats are raced two at a time. Points accrued count towards the World Match Racing Tour and a place in the final event, with the overall winner taking the title ISAF World Match Racing Tour Champion.

Match racing A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailing, sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet racing, fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team rac ...

is well suited to Marstand. Highlights of the events are broadcast on Eurosport television and via the official World Match Racing Tour website.

References

Works cited

External links

Marstrand
- From Kungälv Municipality official page *

from Nordisk Familjebok (1912) {{Authority control Populated places in Kungälv Municipality Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Former Norwegian towns Car-free islands of Europe