Oskarshamns Stadspark (literally ''Oskarshamn City Park'') is a public park in

Oskarshamn Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010. History Etymology Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then chan ...

, in the south-east of

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 ...

. The park has an urban location just south of the city center. Stadsparken

History

The plans for an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

took shape shortly after Oskarshamn got its

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter ...

in 1856. The

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

bought the land necessary in 1863-1864. It was bought from the private land owner Johan Fredrik Hultenheim. Today a stone memorial of J.F. Hultenheim can be found in the northern part of the park.

Description

The park was originally formed on three

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

areas surrounded by smooth rocks of granite. From the elevated areas in the eastern park there are views over the port and the surrounding waters outside Oskarshamn. The northern part of the park mainly consists of open lawns surrounded by

broadleaf tree A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with ne ...

s, bushes and different types of flowers. In the middle of the park there is a public tennis court. The southern part of the park is dominated by

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees and sparse populations of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

. Throughout the park there are smaller

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

s and

ponds A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond t ...

. There are also a handful of bronze

statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size. A sculpture ...

. A grid of trails makes the park accessible for walking, jogging and bicycling.SKB - Article ''Stadsparken i Oskarshamn'' p. 3. (Swedish)

References

;Notes ;Works cited
SKB - Article ''Stadsparken i Oskarshamn'' (Swedish)
* {{Cite book , last=Hofrén, first=Manne, authorlink=, title=Oskarshamn 1856-1956, publisher=AB Oskarshamns-Tidningen, year=1956, isbn= Oskarshamn Tourist attractions in Kalmar County Gardens in Sweden Parks in Sweden