Skänninge () 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 ...

situated in

Mjölby Municipality Mjölby Municipality () is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Mjölby, with some 13,000 inhabitants.

Östergötland County Östergötland County () is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the northeast. It also has a ...

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 3,140 inhabitants in 2010. It lies about 10 km north of the municipal seat

Mjölby Mjölby ( ) is a city and the seat of Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 28,544 inhabitants in 2024. Mjölby is located by the rivulet Svartån. The name ''Mjölby'' is derived from ''Mölloby'', which comes from or , meani ...

. Before the local government reform in 1971, the ''City of Skänninge'' was a municipal entity of its own. Skänninge is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city''.

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( ; SCB, ) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsibilities include: * developin ...

, however, only counts

localities 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 ...

with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. The cycler Bernhard Britz was born here

Geography

The town is located on the Skena river.

History

The history of the town goes back to the 11th century, making it one of the oldest cities in Sweden. The town has changed little since then and is still the same size as the same street structure. Many locations are recognizable since the Middle Ages. One of the older buildings in the medieval

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

Church of Our Lady, Sw. ''Vårfrukyrkan'', constructed by the town's German population in honor of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. Apart from the church, the town also contains the remains of a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. In 1250, the reigning family of

Folkung In modern Swedish, Folkung has two meanings, which appear to be opposites: # The medieval " House of Bjälbo" in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

had its main quarters near Skänninge, and the town developed into something of the

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

capital, and the market place became one of the richest and most attended in the country. However, in the 13th century, the nearby located city of

Vadstena Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It bo ...

surpassed it in interest. Furthermore, Skännige suffered fires in 1477 and 1466. The annual Skänninge Market with its 1000-year-old tradition is still being held in August every year and visited by around 120,000 people.

References

External links

article ''Skänninge''
from

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

Skänninge - Den lilla staden med de stora minnena
Populated places in Mjölby Municipality {{Östergötland-geo-stub