Sundsvall () is a
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 ...
and the seat of
Sundsvall Municipality in
Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the
municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town in Sundsvall is known as Stenstan, meaning ''stone city'' referencing the stone buildings from the late eighteen hundreds.
History
The town was chartered in 1621, and a first urban plan for Sundsvall was probably created by
Olof Bure in 1642, less likely in 1623.
[Nils Ahlberg]
''Stadsgrundningar och planförändringar : Svensk stadsplanering 1521–1721''
, avhandling vid Institutionen för landskapsplanering Ultuna och Konstvetenskapliga institutionen, Stockholms universitet 2005, s. 550 It has a port by the
Gulf of Bothnia, and is located 395 km north of
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
. The city has burned down and been rebuilt four times. The first time, in 1721, it was set on fire by the Russian army during the
Russian Pillage of 1719-1721.
According to one historian, Swedish industrialism started in Sundsvall when the
Tunadal sawmill bought a steam-engine driven saw in 1849. In the early 20th century Sundsvall was an even greater centre of
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
industry in Sweden than it is today. The first large Swedish strike was the "Sundsvall strike" in 1879. The industrial heritage makes
social democrat and socialist sympathies more prevalent in the Sundsvall region than in Sweden as a whole.
In 1888 on 25 June, strong wind and dry conditions contributed to two city fires in Sweden on the same day. On this day both
Umeå and Sundsvall
caught fire.
[Fire of 1888]
, Sunsvall.se, retrieved 28 May 2014 The Sundsvall fire was the largest in Sweden's history. It is presumed that the fire was caused by a spark from a steamship. After the fire, and unlike Umeå, the decision was to rebuild using stone. Sundsvall's centre was later nicknamed
Stenstaden (''the stone city''). One advantage of the new construction was that within three years the town was arguing that it should be allowed reduced insurance as new rules had been brought in that applied to wooden towns. One disadvantage was that after the fire only the better off could afford to live in the centre.
Today Sundsvall is not only dominated by the
pulp and paper industry, and the aluminium production but there are also banks, insurance companies, telecommunications administration and a number of large public data-processing centres such as the national social insurance board. The main campus of the
Mid Sweden University (''Mittuniversitetet'') is also located in the city. The university, established in 1993, is a collaboration between Östersund, Sundsvall and Härnösand.
Demography
Culture
During 1987–2013, there was a summer music festival called Gatufesten. Starting in 2014 there's a new one called Hamnyran. There are two theatres and various musical venues. There is also a small guitar festival and a larger heavy metal festival every autumn called Nordfest. Sundsvall is also home to the unique festival Musikschlaget,
which is a song contest for groups around Sweden with disabilities.
Transport
Its airport is
Sundsvall-Timrå Airport, also called Midlanda.
Sport
*
Alnö IF, association football
*
GIF Sundsvall, association football
*
IF Sundsvall Hockey, ice hockey
*
IFK Sundsvall, association football
*
Sundsvalls AIK (
sv), wrestling (https://www.sundsvallsaik.se/)
*
Sundsvalls DFF, association football
*
Kovlands IF, multi-sport alliance club
**
Kovlands Ishockeyförening, ice hockey
*
Selånger SK, multi-sport alliance club
**
Selånger FK, association football
**
Selånger SK Bandy, bandy
*
Sidsjö-Böle IF, association football
*
Sund IF, association football
*
Sundsvall Dragons, basketball
*
Sundsvall Flames, American football
*
Njurunda MK, Motocross, Enduro and Trial
Former
*
IBK Sundsvall, floorball (1986–2006)
Notable people
*
Otto Wallin, boxer
*
Garmarna, folk band
*
The Same, punk band
*
Sigrid Hjertén (1885–1948), painter
*
Harry Ahlin (1900–1969), actor
*
Per Arne Collinder (1890–1975), astronomer (born in Sundsvall)
*
Gina Dirawi (1990–), television presenter, host of
Melodifestivalen 2012 and
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
*
Elin Ek (1976–), TV and radio personality (as Grynet), singer
*
Fredrik Ericsson (1975–2010), extreme skier
*
Jessica Falk (1973–), singer-songwriter and musician
*
Anders Abraham Grafström (1790–1870), poet
*
Anders Graneheim (1962–), bodybuilder
*
Stan Hasselgård (1922–1948), musician
*
Bengt Lindström (1925–2008), artist
*
Kjell Lönnå (1936–2022), musician
*
Fredrik Modin (1974–), ice hockey player
*
Max Magnus Norman (1973–), artist
*
Daniel Ohrn (1993-), ice hockey player
*
Erik Ringmar (1960–), political scientist and author
*
Mattias Saari (1994–), ice hockey player
*
Helen Sjöholm (1970–), singer, actress and musical theater performer
*
Hanna Glas (1993–), football player
*
Carl Strandlund (1899–1974),
Swedish-American inventor and entrepreneur
*
Henrik Zetterberg (1980–), ice hockey player
*
Yohio (1995–), singer and guitarist
*
Kevin Walker (1989–), football player and winner of
Idol 2013
*
Charlotte Kalla (1987–), cross-country skier
*
Carl-Herman Tillhagen (1906–2002), folklorist
*
Emil Forsberg (1991–), football player
*
Elias Pettersson (1998–), ice hockey player and 2019
Calder Trophy winner
*
MyAnna Buring
My Anna Margaretha Buring Rantapää (born 22 September 1979), known professionally as MyAnna Buring (), is a Swedish-born British actress. Her films include ''The Descent'' (2005), ''Kill List'' (2011), and ''The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn � ...
(1979–), actress (born in Sundsvall)
*
Ursula Wirth (1934–2019), rally driver
Gallery
Climate
Sundsvall has a climate which is on the border between
subarctic (
Dfc) and cold
humid continental (Dfb), leaning towards the latter in recent years. Temperatures are made significantly milder and regulated by the influence from the
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
. The weather station is located to the north and somewhat further inland near
Timrå, which renders that Sundsvall's urban centre is likely milder in terms of low temperatures by some degree.
See also
*
HSwMS ''Sundsvall''
References
External links
Sundsvall– Official site
from
Nordisk Familjebok (1918)
sundsvallturism.com– Sundsvalls tourist information bureau.
*
Sundsvalltown.se– The alternative guide to Sundsvall.
sundsvallsbilder.com– Blog with photos from Sundsvall.
{{Authority control
Populated places in Sundsvall Municipality
Medelpad
Municipal seats of Västernorrland County
Swedish municipal seats
Coastal cities and towns in Sweden
Cities in Sweden