Vinterviken ("Winter-cove") is a bay in the '' Mälaren'' lake in southern

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 ...

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 ...

. Vinterviken is located in a valley surrounded by the Gröndal and Aspudden suburb areas.

Etymology

The origin of the name Vinterviken can be traced back to the 17th century. Back then a common winter route (on the lake ice) used to go from Fittja and the Mälaren islands, and entered the city through Vinterviken and lake Trehörningen (nowadays named Trekanten).

Historical and cultural area

During its history, Vinterviken has transformed from a vital industrial area to a recreational region. The most important stage was when Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, established his new research laboratory and factory there. In his Vinterviken laboratory, Nobel invented an enormous revolution for armaments and explosive manufacturing,

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

Alfred Nobel’s factory

Nobel bought the whole area of Vinterviken in 1865. Due to safety issues he moved his research lab and his factory (''Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget'') from a populated area in Stockholm to Vinterviken which was surrounded by cliffs and therefore suitable for his dangerous experiments. Gradually, Nobel developed the area by constructing a local rail-road, a harbour, testing grounds/tunnels (''Nobels spränggropar'') for exploring dynamite and also, housing for factory workers. Dynamite used to be manufactured in this area until 1921 but Nobel's factory remained working until the 1980s.

Recreation area

Since 1974 Stockholm city owns the Vinterviken region and by renovating this area has converted it from an industrial place to a public recreational area. A major reconstruction in the beginning of the 1990s provided the park with sculptures, walking paths, small gardens, restaurants and a cafe. One of the Nobel factory buildings has become a banquet hall called Winterviken. In the area are several places to swim among cliffs and pebbled shores. Vinterviken park also offers boating and canoeing services.

Environmental pollution

The industrial activities in the Vinterviken since the 1860s have led to severe

soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...

in the area, with high levels of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

. It was ranked in 2011 by the City of Stockholm as the ninth most polluted area in the city. Unusually high levels of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

have also been detected in the cove's bottom sediment, likely owing to the activities of a nuclear technology company which was previously residing in the area; however, the actual levels of radioactivity are considered low enough not to be considered a health risk.

Vinterviken through history

Vinterviken: {, class="wikitable" , - ! !! Year !! Usage , - , 1 , , 17th century , , An ice-crossing to Stockholm during Winter , - , 2 , , 1865 , , Alfred Nobel bought the entire area for his research , - , 3 , , 1866 , , ''Nitro-Nobel AB'' factory established , - , 4 , , 1868 , , A fatal explosion in Alfred's lab (14 casualties) , - , 5 , , 1921 , , Discontinued the manufacture of Dynamite , - , 6 , , 1980 , , Nitro-Nobel AB terminates its activities in the area , - , 7 , , 1974 , , The Stockholm city owned the area , - , 8 , , 1990 , , Reconstruction begins and Vinterviken became a recreational park , -

References

External links

* "SWEDEN.SE - the Official Gateway to Sweden." SWEDEN.SE. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2012. * "Vinterviken." Vinterviken. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2012. . * "Ponderings over the Pond." : Alfred Nobel in Vinterviken. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2012. * "Ateljéföreningen Vinterviken, Konst, Måleri, Skulptur, Alfred Nobel." Ateljéföreningen Vinterviken, Konst, Måleri, Skulptur, Alfred Nobel. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2012. . * "Winterviken – Med Plats För Många." Winterviken. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2012. . Geography of Stockholm Landforms of Stockholm County Bays of Sweden