Växjö is located in southern Småland and serves as the administrative center of Kronoberg County. The city has about 70,000 inhabitants and is located by the lakes Växjösjön and Trummen, which has historically given it a strategic location in an area with both agriculture, forestry and trade. The name Växjö comes from the old Vägsjö, which refers to the fact that the roads here crossed the lake in winter when the ice was solid. The city is first mentioned in written sources in the 12th century, and it grew as a local church center and later as the residence of the bishop of Småland.
During the Middle Ages, Växjö became an important religious and administrative center. The first cathedral was probably built in the 12th century, and the city developed around the bishop’s seat. In the 16th century, Växjö became a rallying point during the Småland peasant uprisings. This happened, for example, during the Dacke Feud in the 1540s, where Nils Dacke had support in the area. In the 17th century, Växjö was granted market town rights and became a centre for trade and education. The first Latin school was founded as early as 1643, and the city came to play an important role in education and administration in southern Småland.
The city was hit by extensive fires several times, which changed the city’s appearance and layout. The last major fire was in 1843, when large parts of the old wooden buildings were lost. After the reconstruction, Växjö was laid out with a regular street grid, wider main streets and a number of buildings in the neoclassical and later national romantic style. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Växjö gradually developed from a civil service and trading town to an industrial and cultural centre. With the construction of the railway in 1865, the city was connected to both Alvesta and Kalmar, which strengthened its role as a transport hub.
Among the city’s most important attractions are Växjö Cathedral, whose twin towers dominate the city’s skyline, Smålands Museum – Sveriges Glasmuseum, which conveys the history of the region’s glass industry, and Utvandrarnas Hus. The city center also contains the Residence, Stortorget and Teatertorget as historical and important centers. Växjö University, which was founded in 1977 and later merged with Linnaeus University in 2010, has made the city one of southern Sweden’s most important educational cities, and this environment helps to provide further contrasts to the Småland city.
Stortorget is Växjö’s central square and the city’s oldest public square. The square originated in the Middle Ages around the 13th century, when the city developed as a market town under the bishopric. In the Middle Ages, the square was used for trade, public announcements and court proceedings, and several of the surrounding buildings served as merchant houses and the headquarters of the city’s craft guild. After the great fire of 1843, the square was redesigned and expanded, and the current buildings around Stortorget were built after the fire.
One of the first constructions was the Residence from 1844-1848, located on the northern side of the square. The Residence was built in the Empire style after a design by the architect Carl Gustaf Blom Carlsson, and it houses the governor of Kronoberg County. Småland was divided into Jönköping County and Kronoberg County in 1639, and the first version of the Residence was built at Stortorget. Several residences were built and destroyed, not least by fires, before the current imposing building was built and put into use.
Opposite the Residence is Stadshotellet on the southern side of Stortorget. The large hotel was built from 1849 and inaugurated in 1852. At that time, the house was built as Stadhuset, which was the seat of Växjö’s city council. The architect of the Stadhuset was Theodor Anckarsvärd, who was behind several buildings in Växjö during the period. After its role as a town hall, the Stadhuset was later rebuilt into the current hotel. Stortorget is also crossed by Storgatan in an east-west direction, and if you walk west from Stortorget, you come to the city’s pedestrian street and leading shopping street.
Växjö Cathedral is located in the center of the city by Lake Växjö and is the episcopal seat of the Växjö diocese. The church’s roots go back to the 12th century, when the first stone church was built on the site of an older wooden church, which according to tradition was built by Saint Sigfrid. This early Romanesque building consisted of a single nave with an apse and a west tower, which became the foundation of the current tower. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the church grew into a three-aisled basilica, and its importance as a religious center in southern Småland was strengthened when Växjö became the episcopal seat.
The church was repeatedly destroyed by fire and war. It was burned during the Danish campaigns in the 1470s, damaged during the Dacke Feud in the 1540s, and again badly damaged by city fires in 1570, 1612 and 1740. Each time the building was rebuilt with materials from the previous structure, which means that the foundations and parts of the tower still date from the Romanesque church, while the upper parts and the spires were added later. The characteristic twin spires, which today dominate the city’s skyline, were erected in the 15th century and later rebuilt after the fires in a simplified form. In the 19th century, an extensive restoration was carried out, where several medieval details were removed, but in 1957–1960 the church was restored again with a focus on recreating the Gothic expression.
The building’s current appearance reflects this last restoration. The facades appear in red plaster with distinctive white corner bands and Gothic window designs. The two copper-clad spires that rise above the west tower are today one of Växjö’s most recognizable landmarks. The interior consists of a high vaulted nave, pointed arched windows and modern stained glass, which were added in the mid-20th century. The church also contains a medieval choir, several epitaphs and a Baroque organ, reflecting its long ecclesiastical tradition. Växjö Cathedral stands today as a composite architectural monument, where Romanesque foundations, Gothic spires and modern restoration form a story of almost 900 years of church history in Småland.
Domkyrkoparken is located in the center of Växjö around Växjö Cathedral and is the oldest continuous park in the city center. The area was laid out as a public park in the mid-19th century, but its roots go back further to the church’s medieval cemetery and processional area. After the city fire of 1843, the terrain was reshaped and the old cemetery walls were removed. Instead, the municipality created paths, flower beds and tree avenues, marking the transition from the church grounds to the city park.
The park was expanded in the 1870s as part of Växjö’s beautification program and was given its current appearance with paths leading from the cathedral. Many of the original linden trees planted during this period still stand. On the south side of the church, memorial stones and monuments were erected to local personalities, including bishops and writers from the Växjö diocese. One of the oldest monuments in the park is the memorial stone for Bishop Esaias Tegnér, erected in 1866, which marks the connection between the city’s ecclesiastical and literary history.
Smålands Museum was founded in 1867 and is thus Sweden’s oldest provincial museum. The museum was given its current building in 1962 based on drawings by architect Carl Nyrén. However, part of the museum complex is still located in a beautiful old museum building from 1885. The museum’s mission is to document and communicate Småland’s cultural history, crafts and industry. The collections include over 10,000 objects from Stone Age finds to 20th-century glass production, as well as a large archive of photographs, maps and handicrafts.
In the 1990s, the museum was expanded and integrated with the Sveriges Glasmuseum, which today forms an important part of the institution. Here, the development of glass production in Småland is shown, from the early glassworks in the 18th century to the 20th-century design tradition with names such as Orrefors and Kosta Boda. The collection includes both industrial products and unique works of art in glass. The museum also organizes special exhibitions of modern art and design.
House of Emigrants was inaugurated in 1968 as a national documentation center for Swedish emigration to North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The initiative was taken by the Vilhelm Moberg Society and the city of Växjö, and it was inspired by Moberg’s novels about emigrants from Småland. The building was designed by architects Jon Höjer and Sture Kelfve, who created a functionalist structure in concrete and glass, located directly adjacent to Smålands Museum.
The collections consist of archival materials, letters, diaries, passenger lists and personal effects from Swedes who emigrated to America. The archive contains over a million registered emigrants and is thus one of the most important research centers for Swedish migration. The museum also shows exhibitions describing the reasons for emigration, life in the new settlements and connections back to Sweden.
Today, the House of Emigrants functions as both a museum, research center and meeting place for genealogists. The institution plays a central role in the documentation of Swedish emigration history and has ongoing collaborations with museums in the USA and Canada.
Växjö Theatre was built after the fire in 1843 and inaugurated on 26 December 1849 as the city’s new theatre building. The building was designed by the county architect Theodor Anckarsvärd, who was also behind the contemporary Stadhuset on Stortorget. The building stands beautifully in the cityscape in Empire architecture and marks itself as one of the earliest Swedish theatre buildings outside the big cities.
Inside, the original hall with balcony and boxes was created for just over 400 spectators and designed with acoustics and stage technology according to the ideals of the time. In the 1950s, the hall was modernized, and in 1955, boxes, backstage rooms and offices were added. The theatre’s outer structure and many interior elements from the 19th century have been preserved, making it one of Sweden’s best-preserved provincial theatres from the 19th century. Today, Växjö Theatre is used as a stage for both professional and amateur productions, concerts, conferences and cultural events.
Växjö konsthall was built in 1958 and is one of Sweden’s oldest municipal art halls. The building was designed by architect Carl Nyrén, who was also behind Smålands Museum, and it is an example of the functionalist architecture of the time with open floor plans, large windows and flexible exhibition spaces. The construction is made of whitewashed concrete and glass, and the interior is characterized by a high incidence of light from skylights and window strips facing the street.
Since its opening, the art hall has aimed to present contemporary art and regional artists from Småland. It has been the setting for exhibitions by both established Swedish names and international artists, and it also houses the municipality’s art collection, which numbers approximately 1,500 works. In the 1970s, the building was expanded with a smaller gallery and a sculpture garden to the south, which is used for outdoor exhibitions during the summer months.
Teleborg Castle is located on the shores of Lake Trummen, south of the center of Växjö, and was built in 1900 for the Count Fredrik Bonde of Björnö and his wife Anna Koskull. The castle was designed by the architects Lars Israel Wahlman and Erik Lallerstedt, who were among the leading representatives of national romantic architecture in Sweden. The building was made of granite and stone and combines medieval castle features with modern residential comfort according to the standards of the time. The original plan included a main tower flanked by smaller towers and bay windows, and the interior was equipped with wooden panels, wrought iron and stucco work in historical styles.
The castle was only used as a private residence for a short time, as the Countess died in 1917, after which the property was sold to the city of Växjö. In 1964, the building was taken over by Växjö University, which used it for representative purposes and offices for a number of years. Teleborg Castle was listed as a cultural heritage building due to its well-preserved architecture and its unique example of a Swedish castle-like building in the early 20th century.
Today Teleborg Castle functions as a hotel, conference center and wedding venue, but much of the interior still has original details, including the hall’s oak staircase and fireplace rooms with beautiful views of the landscape. The castle is surrounded by a park with paths, which was built at the same time as the building, and the area is now one of Växjö’s most visited recreational areas.
Kalmar is a city on the coast in Swedish Småland. The city is one of Sweden’s oldest cities, and for centuries it was a border fortress with Denmark. In the 13th century, Kalmar traded with the Hanseatic League, and over the years a wall was constructed around the city. In 1397, the city rose to fame since the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Norway and Sweden was established at a meeting in Kalmar, and Erik of Pomerania was crowned king.
The Kalmar War was fought 1611-1613 between Denmark and Sweden, and in the decades after that the town was moved from the castle area to the island of Kvarnholmen to be more secure. With Sweden’s conquest of what is now Southern Sweden in 1658, things became more peaceful, but at the same time Kalmar lost its importance as a border fortress. The Swedish fleet was moved to Karlskrona, and the garrison was disbanded. In the 19th century, Kalmar began to grow again, and this time expansion was outside the old fortress town.
Karlskrona is a town in Blekinge in southwestern Sweden. Its history goes back to the 17th century, when Sweden conquered southern Sweden from Denmark. North of the current city was the Danish medieval town of Lykkeby, and south of it were islands in the archipelago. In 1679 Vittus Andersson had to sell the island of Trossö to the Swedish state, which established Sweden’s primary naval station on the island. The naval harbor was protected by the archipelago, and fortifications were built to strengthen it even further.
Karlskrona was given city privileges in 1680, and bridges to the mainland were constructed from here. Neighboring towns were deprived of privileges, and citizens and merchants were forced to move to the new town, which grew rapidly to become one of Sweden’s largest cities. Over the years, however, Sweden lost its role as a great power, and Karlskrona thus lost part of its importance. However, the city retained its position as a naval base and thereby its military importance.
Kristianstad was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV as a Danish fortress and administrative town after the destruction of nearby Åhus during the Danish-Swedish Wars. The city was laid out according to Renaissance ideals with a regular street grid and wide canals to serve as defense and drainage for the low-lying terrain in the Helgeå valley.
The location in the middle of the former marshland was an ambitious engineering project, where the entire city site was filled in and fortified with bastions and ramparts. Kristianstad was planned as a center for the Danish province of Skåne, and its name Christianstad was intended to emphasize the king’s power and presence in the area.
Jönköping is located at the southern end of Lake Vättern, surrounded by the high slopes of the Vätternbranterna, where several smaller valleys meet. Since the Middle Ages, the city has had a strategic location at the transition between Småland and Västergötland, where both trade routes and military routes intersected. Jönköping is first mentioned in written sources in 1284, when the city was granted market town rights by King Magnus Ladulås, making it one of Sweden’s oldest trading centres. Its location by the lake made it a natural hub for freight and trade between southern Sweden and the interior of the country.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Jönköping grew as one of the most important cities in the region. After several major fires, particularly in 1612 and 1790, the city was repeatedly rebuilt, and the town plan developed a regular street grid, which still characterizes the city centre. During the reign of Charles IX, Jönköping also became an important military stronghold, and Jönköping Castle was built here in the early 17th century as part of the kingdom’s defense system against Denmark.
Växjö Cathedral, Växjö, Sweden
Overview of Växjö
Växjö is located in southern Småland and serves as the administrative center of Kronoberg County. The city has about 70,000 inhabitants and is located by the lakes Växjösjön and Trummen, which has historically given it a strategic location in an area with both agriculture, forestry and trade. The name Växjö comes from the old Vägsjö, which refers to the fact that the roads here crossed the lake in winter when the ice was solid. The city is first mentioned in written sources in the 12th century, and it grew as a local church center and later as the residence of the bishop of Småland.
One hundred years later, Linköping was ravaged by a fire that destroyed most of the city on 29 January 1700. The city’s cathedral and castle were among the buildings that survived the fire, but the rest of the city had to be rebuilt. Later, several regiments were moved to Linköping, which also became the location of SAAB’s military aircraft production from 1937. The company and others brought growth and prosperity to the city.
Today you can enjoy some lovely walks in Linköping, where the street network in the center is still as it was in the Middle Ages, despite the fire in 1700. You can find Stora torget in the city center, and it is the oldest square in Linköping. Here you can see Carl Mille’s fountain sculpture Folkungabrunnen, a statue with Folke Filbyter from 1927. To the south on Stora torget you can see the city’s former town hall and the Central Palace, which was built in Art Nouveau style in 1907, and today you can experience contemporary art in Art Gallery Passagen.
About the Linköping travel guide
Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
Published: Released soon
Author: Stig Albeck
Publisher: Vamados.com
Language: English
About the travel guide
The Linköping travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Swedish city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
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Sweden Travel Guide: https://vamados.com/sweden
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