Oskarshamn Municipality
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- This page deals with both Oskarshamn Municipality and the urban area (tätort) Oskarshamn
 Oskarshamn in Kalmar County  Map outlining municipalities of Sweden |
Coat of arms |
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| Municipal facts | ||
| Seat | Oskarshamn | |
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| County | Kalmar County | |
| Province | Småland | |
Area
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1,054 km² 99th of 290 |
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Population
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26,300 91st of 290 |
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| Density | 25/km² | |
Oskarshamn Municipality is a municipality in Kalmar County, in south-eastern Sweden where the town Oskarshamn (pop.17,000) is seat.
Contents |
[edit] History
The location of Oskarshamn was known as Döderhultsvik since the Medieval age. In 1645, the city of Kalmar, to the south, made a request to the Royal Government on holding commerce in the bay there, which was granted, giving it merchancy rights as a köping. There followed 200 years of merchancies in the town, during which it was governed and dependant on Kalmar; while the surrounding towns and municipalites made frequent requests to grant it a charter, consequently turned down each of the attempts made in the years: 1786, 1798, 1800, 1815, 1818, 1823, 1825, 1830 and 1838. In 1843 it got some independence, with a local council, but the council itself was occupied by citizens of Kalmar. In 1854, the King Oscar I of Sweden promised to grant it a charter as soon as it had fulfilled certain demands, including building a prison and a council hall, among other things. When they had accomplished the feats, the charter was granted, and the city became one of the Cities of Sweden starting 1856, on May 1.
[edit] Recent history
Industrialization began with the inauguration of the railway line to Nässjö. From then on, industries as well as the harbour began to expand. The biggest private employer was for a long time the shipyard, which at its height had almost 1500 employees. But in the 1970's the Swedish shipbuilding industry suffered a large financial crisis and many shipyards closed down. In Oskarshamn the shipyard went through a large downsizing which left many people unemployed.
However, at around the same time, two mayor industries were established in Oskarshamn. In 1966 Scania bought the truck cab factory, which had been building truck cabs since 1948, and started expanding. The Scania factory is today one of the biggest employers in Kalmar county with almost 2000 employees. In the same year construction started for the first nuclear power plant, OKG, just outside of Oskarshamn. Since then two more reactors has been built and the plant today produces about 10% of Sweden's electricity consumption. Oskarshamn is today considered to be a possible location of the Swedish nuclear waste storage.
[edit] Coat of arms
Oskarshamn was then named after King Oscar I of Sweden. The top of the coat of arms show the insignia of the King. In the other fields there are symbols for shipping (the anchor), trade (the staff of Mercury) and wealth (the cornucopia).
Its current design stems from 1942, but it basically only differes from the old in the alignment of the symbols.
[edit] Communications
The railroad traffic is today limited to freight trains to and from the harbour and the passanger trains has been replaced by buses. There is also a ferry line between the town and Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland and Oskarshamn has its own airport.
[edit] Politics
The Swedish Social Democratic Party has been governing the municipality since 1932, however not always with an own majority, usually building a majority together with the Left Party of Sweden. All parties that are represented in the Riksdag are also represented in the municipal council.
[edit] Media
Oskarshamn has two local newspapers: Oskarshamns-Tidningen (conservative) and Nyheterna (social democratic).
[edit] Culture
Oskarshamn is the home of the famous woodcarver Axel Petersson Döderhultarn. His studio as well as a museum containing more than 200 of his carvings are located here.
[edit] Notability
The Blå Jungfrun is a small island just outside the coast, and is classified as a National Park.
[edit] External links
- Oskarshamn - Official site
- IK Oskarshamn - Official site of IK Oskarshamn, Oskarshamns hockey team
- Döderhultarn- Famous woodcarver from Oskarshamn
- (Swedish) article Oskarshamn from Nordisk Familjebok
