History of Gothenburg

However, for many centuries the borders with Norwegian Bohuslän and Danish Halland ran right up to the river mouth, making Swedish settlements in the area extremely vulnerable to attack.

The threat was significantly reduced by the conquests of both Bohuslän and Halland in the mid-seventeenth century, which gave Gothenburg the security to expand into Sweden's largest port and one of its main industrial centres.

However, during the High Middle Ages the Swedes seem to have conquered or otherwise taken control of a sliver of land on the south bank of the Göta Älv, as well as a foothold on the southern side of Hisingen island, and thereby secured access to the North Sea for the first time.

[4][5] The earliest predecessor of present-day Gothenburg was the town of Lödöse, located 40 kilometres upstream from the present city, on the east bank of the Göta Älv.

Sturla Þórðarson's Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar incorporates a skaldic verse mentioning Lödöse in connection with a meeting at the town between the Norwegian prince Hákon the Younger and the Swedish ruler Birger Jarl in 1249.

[7] The verse ran, loosely translated: The whole river was so beautiful to see, As if one saw colours of shining gold, When the famous king's men steered their ships to Lödöse.

[8] However, the new location (in what is now the Gamlestaden district of eastern Gothenburg) proved to be vulnerable to Danish-Norwegian raids, and Nya Lödöse was repeatedly sacked, notably in December 1507 by Henrik Krummedige.

[11][12] In 1607 Gustav's son, King Charles IX, founded a new settlement directly across the Göta Älv from Älvsborg, on the south side of the island of Hisingen, in what is now the district of Färjenäs [sv].

[13] However, Gothenburg proved to be just as vulnerable to Danish-Norwegian attacks as its predecessors at Nya Lödöse and Älvsborg Town, indeed arguably even more so, as part of Hisingen (Hisings skipreide [nn]) was in fact Norwegian territory at this time.

[14] In 1621, King Gustav II Adolf, the son and successor of Charles IX, decided to make yet another attempt at founding a city on the Göta Älv.

[20] During the Great Northern War, Gothenburg became the base for privateers attacking Danish-Norwegian shipping, the most famous of these being Lars Gathenhielm, known as Lasse I Gatan.

In 1731 the Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, and the city flourished due to its highly profitable commercial expeditions to Asian countries.

In more recent years however, the industrial section has faced a recession, which has spurred the development of new sectors such as increased merchandising, tourism and cultural and educational institutions.