Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GOTHENBURG (Swed. Goteborg)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 272 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

GOTHENBURG (Swed. Goteborg) , a See also:city and seaport of See also:Sweden, on the See also:river See also:Gota, 5 M. above its mouth in the See also:Cattegat, 285 m. S.W. of See also:Stockholm by See also:rail, and 36o by the Gota See also:canal-route. Pop. (1900) 130,619. It is the See also:chief See also:town of the See also:district (lan) of Goteborg och Bohus, and the seat of a See also:bishop. It lies on the See also:east or See also:left See also:bank of the river, which is here lined with quays on both sides, those on the See also:west belonging to the large See also:island of Hisingen, contained between arms of the Gota. On this island are situated the considerable suburbs of Lindholmen and Lundby. The city itself stretches east and See also:south from the river, with extensive and pleasant residential suburbs, over a wooded See also:plain enclosed by See also:low hills. The inner city, including the business See also:quarter, is contained almost entirely between the river and the Rosenlunds canal, continued in the Vallgraf, the See also:moat of the old fortifications; and is crossed by the Storahamn, Ostrahamn and Vestrahamn canals. The Storahamn is flanked by the handsome See also:tree-planted quays, Norra and Sodra Hamngatan. The first of these, starting from the Stora Bommenshamn, where the See also:sea-going passenger-steamers See also:lie, leads past the museum to the Gustaf-Adolfs-Torg.

The museum, in the old East See also:

India See also:Company's See also:house, has See also:fine collections in natural See also:history, See also:entomology, See also:botany, See also:anatomy, See also:archaeology and ethnography, a picture and See also:sculpture See also:gallery, and exhibits of coins and See also:industrial See also:art. Gustaf-Adolfs-Torg is the business centre, and contains the town-See also:hall (167o) and See also:exchange (1849). Here are statues by B. E. See also:Fogelberg of Gustavus See also:Adolphus and of See also:Odin, and of Oscar I. by J. P. Molin. Among several churches in this quarter of the city is the See also:cathedral (Gustavii Domkyrka), a cruciform See also:church founded in 1633 and rebuilt after fires in 1742 and 1815. Here are also the customs-house and See also:residence of the See also:governor.of the lan. On the See also:north See also:side, closely adjacent, are the Lilla Bommenshamn, where the Gota canal steamers lie, and the two See also:principal railway stations, Statens and Bergslafs Bangard. Above the Rosenlunds canal rises a low, rocky See also:eminence, Lilla Otterhalleberg. The inner city is girdled on the south and east by the Kungspark, which contains Molin's famous See also:group of statuary, the See also:Belt-bucklers (Baltespannare), and by the beautiful gardens of the Horticultural Society (Tradgdrdsforeningen).

These grounds are traversed by the broad Nya Alle, a favourite See also:

promenade, and beyond them lies the best residential quarter, the first houses facing See also:Vasa See also:Street, Vasa See also:Park and Kungsport See also:Avenue. At the north end of the last are the university and the New See also:theatre. At the west end of Vasa Street is the city library, the most important in the See also:country except the royal library at Stockholm and the university See also:libraries at See also:Upsala and See also:Lund. The suburbs are extensive. To the south-west are Majorna and Masthugget, with numerous factories. Beyond these lie the fine Slottskog Park, planted with oaks, and picturesquely broken by rocky hills commanding views of the busy river and the city. The suburb of Annedal is the workmen's quarter; others are Landala, See also:Garda and Stampen. All are connected with the city by electric tramways. Six See also:railways leave the city from four stations. The principal lines, from the Statens and Bergslafs stations, run N. to Trollhdttan, and into See also:Norway (See also:Christiania); N.E. between Lakes See also:Vener and See also:Vetter to Stockholm, See also:Falun and the north; E. to See also:Boras and beyond, and S. by the See also:coast to See also:Helsingborg, &c. From the Vestgota station a narrow-See also:gauge See also:line runs N.E. to Skara and the See also:southern shores of Vener, and from Saro station near Slottskog Park a line serves Saro, a seaside watering-See also:place on an island 20 M. S. of Gothenburg.

The city has numerous important educational establishments. The university (Hogskola) was a private See also:

foundation (1891), but is governed by a See also:board, the members of which are nominated by the See also:state, the town See also:council, Royal Society of See also:Science and Literature, See also:directors of the museum, and the staffs of the various See also:local colleges. There are several boys' See also:schools, a See also:college for girls, a scientific college, a commercial college (1826), a school of See also:navigation, and See also:Chalmers' Polytechnical College, founded by See also:William Chalmers (1748-181I), a native of Gothenburg of See also:English parentage. He bequeathed See also:half his See also:fortune to this institution, and the See also:remainder to the Sahlgrenska See also:hospital. A See also:people's library was founded by members of the See also:family of See also:Dickson, several of whom have taken a prominent See also:part in philanthropical See also:works in the city. The connexion of the family with Gothenburg See also:dates from 1802, when See also:Robert Dickson, a native of See also:Montrose in See also:Scotland, founded the business in which he was joined in 1807 by his See also:brother See also:James. In respect of See also:industry and See also:commerce as a whole Gothenburg ranks as second to Stockholm in the See also:kingdom; but it is actually the principal centre of export See also:trade and See also:port of See also:register; and as a manufacturing town it is slightly inferior to See also:Malmo. Its principal industrial establishments are See also:mechanical works (both in the city and at Lundby), saw-See also:mills, dealing with the See also:timber which is brought down the Gota, See also:flour-mills, See also:margarine factories, breweries and distilleries, See also:tobacco works, See also:cotton mills, See also:dyeing and See also:bleaching works (at Levanten in the vicinity), See also:furniture factories, See also:paper and See also:leather works, and See also:shipbuilding yards. The vessels registered at the port in Igor were 247 of 120,488 tons. There are about 3 M. of quays approachable by vessels See also:drawing 20 ft., and slips for the See also:accommodation of large vessels. Gothenburg is the principal port of embarkation of See also:Swedish emigrants for See also:America. The city is governed by a council including two mayors, and returns nine members to the second chamber of the Riksdag (See also:parliament).

-Founded by Gustavus Adolphus in 161g, Gothenburg was from the first designed to be fortified, a town of the same name founded on Hisingen in 1603 having been destroyed by the Danes during the Calmar See also:

war. From 1621, when it was first chartered, it steadily increased, though it suffered greatly in the Danish See also:wars of the last half of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries, and from several extensive conflagrations (the last in 1813), which have destroyed important records of its history. The See also:great development of its See also:herring See also:fishery in the latter part of the 18th See also:century gave a new impulse to the city's trade, which was kept up by the See also:influence of the " See also:Continental See also:System," under which Gothenburg became a See also:depot for the colonial merchandise of See also:England. After the fall of See also:Napoleon it began to decline, but after its closer connexion with the interior of the country by the Gota canal (opened 1832) and Western railway it rapidly advanced both in See also:population and trade. Since the demolition of its fortifications in 1807, it has been defended only by some small forts. Gothenburg was the birthplace of the poet Bengt Lidner (1757—1793) and two of Sweden's greatest sculptors, Bengt Erland Fogelberg (1786—1854) and Johann See also:Peter Molin (1814—1873). After the See also:French Revolution Gothenburg was for a See also:time the residence of the See also:Bourbon family. The name of this city is associated with the municipal licensing system known as the Gothenburg System (see LIQuoR See also:LAWS). See W. See also:Berg, Samlingar till Goteborgs historia (Gothenburg, 1893) ; Lagerberg, Goteborg i dldre och nyare tid (Gothenburg, 1902) ; Froding, Det See also:form Goteborg (Stockholm, 1903).

End of Article: GOTHENBURG (Swed. Goteborg)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GOTHAM, WISE MEN OF 		[next]
GOTHIC

Site © 2006 - Net Industries