Ljungby - Småland Sweden (4K) / Walking Tour
Video Overview & Insights
Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a köping, or market town, and did not become a municipality of its own when the first local government acts took effect in 1863, but retained part of the surrounding rural municipality of the same name. In 1936 Ljungby got the title stad, Swedish for Town or City. Since 1971 Ljungby is the seat of Ljungby Municipality.
Much of the town center was destroyed in the city fire of 1953. At the time of the rebuilding, International Style architecture was used, characterized locally by the Hotel Terazza and adjacent structures, which still remains controversial locally.
The first known inhabitant of the area that is today's Ljungby was Astrad, as can be read on the runestone Replösastenen from the 11th century located a couple of kilometers from the city center. The runestone says: "Götrad made this stone after Astrad, the foremost of kinsmen and yeomen (Swedish: odalmän) who in Finnveden formerly lived". In 1952 a statue by John Lundqvist was erected near the main plaza depicting Astrad and Götrad. But there were other people living around Ljungby long before Astrad and Götrad as evident by the numerous burial mounds in the area. One of the largest burial mounds lies close to the water tower and is named Kungshögen. The largest burial is however Höga rör that lies some kilometers south of Ljungby on the slope of the Lagan river valley.
In the 12th century the first stone church was built with the formation of the parish Ljungby socken. Ljungby had for a long time been the crossroad where the two important north–south and east–west trade routes met. Because of this a hostelry was built adjacent to the Laganstigen in the 14th century by royal decree.
In 1828 Ljungby only consisted of five farms. It was in the beginning of the 19th century the need for a city in Sunnerbo hundred was raised. Ljungby competed with the village Berga, where bishop Henrik had obtained permission to found a city. As Ljungby was considered to be located more central in the hundred and had better road connections, the choice fell on the latter option.[3]
According to a royal letter from 15 October 1828, Ljungby was made a friköping[4] with regulations on 28 March 1829, according to three sources, and on 1 January 1830, according to another. Ljungby was founded mostly on property that was donated by Märta Ljungberg, operator of Ljungby's hostelry. A town plan with perpendicular roads was used as base when the town's buildings was planned. The city plan would later be split with the arrival of the railroad. In 1878 the railroad between Vislanda and Bolmen, via Ljungby, was opened. The railroad would later be linked with Karlshamn–Vislanda–Bolmens railroad (KVBJ) and Halmstad–Bolmen Railroad (HBJ). In 1899 the north–south stretch Skåne–Smålands Railroad (SSJ) was opened.
During the 20th century the town expanded with the help of the workshop and wood industry.
The first population boom started at the end of the 1940s and culminated in the 1960s. Luckily this coincided with the increased need of work by the growing industry in the urban area with the need of work decreasing in the rural areas. The growth was also supported by the labor immigration that began in the post-war period.
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