Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mean espressos and street artists spice up forlorn facades. Stockholm may represent the
'big time', but many of the best ideas originate in this grassroots town.
History
Gamla Älvsborg fortress, standing guard over the river 3km downstream of the centre, is
Göteborg's oldest significant structure and was a key strategic point in the 17th-century
territorial wars. The Swedes founded Göteborg in 1621 to be free of the extortionate taxa-
tion rates imposed on Swedish ships by the Danes.
Fearful of Danish attack, the Swedes employed Dutch experts to construct a defensive
canal system in the centre. The workers lived in what is now the revitalised Haga area:
around a fifth of the original buildings are still standing. Most of Göteborg's oldest
wooden buildings went up in smoke long ago - the city was devastated by no fewer than
nine major fires between 1669 and 1804.
Once Sweden had annexed Skåne in 1658, Göteborg expanded as a trading centre.
Boom time came in the 18th century, when merchants like the Swedish East India Com-
pany made huge amounts of wealth from trade with the Far East, their profits responsible
for numerous grand houses that are still standing.
Göteborg was sustained largely by the shipbuilding industry until it went belly up in the
1980s. These days, the lifeblood of Scandinavia's busiest port is heavy industry (Volvo
manufacturing in particular) and commerce.
