Orebro - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

OREBRO, a town of Sweden, capital of the district (kin) of Orebro, lying on both banks of the Svarta a mile above its entrance into Lake Hjelmar, 135 m. W. of Stockholm by rail. Pop. (1900), 22,013. In great part rebuilt since a fire in 1854, it has a modern appearance. An ancient castle, however, with four round towers, remains on an island in the stream. It is used as a museum. There may be mentioned also the church of St Nicholas, of the 13th century; and the King's House (Kungsstuga), an old and picturesque timber building. In front of the modern town hall stands a statue, by Karl Gustav Qvarnstrom (1810-1867), of the patriot Engelbrecht (d. 1436), who was born here. The Swedish reformers of the 16th century, Olaus and Laurentius Petri, are commemorated by an obelisk. Orebro is in close connexion with the iron-mining district of central Sweden; it has mechanical works and a technical college. A large trade is carried on, by way of the Orebro canal and lakes Hjelmar and Molar, with Stockholm.

Orebro was in existence in the 11th century. Its castle, erected by Birger Jarl in the 13th century, played an important part in the early annals of Sweden; and no fewer than twenty diets or important assemblies were held either in the castle or in the town. Such were the Orebro concilium of 1537, the diet of 1540 in which the crown was declared hereditary, and that of 1810 when Bernadotte was elected crown prince.