Borlänge is a locality and the seat of Borlänge
Municipality
in Dalarna
County
, Sweden
, with 39,422
inhabitants in 2005.
History
Originally Borlänge had been the name of a tiny village and the
first noted information regarding Borlänge is from 1390. The
village was insignificant up until 1870.
In 1875 the railway
between Falun
and Ludvika
, via
Borlänge was inaugurated and at the same time the construction of
Domnarfvets Jernverk, the ironworks of a
neighbouring village Domnarvet, had
started. Thanks to the railway station the village of
Borlänge became of high service importance to the ironworks.
In 1898, Borlänge became a town in its own right, "köping", with 1
300 inhabitants. But up until this day, Borlänge still belongs to
the parish of Stora Tuna. In the 1900's the Stora Kopparbergs
Bergslag, the owners of the ironworks in Domnarvet, built a
papermill in the contiguous village of
Kvarnsveden. Many of the residents of
Borlänge emigrated to the United States in the late 19th and early
20th centuries.
In 1944, the City of Borlänge was incorporated after the market
town of Borlänge joined the industrial towns of
Domnarvet and
Kvarnsveden. In 1971 the municipality of
Borlänge was established when the municipality of
Stora Tuna merged with the City of
Borlänge.
During all of the 20th century Borlänge has been a typical
industrial city with a relatively good economic growth, but today
the service industry is spreading.
Industry
Borlänge has always been an industrial town surrounding the iron
mill of
Domnarvet (
SSAB) and the paper mill of
Kvarnsveden (
Stora
Enso). The city houses head offices for two state authorities:
the department of rails (
Banverket) and the department of roads and
motor vehicles (
Vägverket).
Suitable for a city which structure is severely divided by rails
and roads, with a modern city centre.
Shopping
Kupolen in Borlänge
Borlänge
promotes itself as The Number One Shopping City in Dalarna
. This
is possible due to the Kupolen area, situated about 1 kilometer
west of the city centre. The Kupolen area
includes Kupolen ('The
Dome')
Shopping Centre and the surrounding region.
Though the district was first built to catch the interest from
bypassers it has withdrawn the focus from the nearby
downtown area and has overtaken the role as the
heart of Borlänge.
Sport
The city boasts a soccer team that has been successful in the past,
although it is currently going through some hard times.
IK Brage, named after the Norse god of poetry, has
a history of 18 seasons in the Swedish Premier Division (
Allsvenskan).
Brage play in green
and white and host their home games at Domnarvsvallen
Stadium in Borlänge with a seating capacity of 6,500. Another
Borlänge team which has had a great deal of success in the sport,
with both domestic and foreign fans following their progress, is
the multicultural soccer team Dalkurd FF.
Music
Music is an important part of Borlänge. It has been the hometown of
many new young musicians in Sweden such as
Mando Diao,
Sugarplum
Fairy and
Miss Li and offers the
possibility to get a degree in popular music at BoomTown Music
Education, a branch of the School of Music at Luleå University of
Technology.
Located in Borlänge is also
Peace &
Love, one of Sweden’s biggest festivals and the only one with
an outspoken message of Solidarity, Diversity and
Understanding.
Notable natives
- The Lance, rock'n'roll band
- Jussi Björling, tenor
- Lars Frölander, swimmer
- Mando Diao, rock band
- Sugarplum Fairy, rock band
- Per Fosshaug, bandy player
- Dozer, stoner rock band
- Erik Eriksson, Centre Party's first chairman
- Lars Jonsson, hockey
player
- Sator, rock band
- Cryonic Temple, metal band
Education
References
Wikis
Quiz
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