Gotlandia

Gotland Land Götaland County Gotland Area 3,140 km² Provincial flower - in Swedish - in Latin English ivy Murgröna Hedera helix Provincial animal Hedgehog

County

The island province of Gotlandia is represented by the current administrative entity, Gotland County. The island is also a single municipality.

History

Early on Gotland became a commercial center and the town of Visby was a the most important Hanseatic city in the Baltic Sea. The city of Visby and rest of the island had different rulers and a civil war caused by conflicts between the German merchants in Visby and the trading peasants on the countryside had to be put down by King Magnus I of Sweden in 1288. In 1361, Waldemar Atterdag of Denmark invaded the island. By the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645 the island was returned to Swedish rule.

Geography

The province of Gotland consists of the islands of Gotland, Fårö, the Karlsö islets and Gotska sandön. The main island is located some 90 km off the Swedish mainland.

Visby, founded approximately around the year 1000, was the only chartered city of Gotland.

Culture

The medieval town of Visby has been entered as a site of the UNESCO World heritage program. An impressive feature of Visby is the fortress wall that surrounds the city, dating from the time of the Hanseatic League. Christopher Polhem (1661-1751), the father of Swedish mechanical physics was born in Visby. He was also called the Archimedes of the north. The inhabitants of Gotland traditionally speak a distinct dialect of Swedish, known as Gutnish.

Heraldry

Gotland was granted its arms in 1560, even though the island was at the time occupied by Danish forces. The coat of arms is represented with a dukal coronet. Blazon: "Azure a ram statant Argent armed Or holding on a cross-staff of the same a banner Gules bordered and with five tails of the third."

Dukes of Gotlandia

• Prince Oscar (from his birth in 1859 until his loss of succession rights in 1888)

External Links

• Gotland Tourist Site

Referenced By