Everything about Gotland totally explained
is a
county,
province and
municipality of
Sweden and the largest
island in the
Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, it makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area. The region also includes the small islands of
Fårö and
Gotska Sandön to the north, and the tiny
Karlsö Islands to the west. The inhabitants number is 57,317 (2006 SCB figure), with about 22,600 living in the primary city
Visby. The main sources of income to the island are tourism and agriculture and concrete production from locally mined
limestone.
Administration
The traditional
provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. In the case of
Gotland, however, due to its insular position, the administrative
county,
län,
Gotland County and the
municipality,
kommun,
Gotland Municipality both covers the same territory as the province. Furthermore, the
Diocese of Visby is also congruent with the province.
Heraldry
Gotland was granted its arms in about 1560, even though the island was at the time occupied by
Danish forces. The coat of arms is represented with a ducal 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." The county was granted the same coat of arms in 1936. The municiplality, created in 1971, uses the same picture, but with other
tinctures.
The Gotlandic flag displays the Gotlandic coat of arms, white on red ground, known from the 13th century in the shape of the seal of the Gotlandic Republic with the proud ram. It reads: "Gutenses signo xpistus signatur in agno". This can be translated as follows: "I (the ram) am the sign of the Gotlanders, but with the lamb symbolize Christ".
Geography
Visby, with about two fifths of the island's population (approximately 22,600), is the seat of the municipality as well as the capital of the county.
Gotland is located about 90 km east of the Swedish mainland and about 130 km from the
Baltic States,
Latvia, being the nearest. The island Gotland is obviously just one island, but the historical province of Gotland also includes adjacent islands, which are often considered part of the Gotlandic culture:
Geology
Gotland is made up of a sequence of
sedimentary rocks of a
Silurian age, dipping to the south-east.
The main Silurian succession of
limestones and
shales comprises thirteen units spanning 200-500 m of stratigraphic thickness, being thickest in the south, and overlies a 75-125 m thick
Ordovician sequence. It was deposited in a shallow, hot and salty sea, on the edge of an equatorial continent. The water depth never exceeded 175–200 m, and shallowed over time as
bioherm detritus, and terrestrial sediments, filled the basin. Reef growth started in the
Llandovery, when the sea was 50–100 m deep, and reefs continued to dominate the sedimentary record.
The lime rocks have been weathered into characteristic
karstic
rock formations known as
rauks. Fossils, mainly of
rugose corals and
brachiopods, are abundant throughout the island; palæo-
sea-stacks are preserved in places.
History
The island is the home of the
Gutar (the
Gotlanders) and sites such as
Ajvide show that it has been occupied since
prehistory. Early on Gotland became a commercial center and the town of
Visby was the most important
Hanseatic city in the Baltic Sea. In late medieval time, the island had twenty district courts (
tings), each represented at the island-ting, called
landsting, by its elected judge. New laws were decided at the landsting, which also took other decisions regarding the island as a whole.
The
Gutasaga contains legends of how the island was settled by
Þieluar and populated by his descendants. It also tells that a third of the population had to emigrate and settle in southern Europe, a tradition associated with the migration of the
Goths, whose name has the same origin as
Gutar, the native name of the people of the island. It later tells that the Gotlanders voluntarily submitted to the king of Sweden and asserts that it's based on mutual agreements, and notes the duties and obligations of the Swedish King and Bishop in relationship to Gotland. It is therefore not only an effort to write down the history of Gotland, but also an effort to assert Gotland's independence from Sweden.
It gives
Awair Strabain as the man who arranged the mutually beneficial agreement with the king of Sweden, and the event would have taken place before the end of the
9th century, when
Wulfstan of Hedeby reported that the island was subject to the Swedes:
Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we'd on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth. (External Link
)
The region is considered by some historians to be the original homeland of the
Goths.
The city of Visby and rest of the island were governed separately 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 III of Sweden in 1288. In 1361,
Waldemar Atterdag of Denmark invaded the island. The
Victual Brothers occupied the island in 1394 to set up a stronghold headquarters on their own in Visby. At last Gotland came as a
fiefdom of the
Teutonic Knights, awarded to them on the condition that they expel the piratical Victual Brothers from their fortified sanctuary. An invasion army of
Teutonic Knights conquered the island in 1398, destroying Visby and driving the Victual Brothers from Gotland.
The number of
Arab dirhams discovered on the island of Gotland alone is astoundingly high. In the various
hoards located around the island, there are more of these silver coins than any other site in Western
Eurasia. The total sum is almost as great as the number that has been unearthed in the entire
Muslim world. These coins moved North through trade between
Rus merchants and the
Abbasid Caliphate, along the
Silver-Fur Road, and the money made by Scandinavian merchants would help Northern Europe, especially Viking Scandinavia and the
Carolingian Empire, as major commercial centers for the next several centuries.
The authority of the landsting was successively eroded after the island was occupied by the Teutonic Order, then sold to
Eric of Pomerania and after 1449 ruled by
Danish governors. In late medieval times, the ting consisted of twelve representatives for the farmers, free-holders or tenants. Since the
Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645, the island has remained under Swedish rule.
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 old city, dating from the time of the Hanseatic League.
The inhabitants of Gotland traditionally spoke their own language, known as
Gutnish. Today however, they've adapted a dialect of Swedish that's known as "Gotländska".
In the 13th century, a work containing the laws of the island, called "The Gotlandic law" (Guta lagen), was published in the ancient Gutnish language.
Gotland is famous for its 94 medieval churches, most of which are restored and in active use. These churches exhibit two major styles of architecture:
Romanesque and
Gothic. The older churches were constructed in the Romanesque style from 1150–1250 A.D. The newer churches were constructed in the Gothic architectural style that prevailed from about 1250 to 1400 A.D. The oldest painting inside one of the churches on Gotland stretches as far back in time as the 12th Century.
Traditional games of skill like
Kubb,
Pärk, and
Varpa are played on Gotland. They are part of what has become called "Gutniska Lekar", and are performed preferably on the Midsummer’s Eve celebration on the island, but also throughout the summer months. The games have widespread renown; some of them are played by people as far away as in the United States.
The knotwork design subsequently named the "
Valknut" has the most attested historic instances on
rune stones in Gotland, which include being on both the
Stora Hammar stone and the
Tängelgårda stone.
Gotland also has a rich heritage of folklore, including myths about the
bysen,
Di sma undar jordi, Hoburgsgubben and the
Martebo lights.
Gotland competes in the bi-annual
Island Games, which it hosted in 1999.
Notable Gotlanders
Christopher Polhem (1661–1751), the father of Swedish mechanical physics was born in Visby. He was also called the "Archimedes of the North".
Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman lived on Fårö, the small island directly north of Gotland Island.
Former ice hockey player in the NHL Håkan Loob.
Lennart Eriksson, also known as Fjodor, the old punk star from Ebba Grön moved to Gotland soon after he left the band in 1982.
Singer Susanne Alfvengren, famous in Sweden during the 1980s.
Death metal band Grave hails from Visby.
Dukes of Gotland
Since 1772, Swedish Princes have been created Dukes of various provinces. This is solely a nominal title.
Prince Oscar (from his birth in 1859 until his loss of succession rights in 1888)
References in popular culture
The Long Ships, or Red Orm (original title: Röde Orm), a best-selling Swedish novel written by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson, contains a vivid description of Gotland in the Viking period. A section of the book is devoted to a Viking ship setting out to Russia, stopping on its way at Gotland and engaging a pilot from the island who plays an important part in their voyage. Gotlanders of the Viking Era are depicted as city people, more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than other Scandinavians of their time, and proud of their knowledge and skills.
The crime novels of Mari Jungstedt, featuring Detective Superintendant Anders Knutas, are set on Gotland.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gotland'.
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