Unofficial flag of eastern Götaland.
'' is a historical
province (''landskap'' in
Swedish) in the south of
Sweden. It borders
Småland,
Västergötland,
Närke,
Södermanland, and the
Baltic Sea. Historically, it was one of the provinces that was to become
Sweden in the
Middle Ages. In English, the name would translate to Eastern Gothia, with Gothia referring to the
Geat tribe. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version ''Ostrogothia''.
County
Provinces serve no administrative function in Sweden today. Instead, that function is served by
Counties of Sweden. However, Östergötland has virtually the same boundaries as the corresponding county
Östergötland County.
Geography
Typical Östgöta plains
From west to east, in the middle parts, extends the Östgöta Plain (''Östgöta-slätten''). It is largely
agricultural. In the southern part of the province, the terrain becomes marked by the south-Swedish
highlands, with hills and countless lakes. The northern parts are also hilly, and are otherwise dominated by forests.
Outside the eastern shore of Östergötland lies an archipelago, the islands and islets of which cover an area of 118 km². The
Bråviken bay continues further into the country. Some of the more notable islands are
Korsö,
Gränsö,
Arkö,
Djursö,
Yxnö,
Finnö,
Emtö,
Fångö and
Stora Ålö.
Traditionally, the region is divided into two halves, east and west of the river
Stångån, which flows from the south into lake
Roxen at
Linköping.
The eastern part of
Göta Canal traverses the province from the
Baltic sea at
Mem to lake
Vättern at
Motala.
★ Highest mountain: Stenabohöjden 327
meters
★ Largest lake:
Vättern (Second largest lake of Sweden)
Towns
Cities and the year of their
royal charter.
★
Linköping (
1287)
★
Mjölby (
1922)
★
Motala (
1881)
★
Norrköping (
1384)
★
Skänninge (approximately
1200)
★
Söderköping (approximately
1200)
★
Vadstena (approximately
1400)
Today, the largest city in the province is Linköping, with Norrköping second.
Skänninge is of virtually no importance; Mjölby is also small. An additional town without a royal charter that has emerged in the 20th century is
Finspång.
History
The earliest mention of Östergötland (the Ostrogoths of
Scandza) appears in the ''
Getica'' by the
Goth scholar
Jordanes.
The traditions of Östergötland date back into the
viking age, the undocumented
Iron Age, and earlier, when this region had its own laws and kings (see
Geatish kings and
Wulfings). The region kept its own laws, the ''Östgötalagen'', into the
Middle Ages. Östergötland belonged to the Christian heartland of late Iron Age and early medieval Sweden. The
Sverker and
Bjälbo dynasties played pivotal roles in the
consolidation of Sweden.
The province has about 50,000 ancient remains of different kinds. 1,749 are for instance grave fields.
The industrialization was at strongest in the cities Norrköping (industries include
Ericsson),
Linköping (where
SAAB had air craft industries)
Finspång (metal works), and
Motala (mechanical industries) .
Heraldry
From
1560 Östergötland was represented with two separate arms until
1884 when the current one was granted. The arms is represented with a dukal coronet. Blazon: "Gules a Griffin with Dragon Wings, Tail and Tongue rampant Or armed, beaked, langued and membered Azure between four Roses Argent."
Dukes of Östergötland
Since
1772, Swedish Princes have been created Dukes of various provinces. This is solely a nominal title.
★
Prince Fredrik Adolf (from
1772 until his death in
1803)
★
Prince Oscar (from his birth in
1829 until he became King in
1872)
★
Prince Carl Jr (from his birth in
1911 until his loss of succession rights in
1937)
Culture
Local accents
Formerly the östgöta [IPA: øɧːøta ''or'' øɧœːta] dialect spectrum were considered true göta dialects, but is nowadays considered being a transition area between true göta dialects and svea dialects. The dialects are still used in rural areas, but in the cities, the Standard Swedish is spoken with a certain östgöta accent.
The
accent ''Östgötska'' [IPA: øɧːøtska] can be distinguished from Standard Swedish just by accent and pronunciation of vowels ad sje- and tje- sounds, which makes Östgöta accent an eastern variety of the
Götaland accent. In some parts bordering to
Södermanland, a variety of the
Svealand accent is spoken.
Sights
Ekenäs Castle, one of the best preserved
renaissance castles in Sweden, has belonged to the families
Sture and
Banér.
Löfstad Castle has its origin in the early
17th century having belonged to the
von Fersen family.
Vadstena Castle, built by the
Vasa dynasty
1545-
1620, is combined fortress and renaissance castle.
Hundreds
The
Hundreds of Sweden were jurisdictional divisions in effect until early 20th century.
References
★ Nordisk Familjebok, see below
See also
★
Roundabout dog
External links
Main:
★
Östergötland Official Tourism Site In Swedish, English, German
★
article ''Östergötland'' from
Nordisk Familjebok. (In Swedish)
Sights:
★
Ekenäs Castle
★
Löfstad Castle
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