Lund

Lund ([ men] (?·i)) is one of the oldest and most important cities in Sweden. Located in the homonymous municipality, south of the province of Escania, within the region of Öresund.

Lund Municipality

Lund Municipality (Swedish Lunds kommun) is made up of the former administrative districts of Lund, Dalby, Genarp, Södra Sandby and Veberöd. The municipality was created between the end of 1973 and the beginning of 1974.

It covers an area of 443 km² that includes at least 13 nature reserves, a national park and a large environmental protection area, including Dalby Söderskog ("Southern Forest"), Fågelsångsdal (" 34;Valley of Birdsong"), Prästaskogen, Gryteskog, Trollskogen. Archaeological remains dating back to the second Iron Age have been found in the Kungsmarken nature reserve.

Dalby Church, built around 1060 for a bishop, is the oldest preserved stone church in Scandinavia.

The City of Lund

The city of Lund, with more than 1000 years of history, is an important industrial, scientific and educational center, thanks to Lund University and the Ideon science park. It is called "The City of Ideas" and one of the scenes from Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman was filmed there.

Physical Aspects

Lund is located 18 km north-east of Malmö, in the Skåne province in the south of the country, and 40 minutes by train from the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

With a coastal climate, it is found between 10 and 80 m above sea level. The average monthly precipitation is 55 mm. And the average annual is about 655 mm.

Demographics

Graph of evolution of Lund between 1570 and 2018

History until the 17th century

Lunds Domkyrka - Lund Cathedral.

By the end of the X century, Lund was already a permanent settlement whose activities revolved around an archbishopric and the Royal Danish Mint. It was probably the Danish Viking king Svend Tveskæg who founded Lund in about 990.

Later, Canute (Knut) the Great, ruler of the united kingdoms of England and Denmark highlighted Lund's advantages due to its geographical position. In the 11th century Lund was already the religious, political, cultural, educational and commercial center of all Scandinavia.

In 1104 the Archbishopric of Scandinavia was established. The bishop's cathedral, which had been built in 1085, was replaced by a new one. Lund Cathedral, which then became the center of Christianity in the Nordic countries, still dominates the city center today.

In 1658 the provinces of Scania, Blekinge and Halland were conquered (Treaty of Roskilde) by the Swedes and eight years later, in 1666, the University of Lund was founded. By then the population of Lund had decreased from 4,000 to 2,000 inhabitants.

Lund University

Universitetsbyggnaden - University Main Building (1882).

The University of Lund, in Swedish Lunds Universitet, was founded in 1666 with the aim of consolidating the power and influence of the Swedish crown over the newly conquered territories. It was inaugurated in 1668. It was the third Swedish university founded in the 17th century.

The Lund Institute of Technology (Swedish Lunds Tekniska Högskola, LTH) established in 1965, was incorporated into the University in 1969.

Lund University is the largest establishment of higher education and research in Scandinavia. With its more than 34,000 students (3,200 of whom are postgraduates) and 6,000 employees (half professors and researchers), and the resulting multicultural and youthful atmosphere, the University dominates many aspects of the social, cultural, and economic life of the city.

Ideon

Sweden's first and largest science park, Ideon, was founded in 1983 with the aim of promoting the development of high-tech companies in Sweden, establishing and leveraging close cooperative ties with the university, particularly with the faculties of Engineering, Economics and Administration, and the LTH.

Twinned cities

Lund is twinned with:

Notable people

Fonts

1. Handbook for visiting staff. Lund University's Foreign Friends, Lunds Universitet, 2002.
2. Lund - the city of ideas. Lunds Turistbyrå, Lunds Kommun.
3. Lund University. Information Office, Lunds Universitet.