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Göteborg - brief history
The Göteborg region is an old and exciting cultural area. The many ruins in the area prove that people were already living here 8,000 years ago.
Göteborg, which was granted its charter in 1621, was intended to act as Sweden´s gateway to the west. Its position was strategic. The area around the mouth of the River Göta had been an important trading centre since the 12th century. The city was built according to Dutch patterns, with streets and manmade canals in a strictly-designed system and a large square, the current Gustaf Adolfs Torg, next to the Large Canal.
Surrounded by walls, bastions and a moat, Göteborg was one of the most well-defended fortresses in Northern Europe at the end of the century. Three of the fortresses that were built outside the city still stand - Skansen Kronan, Skansen Lejonet and the New Älvsborg Fortress at the mouth of the river.
The Kronhus, the artillery´s magazine for ammunition and grain, and the Torstensson Palace, now the County Govenor´s Residence, are two of the few buildings inside the moat which have been preserved from the first decades. The Large Canal and the moat, together with the street network and the rectangular districts inside the moat, still stand.
The buildings which have been preserved from the 18th century are the East India Building, orginally a warehouse, auction room and office for the East India Company, and Kronhusbodarna, where the artillery had its workshops. The East India Company, which made Göteborg a flourishing city, was founded in 1731. The following year, the first East-Indiaman set sail for China and returned with a valuable cargo of tea, silk and china. Find out more about Göteborg here >>
 
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