Storvreta
Encyclopedia
Storvreta is a locality
situated in Uppsala Municipality
, Uppsala County
, Sweden
with 6,083 inhabitants in 2005.
and Bronze Age
habitations and grave fields in the area. Although some of the graves found near today's village may be from the Mesolithic
or Neolithic
era, most of the habitable land had not risen from the sea
following the most recent Ice Age
until the centuries around 2000 BC.
, a land register was made for Rasbo Hundred, in which Storvreta was mentioned. The village then included four agricultural properties (hemman) according to the register, although it is possible that smaller farms were taxed together and counted as one property. In connection with the laga skiftet, an agrarian reform from 1827 aiming to create larger areas of arable land, which was carried out in Rasbo Hundred in 1851-1852, ten agricultural properties were recorded in Storvreta village. In addition, there were a few smaller farms and torp
s (crofts) belonging to Storvreta, including a soldattorp for a tenement soldier
.
The railway between Uppsala and Gävle
, the work on which had been begun in 1872, was finished in September, 1874, when the railroad tracks from Gävle in the north and Uppsala in the south were connected in Storvreta, by the new station house which had been built earlier that year. The railway was formally opened in December, 1874. As a result of the improved communications, Storvreta grew and transformed from an agrarian village into a centre for industries, the most important being furniture manufacture.
, and following that, the Royal Court of Sweden and Nationalmuseum commissioned furniture from Blomqvist's. J E Blomkvist's son Jabez Blomqvist continued running the business after his father's death in 1949. In its heyday, the factory employed up to 50 people. Two roads in Storvreta have been named after J E Blomqvist, who in addition to his furniture making also worked as a lay preacher, and built a church for the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
in the village. Jabez Blomqvist retired in 1966 and the firm passed to another owner, who closed it down a few years later.
Another furniture manufacturer in Storvreta was Anton Lund, who began working at Blomqvist's in 1916, but quit his job and opened his own manufacture in 1920. Lund's factory, which employed 12 people, produced beds and other furniture, and also ski
s manufactured and glued together according to a system invented by Lund. The firm closed down when Lund retired.
The largest furniture manufacturing industry in Storvreta was AB K J Pettersson and Sons. Like Lund, Karl Julius (K J) Pettersson worked for Blomqvist's furniture company, until 1933 when he started a small-scale manufacturing business of his own. The production grew, and Pettersson built a larger factory and a furniture shop. In 1953 yet another larger factory building, which still exists, was built in the Lyckebo area of Storvreta. The company specialised in sofa beds with patented constructions, as well as other furniture. When the first dedicated student housing was built in Uppsala, Pettersson's were commissioned to deliver the furnishings. The firm employed 50-60 people in low season, and about 100 people in high season. A large furniture shop was built near the E4
motorway in Svista
; this shop burnt down in 1979. In 1980, the Lyckebo factory buildings were sold and the company closed down.
Other industries in 20th century Storvreta included manufacture of cinema furnishings, two smithies delivering tools and other metal products to the furniture makers and farmers in the area, a dairy and a brewery. A fur farm breeding mink
s and silver fox
es existed outside Storvreta until 1957.
A mill
, Ekeby kvarn, is located just outside the village, on the river Fyris
. There has been a mill in Ekeby since the 13th century; the current mill building was built in 1791. The property belongs to Uppsala University
, which received the mill as a bequest from Queen Kristina
in 1639, and then leased it out to millers. The last miller, Evert Edlund, leased Ekeby kvarn from 1950 until his retirement in 1987. In addition, there was a sawmill
in Ekeby, which served both the farmers and the furniture industry. The sawmill was demolished in the 1960s.
. There are frequent bus and train services to Uppsala, and the Upptåget train which has a stop in Storvreta also has services to Gävle
, Arlanda Airport and Upplands Väsby
.
There are four primary schools in Storvreta: three lower primary schools, Lyckeboskolan, Storvretaskolan, and Pluggparadiset, and one upper primary school (grades 7-9), Ärentunaskolan. Ärentunaskolan burnt down in 1986, a fire which also destroyed the public library
which was housed in the school. In 1989, the new school building opened, and Ärentunaskolan currently has about 500 students from Storvreta, Vattholma
and Skyttorp
.
Storvreta also has several shops and restaurants and a library, which opened in a new building a few years after the fire.
Storvreta IBK
, the local floorball
club is one of the largest in Sweden, with teams for children from the age of 6 and up, as well as a men's team which are the reigning champions of the Swedish Super League
, Sweden's highest floorball league.
Storvreta belongs to Ärentuna Parish in the Church of Sweden
. The 14th-century Ärentuna Church is located some 5 km to the west of Storvreta, and there is also a chapel in the village itself. In addition, there is an ecumenical church, Lyckebokyrkan, which belongs to the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
and the Baptist Union of Sweden
, and which was built in 1982. When Lyckebokyrkan had been built, the old Mission Covenant Church, commissioned to be built by J E Blomqvist in 1908, was torn down. The old Baptist chapel from 1895 was also levelled at this time.
Urban areas in Sweden
Urban area is a common English translation of the Swedish term tätort. The official term in English, used by Statistics Sweden, is, however, locality. There are 1,940 localities in Sweden . They could be compared with census-designated places in the United States.A tätort in Sweden has a minimum of...
situated in Uppsala Municipality
Uppsala Municipality
Uppsala Municipality is a municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Uppsala has a population of 200,032 . Its seat is located in the university city of Uppsala....
, Uppsala County
Uppsala County
Uppsala County is a county or län on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea.- Province :For History, Geography and Culture see: Uppland...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
with 6,083 inhabitants in 2005.
Prehistory
Archeological investigations have found Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
and Bronze Age
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...
habitations and grave fields in the area. Although some of the graves found near today's village may be from the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
or Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era, most of the habitable land had not risen from the sea
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
following the most recent Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
until the centuries around 2000 BC.
Agricultural village
For thousands of years, the inhabitants in the area were farmers, making their living off the fertile land which had formerly been below the sea level. In 1539, under the reign of Gustav VasaGustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
, a land register was made for Rasbo Hundred, in which Storvreta was mentioned. The village then included four agricultural properties (hemman) according to the register, although it is possible that smaller farms were taxed together and counted as one property. In connection with the laga skiftet, an agrarian reform from 1827 aiming to create larger areas of arable land, which was carried out in Rasbo Hundred in 1851-1852, ten agricultural properties were recorded in Storvreta village. In addition, there were a few smaller farms and torp
Torp
In Scandinavian languages torp means a small dwelling, such as a cottage, with a small leased farm area cultivated by its inhabitants, similar to a croft....
s (crofts) belonging to Storvreta, including a soldattorp for a tenement soldier
Swedish allotment system
The allotment system was a system used in Sweden for keeping a trained army at all times. This system came into use in around 1640, and was replaced in the early 1900s by the Swedish Armed Forces conscription system...
.
The railway between Uppsala and Gävle
Gävle
Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...
, the work on which had been begun in 1872, was finished in September, 1874, when the railroad tracks from Gävle in the north and Uppsala in the south were connected in Storvreta, by the new station house which had been built earlier that year. The railway was formally opened in December, 1874. As a result of the improved communications, Storvreta grew and transformed from an agrarian village into a centre for industries, the most important being furniture manufacture.
Industries
Johan Erik Blomqvist was the first of the village's industrialists; he moved to Storvreta in 1892 and initially manufactured furniture in his home. In the year 1900, Blomqvist built a furniture factory in central Storvreta and moved his production there. The Blomqvist factory manufactured furnishings for banks, shops and university departments. In 1925, a desk manufactured by the company won a prize at the World's Fair in ParisExposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes
The International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts was a World's fair held in Paris, France, from April to October 1925. The term "Art Deco" was derived by shortening the words Arts Décoratifs, in the title of this exposition, but not until the late 1960s by British art critic...
, and following that, the Royal Court of Sweden and Nationalmuseum commissioned furniture from Blomqvist's. J E Blomkvist's son Jabez Blomqvist continued running the business after his father's death in 1949. In its heyday, the factory employed up to 50 people. Two roads in Storvreta have been named after J E Blomqvist, who in addition to his furniture making also worked as a lay preacher, and built a church for the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden , founded in 1878, is a Swedish Reformed free church. It is the second-largest Christian denomination in the country, after the national church, the Church of Sweden...
in the village. Jabez Blomqvist retired in 1966 and the firm passed to another owner, who closed it down a few years later.
Another furniture manufacturer in Storvreta was Anton Lund, who began working at Blomqvist's in 1916, but quit his job and opened his own manufacture in 1920. Lund's factory, which employed 12 people, produced beds and other furniture, and also ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
s manufactured and glued together according to a system invented by Lund. The firm closed down when Lund retired.
The largest furniture manufacturing industry in Storvreta was AB K J Pettersson and Sons. Like Lund, Karl Julius (K J) Pettersson worked for Blomqvist's furniture company, until 1933 when he started a small-scale manufacturing business of his own. The production grew, and Pettersson built a larger factory and a furniture shop. In 1953 yet another larger factory building, which still exists, was built in the Lyckebo area of Storvreta. The company specialised in sofa beds with patented constructions, as well as other furniture. When the first dedicated student housing was built in Uppsala, Pettersson's were commissioned to deliver the furnishings. The firm employed 50-60 people in low season, and about 100 people in high season. A large furniture shop was built near the E4
European route E4
European route E 4 passes from north to south through Sweden from the border with Finland, total length . The Finnish part lies entirely within Tornio in northern Finland, and is actually only long...
motorway in Svista
SVISTA
SVISTA is a former commercial virtual machine software product marketed by Serenity Systems International. Windows, OS/2, Linux and FreeBSD hosted versions were available.This product is no longer available nor supported....
; this shop burnt down in 1979. In 1980, the Lyckebo factory buildings were sold and the company closed down.
Other industries in 20th century Storvreta included manufacture of cinema furnishings, two smithies delivering tools and other metal products to the furniture makers and farmers in the area, a dairy and a brewery. A fur farm breeding mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
s and silver fox
Silver Fox
Silver Fox is a fictional character, a human in the Marvel Comics universe.- Fictional character biography :Silver Fox is a lover of Wolverine who first appeared in Wolverine vol.2 #10, where she is killed by Sabretooth...
es existed outside Storvreta until 1957.
A mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, Ekeby kvarn, is located just outside the village, on the river Fyris
Fyris
Fyrisån is a river in the Swedish province of Uppland, which passes through the city of Uppsala and ends in Lake Mälaren....
. There has been a mill in Ekeby since the 13th century; the current mill building was built in 1791. The property belongs to Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
, which received the mill as a bequest from Queen Kristina
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
in 1639, and then leased it out to millers. The last miller, Evert Edlund, leased Ekeby kvarn from 1950 until his retirement in 1987. In addition, there was a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
in Ekeby, which served both the farmers and the furniture industry. The sawmill was demolished in the 1960s.
Today
Since 1971, Storvreta is part of Uppsala municipality, and today, a large proportion of the inhabitants work in Uppsala or StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. There are frequent bus and train services to Uppsala, and the Upptåget train which has a stop in Storvreta also has services to Gävle
Gävle
Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...
, Arlanda Airport and Upplands Väsby
Upplands Väsby
Upplands Väsby is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Upplands Väsby Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 35,977 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:...
.
There are four primary schools in Storvreta: three lower primary schools, Lyckeboskolan, Storvretaskolan, and Pluggparadiset, and one upper primary school (grades 7-9), Ärentunaskolan. Ärentunaskolan burnt down in 1986, a fire which also destroyed the public library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
which was housed in the school. In 1989, the new school building opened, and Ärentunaskolan currently has about 500 students from Storvreta, Vattholma
Vattholma
Vattholma is a locality situated in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 1,413 inhabitants in 2005....
and Skyttorp
Skyttorp
Skyttorp is a locality situated in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 664 inhabitants in 2005....
.
Storvreta also has several shops and restaurants and a library, which opened in a new building a few years after the fire.
Storvreta IBK
Storvreta IBK
The Storvreta Innebandyklubb or Storvreta IBK, is a floorball club based in Storvreta, Sweden. The club plays in Sweden's highest floorball league, the Svenska Superligan. They are the current Superliga champions, having won the 2010 finals against Caperio/Täby FC and the 2011 finals against...
, the local floorball
Floorball
Floorball, a type of floor hockey, is an indoor team sport which was developed in the 1970s in Sweden. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The game is played...
club is one of the largest in Sweden, with teams for children from the age of 6 and up, as well as a men's team which are the reigning champions of the Swedish Super League
Swedish Super League
Swedish Super League is the highest league in the league system of Swedish floorball and comprises the top 14 Swedish floorball teams. The first season began in 1995-96. The season ends with a play-off and a final.-History:...
, Sweden's highest floorball league.
Storvreta belongs to Ärentuna Parish in the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
. The 14th-century Ärentuna Church is located some 5 km to the west of Storvreta, and there is also a chapel in the village itself. In addition, there is an ecumenical church, Lyckebokyrkan, which belongs to the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden , founded in 1878, is a Swedish Reformed free church. It is the second-largest Christian denomination in the country, after the national church, the Church of Sweden...
and the Baptist Union of Sweden
Baptist Union of Sweden
The Baptist Union of Sweden is the oldest of several Baptist bodies in Sweden.The first known Baptist church in Sweden was organized on September 21, 1848 in Vallersvik, where a group of people committed the first known baptism in Sweden. At the time this was a crime, and the new movement's leader...
, and which was built in 1982. When Lyckebokyrkan had been built, the old Mission Covenant Church, commissioned to be built by J E Blomqvist in 1908, was torn down. The old Baptist chapel from 1895 was also levelled at this time.