Östhammar is a locality

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...

 and the seat of Östhammar Municipality

Östhammar Municipality

Östhammar Municipality is a municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Östhammar....

, 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 4,534 inhabitants in 2010. Today Östhammar Municipality is a part of 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...

, but the area has historically been a part of Stockholm County

Stockholm County

Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...

.

History

Östhammar's city status was granted by king Albert

Albert of Sweden

Albert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.-Background:...

 in 1368. During this period a castle called Östhammarshus was built, but already in 1434 the castle was burnt down by its Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 vogt

Vogt

A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...

, who fled to Denmark over the sea when faced with the Engelbrekt rebellion

Engelbrekt rebellion

The Engelbrekt rebellion was a rebellion in 1434-1436 led by Swedish nobleman Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson against Eric of Pomerania, the king of the Kalmar Union...

. By the late 15th century the land elevation had made it hard to reach Östhammar by boat and its city status was transferred to Öregrund

Öregrund

Öregrund is a locality situated in Östhammar Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 1,555 inhabitants in 2010. It is located by the coast of the Baltic Sea. Öregrund is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a city.- History :The town was granted a royal...

. In 1539 Östhammar however regained its city status and the city was moved closer to the sea.

In 1651 Östhammar got a town hall, and in 1795 Östhammar was heavily damaged by fire. Between the early 17th century and the middle of the 19th century the fishing of herring

Herring

Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...

played a very important role in Östhammar's economy.