Malmö is Sweden's third largest municipality with a population of about 271,000. It is a port city located on the southern tip of the country.
Understand
Malmö, along with the southern parts of Sweden, belonged to Denmark until 1658. Malmö has a large part of its inhabitants born abroad, thus contributing to a rich cultural life and many exotic and fine food opportunities. The ship building Kockums company used to be the city's biggest employer, but today the industrial city of old has been replaced by something more middle class.
Get in
By plane
Both Sturup airport and Copenhagen Airport serve Malmö. If you get to the Sturup airport you'll have to take the bus shuttle service to downtown Malmö, but first check the schedules at Flygbussarna's homepage because on Saturday afternoons they don't have many buses.
By train
Trains from Copenhagen cross the bridge in 35 minutes. There are about ten daily X2000 trains to Stockholm and roughly 100 daily departures for the nearby university town of Lund (17km north).
By car
If you don't take the train across the bridge (and tunnel), you can drive for yourself.
It is a pay bridge, you pay to enter Sweden, after you go through the tunnel and cross the bridge. The view is much less obstructed if you choose to go by car as compared to train.
By bus
GrÄhundbus, Swebus Express, and SÀfflebussen have routes to Copenhagen and other places. To Copenhagen the buses take longer but are cheaper than the train, especially for daytrips.
By boat
There is a ferry link from TravemĂŒnde, Germany to Malmö.
Get around
Use the green SkÄnetrafiken buses to get around town.
See
Itineraries
Do
Buy
Malmö offers four shopping plazas in the centre, HansaCompagniet, Triangeln, Storgatan, and Caroli. Storgatan mostly has clothes for young people and coffee shops. The others offer the usual mixture of town shopping with clothes, cameras, jewelry, electronics, books, movies etc. blended with eateries, both international fast food chains and local ones. World famous Swedish glassware can also be bought there.
The main shopping streets are Södergatan and Södra Förstadsgatan, where you can find all kinds of shops.
Les Trois Roses (Gustav Adolfs torg, Davidshallstorg) is a great chocolaterie.
Getting Online
Eat
Budget
Mid-range
There are a lot of restaurants in the Little Square with outdoor seating (with heating year-round).
Splurge
Drink
You can pick up the free Nöjesguiden and Dygnet Runt magazines in various stores to read more about Malmö's nightlife. They are only available in Swedish though.
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Get out
SkĂ„netrafiken's Around the Sound (Ăresund Rundt) ticket is a great way to see the surrounding region of Scania as well as North Zealand, Denmark (including Copenhagen). For 199 SEK, you get unlimited train travel and one ferry trip, for two days.
is the third largest city in Sweden, situated in the southernmost province of Scania (SkÄne). It has 258,020 inhabitants (2005) (about 605,000 in the metro area). Malmö was one of the earliest and most industrialized towns of Scandinavia, but has in recent decades been struggling with the adaptation to post-industrialism.
The city contains many historic buildings and parks, and is also a popular place to shop due to its many different shops and stores. During the last few years a university college (Malmö University) has been established and the city is now focusing extensively on education, arts and culture.
The administrative entity for most of the city Malmö is the Malmö Municipality, referred to as Malmö Stad, or City of Malmo in English.
History
Malmö is said to have been founded in what was formerly Denmark, in the year 1275, as a fortified quay or ferry berth of the Archbishop of Lund, some 20 km north-east. It was, for centuries, Denmark's second biggest city. Its original name was Malmhaug (with alternate spellings), meaning "Gravel pile".
In the 15th century, Malmö became one of Denmark's largest and most frequented cities, reaching a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. It became the most important city around The Sound, with the German Hanseatic League frequenting it as a marketplace, notable for its flourishing herring fishing. During that time, the city arms were granted in 1437 by King Eric of Pomerania. It was based on Eric's own arms from Pomerania: an argent with a griffin gules. It gave the griffin's head to Malmö, eventually this extended to the entire province Scania (SkÄne).
In 1434, a new citadel was constructed at the beach south of town. This fortress, known today as Malmöhus, did not get its current appearance until the mid-16th century. Several other fortifications were constructed, making Malmö Sweden's most fortified city, but only Malmöhus remains.
Lutheran teachings became popular during the 16th century, and Malmö was one of the first cities in Scandinavia to fully convert (1527-29).
In the 17th century, Malmö and the Scanian region (SkÄneland) came into Swedish possession. This happened following the Treaty of Roskilde, signed in 1658. Fighting was not yet over, however; in June 1677, 14,000 Danish troops laid siege to Malmö for a month, but were unable to conquer it.
By the dawn of the 18th century, Malmö had about 2,300 inhabitants. However, due to the wars of Charles XII of Sweden and plague epidemics, the population dropped to 1,500 by 1728. The population did not grow much until the modern harbour was constructed by the late 18th century. The city started to expand, and in the year 1800 had 38,054 inhabitants.
Malmö would greatly benefit from the Swedish southern railway line, constructed 1850-70, as it gave a significant boost to industry. In 1840, the Kockums shipyard was founded. The industry dominated Malmö for the next 150 years.
In 1870, Malmö overtook Norrköping to become Sweden's third most populated city. By 1900, Malmö had strengthened this position with 60,000 inhabitants.
Malmö continued to expand through the first half of the 20th century. The population had swiftly increased to 100,000 by 1915 and to 200,000 by 1952. Kockums shipyard was Malmö's largest employer, and one of the largest shipyards in the world. By 1971, Malmö reached 265,000 inhabitants, but this was the peak which would stand for more than 30 years. Not long after, Sweden experienced a recession that struck especially hard on the industrial sector; shipyards and manufacturing industries were hard hit, which led to high unemployment in many cities of Scania. Kockums shipyard closed down in the mid-eighties, depriving the city of its greatest employer as well as a major factor in Malmö's image of itself (the old shipyard area is now used by Malmö Högskola). In addition, many middle class families moved into one-family houses in surrounding municipalities such as Vellinge Municipality and Lomma Municipality which profiled themselves as the suburbs of the upper middle class. To counter this, at the end of the 1990s Malmö undertook a program of redeveloping attractive seafront quarters in the now largely disused south-western harbour; a city architecture exposition (Bo01) was held in 2001. The new apartment buildings and villas created for it have become the core of a new city district, aimed at the urban middle-class and with attractive waterfront vistas.
By 1985, Malmö had lost 35,000 inhabitants and was down to 229,000. However, the toughest difficulties were yet to emerge. Between 1990-95, Malmö lost about 27,000 jobs, and its economy was seriously strained.
However, thanks to several government-funded projects, Malmö started to emerge as its current modern incarnation by 1995. Malmö has the highest proportion of individuals of non-Scandinavian extraction of any Swedish city. It remains a city of sharp social divide and high unemployment.
Geography
Malmö is located at 13°00' east and 55°35' north. Its location in southernmost Sweden makes it closer to the Italian city of Milan than to the northernmost Swedish town Kiruna, giving the city a compratively more continental feel (and warmer climate).
Malmö is part of the transnational Oresund Region and since 2000 the Oresund Bridge crosses the Oresund strait to Copenhagen, Denmark. The bridge was inaugurated July 1, 2000, and measures 8 kilometres (the whole link totalling 16 km), with pylons reaching 204.5 metres vertically. Except the Helsingborg-HelsingÞr ferry links further north, most ferry connections have been discontinued.
Climate
The shores of Scania, where Malmö is situated, have a temperate climate and is according to Köppen climate classification part of the Maritime Temperate climates. This means that the average temperature is above 10 °C in the warmest months, and the coldest month average is above â3 °C.
Transportation
Commuter trains pass the bridge every 20 minutes connecting Malmö, Copenhagen, and the Copenhagen Metro (inaugurated on Oct 19, 2002). Also some of the X2000 and Intercity trains to Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Kalmar pass the bridge. All these trains stop at Copenhagen Airport.
In March of 2005, digging began on a new railway connection called Citytunneln (The City Tunnel). The tunnel will run from under Malmö Central Station to HyllievÄng (Hyllie Meadow), where it will emerge to connect with the Oresund Bridge, effectively changing Malmö Central from being a terminus to being a transit station.
Beside the Copenhagen Airport to which the Oresund Bridge offers swift connection, Malmö has a minor airport of its own, Malmö Airport, today chiefly used for low-cost carriers, charter flight routes, and domestic Swedish destinations.
The motorway system has been incorporated with the Oresund Bridge; the European route E6 goes over the bridge and then follows the Swedish west coast from MalmöâHelsingborg to the Norwegian town Kirkenes at Barents Sea. The European route to JönköpingâStockholm (E4) starts at Helsingborg. Main roads in direction of VĂ€xjöâKalmar, KristianstadâKarlskrona, Ystad, and Trelleborg start as freeways.
Municipality
Malmö Municipality is an administrative unit defined by geographical borders, consisting of the City of Malmö and its immediate surroundings.
Malmö urban area, Malmö tÀtort with 258,020 inhabitants (2005), consists of the urban part of the municipality together with the small town of Arlöv in the municipality of Burlöv. Both municipalities also include smaller urban areas and rural areas, such as the suburbs of Oxie and à karp. Malmö tÀtort is to be distinguished from Malmö stad (The city of Malmö), which is an semi-official name of Malmö Municipality, althouth this terminology appears counterintuitive to many locals.
Government
The municipal legislative body of the City of Malmö is the 61-member Municipal council (kommunfullmÀktige), elected by proportional representation for a four-year term. The council appoints the city's main governing bodies, the 11-member executive committee (kommunstyrelsen) and the 8 governing commissioners. The executive committee and the commissioners are headed by the Mayor (kommunstyrelsens ordförande).
The Mayor of the City of Malmö has since 1995 been Ilmar Reepalu, of the Social Democratic Party.
Demographics
After 1971, Malmö had 265,000 inhabitants, the population then dropped to 229 000 by 1985. It then began to rise again, and had passed the previous record by the January 1, 2003 census, when it had 265,481 inhabitants. According to models, the population will continue to increase to an estimated 281,000 inhabitants by 2010. There were 70,590 people, or 26% of the municipal population, born abroad as of 2006. The largest immigration waves have arrived from:
# Yugoslavia (8,962)
# Denmark (6,497)
# Iraq (6,373)
# Poland (5,654)
# Bosnia-Herzegovina (5,502)
As of 2005, Malmö had the third-highest proportion of foreign-born residents of any municipality in Sweden.
Economy
The economy of Malmö was traditionally based on shipbuilding (Kockums) and construction related industries, such as concrete factories. The region's leading university, along with its associated hi-tech and pharmaceutical industries, is located in Lund about 16 km to the north-east. As a result, Malmö had a troubled economic situation following the mid-1970s. Between 1990-1995, 27,000 jobs were lost, and the budget deficit was more than billion Swedish crowns. In 1995, Malmö had Sweden's largest unemployment rate.
However, during the last few years there has been a revival. The main contributing factor have been the economic integration with Denmark brought about by the Oresund Bridge. Almost 10% of the population in Malmö works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also the university college (Malmö Högskola) founded in 1998 and the effects of integration into the European Union have contributed.
Malmö still has comparatively high unemployment figures, particularly among the ethnically and socially diverse areas in the eastern and southern parts (See Malmö's suburbs). In 2004, the rate of wage-earners was 63%, while in Stockholm 74% and Gothenburg 71%.
As of 2005, the largest companies were:
# Skanska -- house construction: 3,025 employees
# ISS Facility Service AB -- hospital service, cleaning, etc: 1,725 employees
# Sydkraft -- electricity: 1,025 employees
# Sydsvenskan -- newspaper: 1,025 employees
# PĂ„gen -- bakery: 975 employees
Education
Malmö has the country's eighth largest school of higher education with the university college Malmö Högskola established in 1998. It has 1,300 employees and 21,000 students (as of 2003).
In addition, the venerable Lund University (established in 1668) has some education located to Malmö:
The UN World Maritime University is also located in Malmö. The World Maritime University (WMU) operates under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. WMU thus enjoys the status, privileges and immunities of a UN institution in Sweden.
Culture
A striking depiction of Malmö was made by Bo Widerberg in his engaging debut film Kvarteret Korpen (Raven's End) (1963), largely shot to the shabby Korpen working-class discrict in Malmö. With humour and tenderness it depicts the tensions between classes and generations. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Movie in 1965.
In 1944, one of the city's most enduring cultural hubs was inaugurated, namely the Municipal Theatre, with several stages (the main stage is the most expansive theatre room in Sweden) and a repertory, then as now embracing both stage theatre, opera, musical, ballet, musical recitals and theatrical experiments. In the 1950s Ingmar Bergman was the Director and Chief Stage Director of the place and made it one of the most vital scenes of the nation; many of the people he would bring to stardom in his sixties movies he encountered here (for example Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin). Later stage directors include Staffan Valdemar Holm and Göran Stangertz.
Since the 1970s the city has also been home to a rich, if fluctuating, array of independent theatre groups and some show/musical companies. It also hosts a rich rock/dance/dub culture; in the 1960s The Rolling Stones played the Klubb Bongo, and in recent years stars like Morrissey, Nick Cave, B. B. King and Pat Metheny have made repeated visits.
The Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art, founded in 1988 by the Swedish art collector and financier Fredrik Roos and housed in a former power station which had been built in 1900, was one of the foremost centers for contemporary art in Europe during the 1980s and '90s. By 2006, most of the collection had been sold off and the museum was on a time-out; the future of the museum foundation and the house are still undetermined.
The Opera of Malmö (Malmö Opera och Musikteater) is well-known in Sweden and a wide range of operas, musicals and plays have been performed there.
Architecture
The oldest parts of Malmö were built between 1300-1600 during its first major period of expansion. The central city's layout as well as some of its oldest buildings are from this time. Many of the smaller buildings from this time are typical Scanian two story urban houses that show a strong Danish influence.
Recession followed in the ensuing centuries. The next expansion period was in the mid 19th century and led to the modern stone and brick city. This expansion lasted into the 20th century and can be seen by a number Art Nouveau buildings for which the city is known. Malmö was one of the first cities in Sweden to be influenced by modern ideas of functionalist tenement architecture in the 1930s. Around 1965, the government initiated the so called Million Programme, intending to offer affordable apartments in the outskirts of major Swedish cities. But this period also saw the reconstruction (and raising) of much of the historical city center.
Recent years have seen a bolder more cosmopolitan architecture. VÀstra Hamnen (The Western Harbor), like most of the harbor to the north of the city center, was industrial. In 2001, however, its reconstruction began as an exclusive, albeit secluded, urban residential neighborhood. The houses are extremely unique and inventive and most were part of the exhibition Bo01. Among the new buildings towers the Turning Torso, a spectacular twisting skyscraper, tall, the majority of which is residential. It quickly became Malmö's new landmark within Sweden.
Other sights
The beach Ribersborg in the western harbour, is a man-made shallow beach, stretching along Malmö's coast line. Despite Malmö's chilly climate, it is sometimes referred to as the "Riviera of the North" or the "Swedish Riviera." It is the site of Ribersborgs Kallbadhus, an open air bath opened in the 1890s, where people go swimming all year round.
The long boardwalk at The Western Harbour has become a new favourite summer hang-out for the people of Malmö and is a popular place for bathing.
Events
In the third week of August each year a festival, Malmöfestivalen, fills the streets of Malmö with different kinds of cuisines and events.
BUFF, the International Children and Young People's Film Festival in Malmö, takes place every year in March.
Malmö was also the host of the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, after Sweden won it the previous year.
Media
Sydsvenska Dagbladet, founded in 1870, is since 2000 Malmö's only full-size daily newspaper, and also one of its larger employers (see section #Economy). It has an average circulation of 130,000. Apart from Sydsvenskan, there are few media companies in the city, though a number of free-of-charge papers, generally dealing with entertainment, music and fashion have local editions (for instance City, .SE, Rodeo, Metro and Nöjesguiden). There are regional Scanian TV and radio broadcasts; these do however serve most of Scania, and are also attained on the other side of the Sound.
Sports
The most popular football (soccer) team in Malmö is Malmö FF, in the top-level Allsvenskan. They had their period of glamour in the 1970s and 1980s, when they won the league several times. In 1979, they advanced to the finals of the European Cup, now the UEFA Champions League. Then followed some meager years, until they in 2004 won the Allsvenskan again.
The second most notable team is Malmö Redhawks, in ice hockey. They were the creation of a millionaire and quickly rose to the highest rank in the 1990s.
Twinning cities
As of 2006, Malmö has town twinning treaties or treaties of co-operation signed with 11 cities. Of these, co-operation is closest with Newcastle, Tallinn, Chieti and Vaasa.
All cities:
See also
Resources
External links
