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VästervikColumbia Encyclopedia entry: Västervik
Västervikvĕ'stərvēk′, city (1990. pop. 21,500), Kalmar co., SE Sweden, on an inlet of the Baltic Sea. Manufactures of this industrial center include paper, furniture, matches, and prefabricated houses. There are also shipyards, iron foundries, and fisheries. Gustavus I built a major shipyard at Västervik in the 16th cent., and the city was Sweden's second largest Baltic port into the 19th cent.
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Wikipedia search results for: Västervik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Västervik is a city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 20,694 inhabitants in 2005.
Västervik was first mentioned in 1275. The town was then located at the current location of Gamleby. In 1433 Eric of Pomerania decided to give it a charter and move it to its current strategically important location, close to the castle of Stegeholm. In the ensuing centuries Västervik suffered attacks from hostile armies. It was more or less completely destroyed five times between 1450 and 1677. Despite this, king Gustav Vasa established a ship industry here in the 16th century, from which ships sailed to Germany and the Baltic countries, and...more »
