7 Fascinating facts about Gothenburg, Sweden’s second city
In many ways, Gothenburg can be considered the heart of Scandinavia. It is Sweden’s second largest city, has a 3.5-hour ferry connection to Denmark and is only a 2-hour drive from Norway.
From its status as a global leader in sustainability to a fascinating history of trade and innovation, there is much to discover about Gothenburg. Here are seven fascinating facts about this thriving Scandinavian city.
The city is not actually called Gothenburg
In Swedish, the city is called Gothenburg, roughly pronounced yaw-ta-bore(g). This surprises many international visitors as all other Swedish cities use the same name in both languages. To add to the confusion, many companies in Gothenburg use the English version in their name.
Over the years, the municipal council has changed its mind about its own brand. In 2003, it was decided to promote the name Gothenburg, a decision that was changed only six years later. Now Gothenburg is the preferred choice for all international communication.
It is the fifth largest city in the Nordic region
While Gothenburg plays second fiddle to Stockholm in Sweden, it is a major player in a larger Nordic context.
With almost 600,000 people living in the city and around 1.1 million people in the larger conurbation, Gothenburg is the largest Nordic city that is not the country’s capital. It is also significantly larger than Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
Gothenburg was built by the Dutch
Although people have lived in the area for thousands of years, today’s city was founded in 1621 by the King of Sweden. But the city’s early success relied on construction expertise from the Netherlands.
Based on the Dutch experiences of building on marshlands and building canals, the planning of Gothenburg’s streets and necessary canals followed the planning of Amsterdam and Dutch colonies of the time, especially Batavia (present-day Jakarta).
The city is a leader in innovative transport
In 1927, the first Volvo car rolled off the production line in Gothenburg. Since then, Volvo has become a global leader in design with people first and safety first.
While Volvo Cars was sold to Ford in 1999, Gothenburg remains the headquarters of the Volvo Group which continues to manufacture trucks and buses including new 44-tonne electric trucks. The city’s Volvo Visitor Center and Volvo Museum tell the story.
Today Gothenburg is writing a new chapter in its transport story. The leading electric aircraft developer Heart Aerospace has chosen Gothenburg as a base to create the so-called North runwaya campus of production and flight test facilities.
Gothenburg is twinned with Chicago
Of Chicago’s 28 sister cities, Gothenburg is the only one in the Nordics. The Sister Cities Program was launched in 1960 and works with collaborations in the fields of cultural arts and tourism, global education, government relations and international business.
Gothenburg is a sustainability leader
A commitment to sustainability is a thread that runs through all aspects of life in Gothenburg, from business to tourism. In 2021, Lonely Planet recognized Gothenburg as the world’s most sustainable city holidayswhile the Global Destination Sustainability Index ranked Gothenburg as the world’s most sustainable destination five years in a row.
Gothenburg was the first city in the world to issue green bonds to stimulate investment in solutions to climate change. Almost all of the city’s hotels are environmentally certified, and plans to develop a zero-emission transport zone in the center are well underway.
The city’s archipelago is vast
About 5,000 people live in Gothenburg’s southern archipelago, but that number rises to over 10,000 during the summer months.
Many Swedes own summer cottages and spend several weeks on one of the islands, while many more spend weekends there throughout the year.
In line with the city’s sustainability focus, the southern archipelago is completely car-free. Ferries connect people to the mainland, while bicycles and delivery mopeds are used on the islands.
Although the islands are progressive, they are also steeped in history. The southern islands are mentioned in Nordic sagas as the ‘river islands’ and seem to have been used as a place for fairs and duels during the Viking Age.
The northern archipelago has much in common with its southern sibling, but has larger islands and communities that are accessible by car via the car ferries from Lilla Varholmen. The weekend ferry to Hönö Klåva from central Gothenburg is particularly popular.