About Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden with approximately 500,000 inhabitants in the municipality. It is situated on Sweden's west coast at the outlet of the Göta river.Gothenburg is home to many students, as the city includes both the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology.Gothenburg has a reputation of being a friendly place, even more welcoming than the Swedish capital.
Gothenburg is a city founded in the beginning of the 17th century by the Swedish King, Gustav II Adolf. It was once the center of the Swedish ship-building industry but with rising competition from foreign ship yards, many of the dry docks had to close down. Much of the inner harbor area has changed from industrial ship building to high technology and education, representative of the general change in the city. Today Gothenburg has both international sporting events, concerts, and conventions as well as a small town feel. Volvo Cars was founded in Gothenburg in 1927.
An architecturally interesting period is the 18th century when the East India Company made Gothenburg an important trade city. Imposing stone houses with a Classical look were erected around the canals. One example from this period is the East India House, which today houses Gothenburg’s City Museum.In the 19th century, the wealthy bourgeoisie begun to move outside the city walls which had protected the city when the Union of Denmark and Norway was still a threat. The style now was an eclectic, academic, somewhat over decorated style which the middle-class favoured. The working class lived in the overcrowded city district in the world.
The Gothenburg Central Station is in the heart of the city, just next to Nordstan and Drottningtorget. The building has been renovated and expanded numerous times since the grand opening in October 1858. In 2003 a major reconstruction was finished which brought the 19th century building in to the 21st century expanding the capacity for trains, travellers and shopping. Not far from the centralstation is Skanskaskrapan, or more common known as "The Lipstick". It's 86 meters high with 22 floors and coloured in red-white stripes. The skyscraper was designed by Ralph Erskine and built by Skanska in the 1980s as the headquarter for the company.
Gothenburg offers a number of cultural and architectural highlights.The main boulevard is called Kungsportsavenyn (commonly known as Avenyn, "The Avenue"). It is about one kilometre long and starts at Götaplatsen — which is the location of the Gothenburg Museum of Art, the city's theatre, the city library as well as the concert hall— and stretches out all the way to Kungsportsplatsen in the old city centre of Gothenburg, crossing a canal and a small park. The Avenyn was created in the 1860s and 1870s as a result of an international architecture contest, and is the product of a period of extensive town planning and re-modelling.Avenyn has Gothenburg's highest concentration of pubs and clubs.
Landvetter Airport is Gothenburg's main airport, located 25 km east of the city. There is a Flygbussarna bus service from Landvetter into the city.