SVERIGE | SWEDEN |
län: Blekinge län |
Ronneby is a locality and the seat of Ronneby Municipality in Blekinge County, sitauated at the river Ronnebyån, about 385 km southwest of Stockholm and about 21 km westnorthwest of the capital of Blekinge County, Karlskrona. Ronneby has a population of about 12,600 (2015), the municipality has a population of about 29,200 (2021).
The city's oldest surviving city privileges are from 1387. The first recorded spelling of the name (around the year 1300) is Rotnæby,
'the village upon the roaring (river)', so named because of the rapids on the spot. In the Middle Ages, Ronneby was an important trading and shipping
town. In 1564, Ronneby was the location of a bloody battle during the Northern Seven Years' War between the Swedish and the Danish armies during which
the Swedes besieged the city, killed many inhabitants (Ronneby Bloodbath) and burnt it to the ground. Following the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, whereby
Blekinge and other southern provinces became Swedish, a navy base was built in Karlskrona, east of Ronneby, which accordingly was granted city rights,
while revoking the city rights of Ronneby. Ronneby did attract some industries in the 18th century. Besides the industry, it also hosted the Ronneby
spa, with water believed to have healing qualities. The park around the spa can still be visited. The first source of chalybeate (ferruginous) water was
found in May 1705. But the high period of the spa was in the 19th century. After a fire in 1864, Ronneby was rebuilt according to a check pattern, which
is still the model of today. Ronneby finally regained its city title in 1882. Since 1971 it is the seat of the larger Ronneby Municipality.
[, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronneby, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronneby]