Värnamo

Värnamo traces its history back to a village in the medieval age; the first written mention of it stems from the 13th century. It came into existence as a village to the eastern side of a fordable place over the Lagan, a river that for large parts is difficult to travel by. As there are also smaller streams to the south and west of this location, it was considered something of a safeguard, leading to its name being amalgamated from the two Swedish words värn, which means safeguard, and mo which is a geographical location reference describing the kind of land on which the town is situated. The word mo actually means that the soil consists of fine sand, sometimes making the land surrounding the river bog or barren.

Värnamo came to be the centre of Östbo Härad, an archaic form of judicial district, and thus a seat of trade and commerce. When Värnamo became a köping in 1659 it was given formal rights to host markets, falling under the jurisdiction of the city of Jönköping.

The town of Värnamo was insignificant for a long time, but with the Swedish population growth and industrialization in the 19th century it expanded, becoming an independent köping in 1859. Dense forests and industrial water power spurned the furniture industry and forges run by water power. The Swedish railroad nets spurred to enhance its industrial life, leading to a population increasing from 1,141 people in 1910 to 3,664 in 1920,[5] and making it significant enough to get the title of a city on November 1, 1920, whereby it became one of the now only historical Cities of Sweden. The chosen city arms depicts the traditional location by the Lagan.

Fourteen percent of the total area in Värnamo Municipality is made up of water. Seventy percent of the land area is covered by forests (of which 90 percent is productive), 7 percent is arable, 3 percent is suitable for grazing and 5 percent is built up.[6]

Värnamo is the largest locality in Värnamo Municipality with 57 percent of the total population. It is situated in the Swedish Bible Belt and has a high concentration of free churches.

Twenty percent of Värnamo Municipality's population is born abroad, which is on par with the national average. Twentyeight percent of the population 25–64 years old is born abroad, while only 12 percent of the population above 64 years old is. Of the population born abroad 58 percent is born in Europe, 31 percent in Asia, 7 percent in Africa and 3 percent in South America. Of the population born in Europe 31 percent is born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16 percent in Yugoslavia and 9 percent in Finland. Of the population born in Asia 31 percent is born in Syria and of the population born in Africa 30 percent is born in Somalia. There are four times as many Thai women as men, three times as many Eritrean men as women, and twice as many Afghan men as women.[9]

Thirteen percent of the native-born population has at least one foreign born parent.[10]

The following table lists the proportion of Värnamo Municipality's foreign-born population that is born in the Nordic countries and the 12 additional most common countries of birth of Swedish residents. Other countries are missing.

DS Smith is the largest private employer with 275 employees and Värnamo Municipality is the largest public employer with 3,575 employees as of November 2019.[11] The largest companies based in Värnamo by number of employees (including outside Värnamo) are Liljedahl Group AB, Bufab AB, Sandahlsbolagen Sweden AB and DS Smith Packaging Sweden AB.[12]

Värnamo is governed by Värnamo Municipality.

Apladalen is a nature park and an open-air museum located in the center of Värnamo. It has some preserved buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, a handicraft shop, a café and a large playground. There are also live animals, such as sheep, goats, rabbits and hens. In Apladalen you can also find a statue of the lovers Per and Kersi, a fictional couple who met at the market in Värnamo and fell in love.

Gummifabriken ("Rubber factory") is a former rubber factory that has been renovated and rebuilt. It contains the local library, Madame Brasserie & Café, an auditorium with 393 seats, Campus Värnamo, Teknikcenter, a cinema with three screens, Science Park (a business incubator), Skärteknikcentrum ("Cutting technology centre"), Värnamo Näringsliv and a business centre.[13]

Zivan and Zorka Tomic opened Pizzeria Chaplin in 1979, as the first pizzeria in Värnamo. The interior, furniture and garden are all designed and built by Zivan. In 2004 Tanja Tomic won the European Pizza Championship in Marbella, Spain with her self-composed pizza Santa Lucia.[14]

The football club IFK Värnamo was founded in 1912.[15] Between 2010 and 2018 it played in Superettan, the second tier of Swedish football. As of 2020 it plays in Division 1, the third tier of Swedish football.[16]

There are seven schools for Primary and lower secondary education in Värnamo. These are: Rörstorpsskolan for preschool class to 3rd grade; Enehagens skola, Mossleskolan and Trälleborgsskolan for preschool class to 5th grade; Exposkolan for 4th to 6th grade and Apladalsskolan and Gröndalsskolan for 6th to 9th grade. The oldest school is Enehagens skola which has been active since 1907 and the newest school is Exposkolan, which opened in 2019.[20]

There was previously a charter school for grades six to nine operated by Prolympia, which focused on sport. It was closed down in 2010 because of a lack of students.[21]

There is one school for upper secondary education called Finnvedens gymnasium. It offers 11 of the 18 national programs,[22][23] of which in 2020 the most popular were Social Science (23%), Business Management and Economics (16%), Technology (13%), Natural Science (8%), and Vehicle and Transport (8%).[24]

When Finnvedens gymnasium opened in 1969 no students nor any teachers were allowed to participate in the opening ceremony which costed 25,000 SEK. This was seen as unfair by the student council, who also thought it was too expensive. The student council therefore organized their own, cheaper ceremony outside before the official ceremony. This attracted national news coverage and one of the invitees, Olof Palme, then Minister for Education, who became the Swedish prime minister a month later, spoke to the students.[25][26]

There is Folk high school in Värnamo called Värnamo Folkhögskola, which has been active since 1876. It is governed by Jönköping County and offers primary, secondary and tertiary education. Among courses offered are youth worker, social educator and courses in textile. It offers boarding and has exchanges with a folk high school in Zambia and one in the UK.[27][28]

Campus Värnamo offers tertiary level education and is governed by the municipal executive board of Värnamo.[29] It offers technical and engineering courses in 3D computer graphics and printing, polymer engineering and web development as well as courses for paraprofessional educator and preschool teacher.[30] It also runs Teknikcenter ("Technical center"), which organizes technical activities for children and teenagers and educates teachers in technology. Its purpose is to increase interest in technology in the region.[31]

There are three newspapers in Värnamo: Värnamo Nu, Finnveden nu and Värnamo nyheter.[32]

Värnamo Nu is an online-only newspaper that was founded in 2010. It is owned by Birgitta and Per Bunnstad, the latter who is the legally responsible publisher.[33][34]

Finnveden Nu, founded 2003, is a free newspaper that is distributed every Friday. An online version is also available.[35][36]

Värnamo Nyheter is an online and print paid newspaper distributed every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It was founded by Karl Witus Johansson in 1930.[37][38]

Finnveden Nu and Värnamo Nyheter are owned by Hall Media which is in turn owned by Bonnier News Local and Amedia.[39][40]

Sveriges Television broadcasts local TV news and publishes online news articles for Jönköping County, which includes Värnamo.[41] Until 2014, local TV news for Jönköping County was also covered by TV4.[42]

Local radio news are covered by Radio Sweden as part of its coverage on Jönköping County.[43] There is also a community radio association, created in 1982, which since 1985 broadcasts music, the assemblies of Värnamo municipal council, news on Israel and Christian worship.[44][45]

A

• Ellen Allgurin - tennis player
• Johan Andersson - footballer

B

• Ulla Billquist - schlager singer

C

• Pär Cederqvist - footballer
• Martin Claesson - footballer
• Viktor Claesson - footballer

E

• Josef Elvby - footballer
• Tobias Englund - footballer

G

• Lars Gustafsson - wrestler

H

• Carl-Axel Heiknert - actor
• Niklas Hult - footballer

I

• Stefan Ingvarsson - racewalker

J

• Per Johansson - footballer
• Sven Johansson - sport shooter
• Ville Jansson - tennis player
• Hans-Göran Johansson - mayor of Värnamo Municipality and father of Annie Lööf

L

• Alexander Lundh - motorcycle racer
• Björn Lekman - speed skater
• Annie Lööf - leader of the Centre Party

M

• Bruno Mathsson - furniture designer

N

• Patrik Näslund - ice hockey player
• Jesper Nelin - biathlete

O

• Mats Odell - politician
• Sven Ohlsson - wrestler
• Hanna Ouchterlony - officer of the Salvation Army

R

Elize Ryd

• Felix Rosenqvist - racing driver
• Elize Ryd - singer-songwriter and member of the band Amaranthe

S

• Stig Sjölin - Olympic boxer
• Michael Svensson - footballer
• Allan Svensson - actor
• Eva-Britt Svensson - politician
• Loret Sadiku - footballer

T

• Mattias Tedenby - ice hockey player
• Jonas Thern - football manager and former professional player
• Simon Thern - footballer

• Värnamo.se - official website (in Swedish)
• Värnamo kommun - official website for Värnamo Municipality (in Swedish)
• Tourist information - brief official tourist information
• VärnaGo - official visitor's guide 2020