Lund facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lund
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   Clockwise from top: Lund Cathedral and Lundagård; Lund University Main Building; Lund University library.
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| Motto(s):
Idéernas stad (Eng: The city of ideas)
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 Lund
Location in Scania
Lund
Location in Sweden
Lund
Location in European Union
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| Country |  Sweden |
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| Province | Scania | |
| County | Scania County | |
| Municipality | Lund Municipality | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 26.37 km2 (10.18 sq mi) | |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 94,393 | |
| • Density | 3,580/km2 (9,300/sq mi) | |
| Demonym(s) | Lundensare, Lundabo | |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | |
Lund is a historic city in southern Sweden. It's located in the Scania province, very close to Copenhagen, Denmark. Lund is home to about 94,000 people.
This city is super old! Archeologists think Lund was founded around the year 990. Back then, Scania was part of Denmark. Lund became a very important church center in 1103. The amazing Lund Cathedral, built between 1090 and 1145, is still a main landmark in the city center.
Sweden took control of Lund from Denmark in 1658. This happened after a peace agreement called the Treaty of Roskilde.
Lund University, started in 1666, is one of the oldest and biggest universities in Scandinavia. The university buildings are a big part of the city. Because of the university, Lund has become a hub for cool high-tech companies.
Contents
Discovering Lund's Past
Lund is often called one of the oldest cities in Sweden. Its beginnings are a bit of a mystery, but it was likely around by the end of the Viking Age. For a long time, people thought the city was founded around 1020. This was believed to be by Danish kings Sweyn I Forkbeard or his son Canute the Great.
However, recent digs by archeologists show that the first settlement was probably around 990. It might have been people moving from an even older place called Uppåkra. Uppåkra dates back to the first century BC! King Sweyn I Forkbeard moved Lund to its current spot, about 5 kilometers away. The new location was on a hill near a river crossing. This made it much easier to defend than Uppåkra, which was on a flat plain.
The Danish church became very organized under King Canute the Great. Lund became an important church city in 1048. By 1104, it was an archbishopric, meaning it was the main church center for all of Scandinavia, even Greenland!
The Lund Cathedral School was founded in 1085 by the Danish king Canute the Saint. This is the oldest school in Scandinavia and one of the oldest in Northern Europe! Many famous people went to school here, like actor Max von Sydow.
Lund became part of Sweden in 1658. But Denmark tried to get it back in 1676 during the Scanian War. A very bloody battle, the Battle of Lund, happened just north of the city. Sweden won, and its control over Lund was confirmed in later peace agreements.
The first university in Scandinavia, the Academy of Lund, was founded in the 1400s. But it closed down in 1537. The current Lund University was started in 1666.
During World War II in 1943, a British plane accidentally bombed Lund. Luckily, no one died, though some people were hurt by glass.
Over the last 50 years, Lund's population has more than doubled. This is mainly because of the university and the growth of high-tech companies. For example, Tetra Pak, a company that makes food packaging, started in Lund in 1952.
Lund's Location and Layout
Lund is in Sweden's biggest farming area, in the southwest of Scania. It's less than 10 kilometers from the sandy beaches of the Öresund Strait. The city is built on a hill, rising from the low-lying Höje River in the south to 86 meters above sea level in the north. From the top of Sankt Hans Hill, you can even see Copenhagen, Denmark's capital!
The closest big Swedish city is Malmö, about 15 kilometers southwest. Other Swedish cities like Gothenburg (250 km) and Stockholm (600 km) are further away.
The center of Lund still looks a lot like it did in the Middle Ages. Some buildings from that time are still standing. These include Lund Cathedral, Liberiet, St. Peter's Priory, and Krognoshuset. Many buildings in the center today were built in the late 1800s. Examples are Katedralskolan, the Grand Hotel, and the main university buildings.
City Squares: Places to Gather
Lund has four main city squares. They are connected by roads and passages that form the main city center. Here you'll find many restaurants, shops, and bars.
- Clemenstorget is a tree-lined square next to the railway station. It has a small market and is where the city's tram starts.
- Bantorget is a green park-square near the central station. Lund's Grand Hotel is also here.
- Stortorget is the main city square. The city hall is located here. It often hosts concerts and other events.
- Mårtenstorget has the Lund Market Hall. It's surrounded by restaurants and food trucks. It's a market square during the day.
Parks and Green Spaces
Lund has many beautiful parks. The most central one is Lundagård. This park, along with the university square, is the heart of the university. Old buildings like Lund Cathedral and the Lund University Main Building are here. Many rooks (a type of bird) live in the park's trees.
The bigger main city park is called Stadsparken. It's in the southwest part of the city center. This area was used for an exhibition in 1907. It then became a public park between 1909 and 1911. The park has gardens, a small lake, a playground, and places for bands to play. It also has a small animal area with different birds.
Other green spots include the Botanical Garden and Sankt Hans Hill. You can also find nature preserves like Rinnebäck Gorge and Nöbbelövs Marshland.
If you like swimming, popular beaches are nearby in Lomma, Bjärred, and Malmö. There are also lakes like Billebjer and the Dalby quarry in the countryside.
Lund's Climate
Lund has an oceanic climate, which means it's mild because it's close to the sea. Summers are warm and nice, with average high temperatures around 23°C (73°F). It often gets hotter than 25°C (77°F). Winters are cool, with temperatures usually between -1°C (30°F) and 3°C (37°F).
It rains a moderate amount throughout the year. Snow falls sometimes from December to March, but it usually doesn't stay on the ground for long. Some winters have almost no snow at all.
People of Lund
The number of people living in Lund has grown a lot over the last 100 years. Many people who live in Lund were born outside of Sweden. A big part of the city's population is made up of students from Lund University.
How Lund is Run
Lund is managed by the Lund Municipality. This includes the city of Lund itself, plus nearby towns like Dalby and Södra Sandby. The municipality is led by a group of 65 members. They choose a smaller committee of 13 members. The mayor of Lund is Philip Sandberg.
Learning in Lund
Lund University: A Big Learning Hub
Lund University is a huge part of the city center. It was founded in 1666 after Scania became part of Sweden. It's the second-oldest university in Sweden. The main part is in Lundagård park, but it also spreads to the northeast where the big engineering school is.
Today, Lund University is one of the largest in northern Europe. It has eight different schools, 41,000 students, and over 2,000 courses! It's always ranked among the top 100 universities in the world.
Other Schools in Lund
Katedralskolan (Lund Cathedral School) was founded in 1085. It's the oldest school in Scandinavia! Today, it's a high school with about 1,400 students.
Östervångskolan is a special school for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. They learn in Swedish and Swedish Sign Language. The International School of Lund Katedralskolan (ISLK) is also in Lund.
Lund's Culture and Fun
Lund's culture is shaped by its university and many students. Students have fun traditions, like a student theater group that started in 1886. Much of the student nightlife happens at special student clubs called 'Nations'.
Lund Cathedral is a very important church in Lund. It used to be Catholic and is now Lutheran. Lund also has a city theater and places for concerts.
Stories, Plays, and Movies
Many famous writers and artists have lived and worked in Lund. Often, they were connected to the university or theater. For example, Esias Tegnér was a writer and bishop. August Strindberg was a famous playwright.
There's even a special type of story called a "Lund novel." These stories are about a young student growing up and experiencing life in Lund.
Spex are a unique type of student theater in Nordic universities, very popular in Lund. They are funny musical plays that often use well-known songs with new, silly lyrics. They mix up history and modern times in funny ways.
A famous movie scene from Ingmar Bergman's film Wild Strawberries takes place in Lund.
Lund also hosts an International Architecture Film Festival every year.
Museums to Explore
Lund has the biggest open-air museum in Scania, called Kulturen. It's the second-oldest open-air museum in the world! It started in 1892. Kulturen has more than 30 buildings and collections of art, crafts, and history from Scania.
Several museums are part of the university. The Lund University Historical Museum shows the history, archeology, and animals of Scania. There's also a special Lund Cathedral museum.
The Museum of Sketches for Public Art is a unique museum. It shows how public artworks are created. The Vattenhallen Science Center is connected to the university's engineering school. It has fun, hands-on exhibits about science and research.
Lundakarnevalen: A Huge Student Carnival!
The Lund carnival happens every four years. It's a huge event organized by the university students. It's like a mix of a music festival, a city party, and a crazy show of jokes and satire. About 5,500 volunteers help make it happen!
Some students dress up in costumes, often making fun of current events, and parade in wagons. Others perform funny skits in the evenings. Many famous entertainers and actors started their careers performing in the carnival shows.
Music Scene
Lund is known for its classical and church music. It has many great amateur choirs. Lund also hosts the Lund International Choral Festival every two years.
In recent years, Lund has also become a lively place for pop and jazz music. The cultural center Mejeriet opened in 1987. It hosts concerts by both famous and new bands. Famous pop singer Måns Zelmerlöw grew up in Lund. Other artists from Lund include DJ Axwell and rapper Timbuktu.
Sports in Lund
Lund's handball team, LUGI HF, plays in the top leagues for both men and women. Lund hosted games for the 2011 Handball World Championship. Lund also has a strong chess team, Lunds ASK. There are two football clubs, Torns IF and Lunds BK. Lund is also the birthplace of the online football game Hattrick.
Getting Around Lund
Trains: A Major Hub
Lund is a very busy train hub. Lund Central Station is Sweden's third busiest train station, with about 37,000 passengers every day! There's also a smaller station in the Gunnesbo area.
Lund is on the main railway line that connects Malmö and Stockholm. You can get direct trains to Sweden's three largest cities. You can also travel directly to Copenhagen and Helsingør in Denmark.
Cycling: A Bike-Friendly City
Lund is famous for being a great city for bikes! There are 4,800 bike parking spots, including a multi-story parking garage at the train station. The city has over 260 kilometers of bike paths and lanes. About 43% of all trips within the city are made by bicycle!
Buses: Green and Electric
Since 2019, the buses in Lund are run by the company Vy Buss. They use green, electric buses. There are seven bus lines that cover the city.
Trams: A New Way to Travel
A new tram network was built in Lund. It's almost 6 kilometers long. The tram line connects Lund Central Station with important places like the hospital, Lund University, Ideon Science Park, and the new research facilities MAX IV and European Spallation Source. The tram ride takes about 15 minutes.
Roads and Airports
Lund is connected to the main motorway network. The E22 motorway passes through the city. This road is the main north-south route.
For air travel, Lund uses Copenhagen Airport, which is the biggest airport in the Nordic countries. You can get there by train in about 35 minutes. Malmö Airport is closer, about 26 kilometers away, and is mostly used for flights within Sweden.
Lund's Economy and Jobs
Lund is a big center for high tech companies. Many of them are in the northeast part of the city. Companies like Sony Mobile Communications, Ericsson, Arm Holdings, and Microsoft have offices here. The Swedish company Doro, which makes phones, has its main office in Lund.
Gambro, a company that helped create the artificial kidney, started in Lund in 1964. Alfa Laval, which makes heat exchangers, has a factory in Lund. Tetra Pak has its main office and some production in the city. Axis Communications, which makes network cameras, was founded in Lund in 1984.
Other important industries in Lund include pharmaceuticals (medicine), biotechnology, and publishing.
Skåne University Hospital and Lund University are major employers in the city. They have lots of research facilities. The Lund Institute of Technology works closely with the high-tech companies in Lund.
A science park called Ideon Science Park was started in 1983. It's a team effort between Lund University, Lund Municipality, and a property company. In 2016, it had about 350 companies and employed 2,700 people. Many of these are high-tech companies connected to the university.
In the 2010s, two huge research facilities were built in Lund, working with the university. MAX IV is the world's brightest light source for science. It opened in 2016. The European Spallation Source (ESS) is another big research facility being built. It will employ about 450 people when it's finished around 2023.
Tetra Pak was founded in Lund in 1951 by Ruben Rausing. They make packages and equipment for keeping food fresh, mostly using plastic-coated cardboard. In 2015, Tetra Pak had about 3,500 employees at its main office in Lund.
The medicine company AstraZeneca used to have a big office in Lund, but it closed in 2010. That area was turned into a research park called Medicon Village. In 2016, over 1,200 people worked there in more than 100 different organizations.
Famous People from Lund
- Axwell, a professional DJ
- Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, an Olympic horse rider
- Martin Dahlin, a footballer
- Timbuktu (Jason Diakité), a hip-hop and reggae artist
- Kim Ekdahl du Rietz, a handball player
- Joel Ekstrand, a footballer
- Mikael Håfström, a film writer and director
- Anders Jansson, a comedian
- Amanda Jenssen, a singer
- Joachim Johansson, a tennis player
- Helena Josefsson, a singer
- Niklas Krog, a novelist (writes young adult books)
- Nils Grandelius, a chess grandmaster
- Isabelle Haak, a volleyball player
- Lukas Moodysson, a film writer and director
- Andreas Palicka, a handball player
- Ivo Pekalski, a footballer
- The Radio Dept., a band
- Ola Svensson, a pop singer
- Max von Sydow, a famous actor
- Linus Thörnblad, an Olympic high jumper
- Johan Wester, a comedian
- Elin Wägner, a feminist writer
- Rolf Edling, an Olympic fencer
- Måns Zelmerlöw, a pop singer and winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Writers and Thinkers from Lund
- Vilhelm Ekelund, a poet
- Hjalmar Gullberg, a writer, poet, and translator
- Britt G. Hallqvist, a writer, poet, and translator
- Ola Hansson, a writer, poet, and critic
- Carl Linnaeus, a famous scientist and author
- Vladimir Oravsky, an author and film director
- Anders Österling, a writer, poet, and critic
- Lars Norén, a poet and playwright
- Göran Sonnevi, a poet and translator
- August Strindberg, a famous playwright
- Esaias Tegnér, a writer and bishop
Images for kids
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Aerial view of Lund in 2015.
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See Also
In Spanish: Lund para niños
