Lidköping

Story

Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 25,644 inhabitants in 2010.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", to distinguish itself from Linköping near Sweden's east coast. Attempts have been made to change the official name to "Lidköping vid Vänern" but these attempts have not been successful.GeographyThe town of Lidköping is divided by the stream Lidan, flowing through the central city. The eastern side of it is called the old town, and the western side is known as the new town. The municipality of Lidköping is together with its eastern neighbor Götene located on the Läckö-Kinnekulle peninsula. In association with several large local companies, they have a colloquial tourism company known as "Götene-Lidköping Vänern Turist AB".HistoryLidköping got its charter on July 21, 1446, and thus qualifies as one of the now defunct Cities of Sweden. The city arms are almost as old. The design has varied throughout the centuries, but has always depicted a seated bishop. It is disputed if it depicts an actual bishop, but was in the 20th century decided to be a depiction of the bishop Saint Nicholas.Around 1650, the city was decided to be incorporated into the countship of Jakob De la Gardie. However, in 1655 the crown decided to regain administration of the city. To make up the loss, De la Gardie was then given the right to found a new city on the western side of the river, starting 1670. In 1672 the foundations were laid, and the new city grew rather quickly. In 1683, both sides of the city Lidköping were declared unified by the Crown, who also reclaimed possession of them both. The old town burned down in 1849, and large part of the new town were also damaged. Following the fire, both towns were rebuilt according to a check pattern.