Lyckeby

Story

Lyckeby is a village in Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, in southeastern Sweden, near the mouth of the Lyckeby River. The town was originally known as Lyckå.HistoryThe first recorded mention of the town was in 1449, when Claus Nielsen Sparre purchased lands on the southern edge of town, where he built an estate with a small castle. At the time, Blekinge was part of the Kingdom of Denmark under Scanian Law, and Lyckeby became the seat of Lyckå Län.Due to its location on the borderland between Denmark and Sweden, Lyckeby was often subject to raids and fighting between the two kingdoms. In 1507, Blekinge was raided by Sweden, and Lyckeby was plundered and set on fire. In 1545, under the orders of Danish King Christian II, the castle was rebuilt on its old foundations by privy council member Ebbe Knudsen Ulfelt. It was intended to be a permanent residence that could better withstand attacks under an uprising. The reinforced castle was completed in 1560. However, in 1564, during the Northern Seven Years' War, Lyckeby was once again burnt down.In 1600, Lyckeby lost its town privileges, because Christian IV preferred to focus on developing the recently founded Christianople. In 1601, the king ordered the castle to be torn down so that its stone could be used to fortify Christianople.