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Eksjö

The city of Eksjö most likely appeared sometime in the medieval ages when it was the centre for the i, a regional council. Its first mentioned is from the 14th century. It was given its charter in the early 15th century by Erik av Pommern.

In the 16th century it was one of the six Swedish cities in the historical province of Småland, together with Jönköping, Kalmar, Vimmerby, Västervik, and the seat of the diocese: Växjö.

After the crowning of King Gustav Vasa in the 1520s, the Smalandian revolutionry Nils Dacke led riots and revolts in the area for a few years, supported by locals of the province, including in Eksjö. After having killed Dacke, Eksjö was one of the locations the King let put up parts of Dacke, to quench any notions of new uprising. Perhaps this was the reason why Gustav Vasa eventuelly revoked the charter of Eksjö in 1544. There are several monuments and folk museums honouring these times around the province and in Eksjö municipality, and in the dense Smalandian forests where he lived.

During the Nordic Seven Years' War it was burnt to the ground in 1568 and subsequently rebuilt at a somewhat different location. The construction was led by the Dutch Arendt de Roy.

The city emerged as a centre for the oxen trades but never really prospered and remained a small town until a heath outside the town became the point of assembly for the Smalandia Regiment (i). The city continued to be in the center of military establishments, with the coming of the engineering batallion and the Husars of Smalandia, in southern Sweden, hence the lack of large industrial establishments.

Like many other Swedish cities it was struck by fire in the 19th century, with half of the city buring down in 1856. But a large part of the city, the northern parts, are largely intact, with some parts still remaining since the construction of the city in 1568.

Albert Engström (1869-1940) was an author, poet and drawer and subsequently member of the Swedish Academy, who grew up in a small village outside of the city Eksjö.