Official visitors guide
Jönköping | Huskvarna
Gränna | Visingsö
Official visitors guide
Jönköping | Huskvarna
Gränna | Visingsö
Did you know that in the middle of Jönköping there was once a castle? At Hamnparken there is a model over the castle and at Munksjön's west shore you can see the walls that were once part of the castle towards Munksjön.
Today, parts of the police station, the county administrative board, Per Brahe high school and the residence are located where the castle once stood . The castle occupied what we today call the west, with the demarcation of Lake Vättern in the north, Munksjön in the east, the police house in the south and Kyrkogatan in the west.
Monastery
The castle was built as a monastery in the Middle Ages, it was founded in 1283 and was a monastery until the Reformation of Vaasa. It functioned not only as a monastery but also as a political meeting place and it was here that Magnus Eriksson and his son Erik Magnusson made peace with the help of Albrekt of Mecklenburg. Gustav Vasa rebuilt the monastery during the 1540-1550s and it is here that Jönköping Castle begins to take shape. They started by laying earth walls around the buildings and later the earth walls were provided with round corner towers.
17th century and onwards
Throughout the first half of the 17th century, the castle underwent a major renovation and expansion. The bastion system was started in the early 17th century with the two southern bastions Gustavus and Carolus which were probably ready before the city fire in 1612. The northwestern tip bastion, Adolphus, was probably almost completed by this time, while Christina in the northeast was given lower priority and was not completed until a few years later. In its fully developed condition, Jönköping Castle was one of the country's largest fortresses and then occupied an area of about 10 hectares. However, its strategic importance diminished after the Roskilde Peace of 1658, when Jönköping was no longer a border town, although the fortress' importance as an administrative center with county administrative board and governor, and in terms of mobilization, remained. During the 18th century the castle decayed and in 1737 it burned to the ground. After the fire, the castle was never rebuilt. During the 19th century, the city of Jönköping wants to take over the land but the castle's land is owned by the crown, but in 1850 the crown releases the land outside the castle to the city and they are helped to demolish what is left of the castle. 1862 the city also got the remaining land. 1870 it is completely gone.
Archaeological excavations
Several archeological excavations have been made in the area since the early 1970s. Today you can see the remains of the walls in a window on the west shore of Munksjön. On the west quay is also Bastionsparken. The design of the park should reflect the Bastion Carolus and, among other things, you can see a wall and a moat.