Uppsala

Uppsala (ŭp'sulu, –sä"lä) [key], city (1990 pop. 109,500), capital of Uppsala co., E Sweden, on the Fyrisån River. It is an industrial and cultural center and a railroad junction. Manufactures include machinery, printed materials, processed food, clothing, pharmaceuticals, and footwear. The city developed near Gamla Uppsala, now a small village, which became the pagan capital of Sweden in the 6th cent. An archiepiscopal see was established at present-day Uppsala in 1270, and the cathedral of Uppsala (13th cent.), the finest Gothic church in Sweden, became the usual coronation place of Swedish kings and is the burial place of Gustavus I, the botanist Linnaeus, the scientist and religious teacher Swedenborg, and UN Secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld. The Univ. of Uppsala, founded in 1477, is the oldest university of N Europe. Other institutions in Uppsala include the Royal Society of Sciences, the Gustav Werners institute of high-energy physics and radiation biology, the Victoria Museum, and the Linnaeus garden and museum.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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