Varberg’s urban history dates back to the Middle Ages. The oldest buildings that exist as more than ruins are on Varbergs fortress. In the city itself are the oldest buildings from the 17th century, when the city was moved several times and partially or partially burned or burned by hostile soldiers in 1256, 1565, 1612, 1666, 1767 and 1863.

The settlement consisted mostly of wooden houses in earlier times. The oldest preserved example is the older part of the Hayska house, which has been preserved from the time before the fire in 1666. After the last fire of 1863, more stone and brick houses began to provide higher fire safety. By the arrival of the railway, Varberg grew strongly at the end of the 19th century. Varberg became a frequent visited health resort among better-tempered. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the cold bath, the Societetshuset and the thermal bath were built among other buildings that are among the city’s most famous.

During the 20th century Varberg was developed and industrialized. During the latter part of the century, parts of the older settlement were demolished. The most famous and criticized example is the demolition of Gerlachska House in 1977. During the 1900s, new residential areas also emerged outside the city center, including Håsten, Sörsedammen and Brunnsberg.

During the 21st century, the city has mainly expanded south through the settlement at Breared. The three high-rise buildings at Söderhöjd, twelve, thirteen and fourteen-storey high, were completed in 2007.

Middle Ages
During the history of the city, Varberg has been moved several times, and therefore, many buildings have not been preserved since the time before the 19th century. In addition, like many other Swedish cities, the city has been burned on several occasions. Yet today, Varberg’s fortress is one of the city’s most famous and prominent buildings. Its oldest parts are from the late 13th century, but the powerful fields surrounding the medieval castle were built in the 16th and 16th centuries.

Greve Jacob Nielsen of Northern Halland was accused of involvement in the murder of the Danish king Erik Klipping on November 22, 1286. He was therefore declared outlawless. With the support of the Norwegian royal power, he could retain power in Northern Halland, which included Fjäre, Viske, Himle and Faurås districts. The only city formation in the area was Getakärr, one of Varberg’s earliest predecessors. Not far away sounded Count Jacob protection erect a small castle on a vårdkasberg. From this mountain, wardhberg, with the meaning of “vaktberg”, Varberg has got its current name. Originally, it was only the castle called Varberg or Varbergshus.

Greve Jacobs castle, the northern castle slope, which is the oldest house of the fortress, has no windows and the entrance is set under the roof for maximum safety. The walls were up to two meters thick, as can be seen at the current entrance to the Varberg County Museum, which was cut through the wall. Until 1830, it was used as a worship office for the garrison at the fortress. Today it is part of the County Museum Varberg exhibition halls. Recently, windows have been cut into the walls.

The castle grew with more lengths and walls around a courtyard on the crest of the mountain. Archaeological investigations have shown that one or more towers were found. In Varberg’s municipal weapon, which originated in a seal from 1536, a tower is depicted. The castle later became one of the crown’s citizens, and among the royals that periodically housed here are Magnus Eriksson with Queen Blanka of Namur, Albrekt of Mecklenburg and Queen Margaret.

The town of Ny Varberg was founded north of Getakärr – which then began to be called Varberg after the castle – at the beginning of the 1400s. The reason has been that the king’s power in Roskilde would lead to a shift of power in the area, when Varberg (Getakärr) was under strong control of the citizen of the castle. Varberg was then called for Old Varberg, and eventually got his city rights withdrawn. The city then expired. From the Middle Ages, the ruins of Getakärr Church remain, see Getakärr Church Garden.

Ny Varberg was the largest in the mid 16th century and then had its flowering time. This has been confirmed by various historical sources, not least archaeological material. These findings are stored at the County Museum Varberg. On the outskirts of the city there was a Carmelite monastery. Excavations have shown that there was also a hospital and a chapel. Today, much remains of the monastery. The location of its walls is marked in the ground with stone hills. On the site there is a model of the monastery and an information plate from the Riksantikvarieämbetet.

During the Middle Ages there was also just north of the present center of Ås monastery, which gave rise to the town name Åskloster. This monastery was one of Halland’s largest. It belonged to the Cistercian Order, and was founded at the end of the 1100s, and is therefore much older than that in Ny Varberg.

16th and 17th centuries
At the beginning of the 16th century and the beginning of the 18th century, during the reign of the Christian IV, the great expansion of Varberg Castle became one of Europe’s most modern fortifications with bastions and casemats. It was builder Hans van Stenwinkel, a Dutch who came to Denmark in the 1570s, who led the work. During a working day, about 1,000 farmers were employed with the fortress building, which began in 1588 and lasted for 30 years, during which about two million dayworksis expected to have been performed.

Of the mountain greve Jacob built his castle does not look much today. The entire castle cliff was clad with soil, around which five bastions were built, one at each corner and another center of the wall towards the sea. The Bastions have different names. By the time these white monks are in the northeast, the gray monk in the southeast, the red monk in the southwest, the dustbase in the west and the smithy bastion in the northwest. The strong fortifications were made in the south and south-east as the enemy was able to set up cannons on the Rantzauklippan, which also took place in 1565 during the Nordic seven-year war.

In the bastions there were casemates – cannon rooms – from which you could shoot along the walls of the fortress, thereby destroying an enemy trying to storm the fortress. The casemats were built in bricks. They are equipped with a sensible system of round openings in the walls, close to the ceiling, intended to divert the toxic poison smoke and the pressure wave formed when the cannons were fired.

The fortress building was completed in 1618. After that, the fortress of Varberg has never been confined to any military conflict, and the fortress has never been taken or conquered after expansion. Through the peace in Brömsebro, the fortress passed in Swedish ownership.

In addition to the fortifications themselves, various other buildings were also built in the fortress area, north of the old castle which remained the fortress’s core. Most prominent is perhaps the Middle Valve, built in 1612, against which a backing leader. Below the hill lies the building called Karl XI stall. It was built in the 1610s and originally served as a stable, hence the name, but then became tyghus.

Among the buildings on the fortress should also be mentioned Kockenburg in the bastion Gray monk, a tunnel that leads in a spiral around a deep shaft called “the lantern”. Through openings in the wall, Kockenburg is lit up by the light coming down into the lamp. The tunnel served as a cannon transport ride, drawn by horses, why the hallway sloping downhill lacks stairs. The roundabout in Copenhagen is designed in the same way.

The fortress also worked for hundreds of years as a prison. Already in the medieval buildings there are prison caves. The fortress soon loses its role as an important defensive position, but continued, like other fortresses, to act as a prison. The casemates, which no longer functioned as canon rooms, were converted into large communal prisons where many interns were kept. However, it was only in 1848 that the fortress officially became prison.

The night until February 20, 1612, Ny Varberg was burned by Swedish troops during the Cold War. The city was never rebuilt, but moved to what is now called Platsarna, right at the fortress. You know quite a lot about this city, for example, there are maps showing how the street network looked like. The settlement was built in large blocks with straight streets between, in keeping with the ideal of urban planning. The city was, to a certain extent, sheltered behind the fortress, but it was never fortified and the streets were aimed at such a way that the fortress could shoot between the houses if the city was to fall into the enemy’s hands.

Varberg was ravaged by a fierce fire on August 12, 1666, when the entire town was put in ashes. The city’s inhabitants wanted to rebuild it in the same place, but the government decided to move the city to the present state, as it gave ” better room ahead of the Castellet and correcting the distance from there, there is no wider change to think ” as the general governor expressed it.

After the fire, Varberg was reopened in its present place. A grid with straight streets and square blocks was created. It is the same street network that remains today. The city was built within the four pedestrian streets, one in every weather line. The centrally located square was the center of the city. Here was the Caroli church which was completed in 1687.

Varberg was a very small city at this time. The settlement consisted of wooden houses and also Caroli church was in crossroads. Almost no settlement has been preserved since the 17th century when Varberg was fired several times during the 1700s and 1800s. One exception is the older part of the Hayska House, which passed the fire in 1666 and moved to the present state of the city, where it also managed the fires 1767 and 1863.

Buildings from the 17th century
The bastion White Monk.
First vault.
Middle vault
Hayska House. The lower part is built before the fire 1666.

18th centuries
The most well-preserved buildings from the 18th century are on the fortress. A long, built in the middle of the century, was originally a workshop, but then became a commandment. An artillery barrage from 1742 is somewhat older. Both of these buildings are today homes.

Varberg burned again on May 18, 1767. The whole part of the city that lay north of the square, including Caroli’s church, became the calf of the flames, while the southern half managed to escape the fire. Therefore, there are only single houses from the 18th century in Varberg, and the older settlement in the city is usually from the 19th century.

Since Caroli’s church was destroyed by the fire, Varberg stood without a worship office. The present church, built in stone for better fire safety, was completed in the 1770s. The builder was Friedrich August Rex. In addition to the church there are several other buildings from the second half of the 17th century, including the Lundquistska house, opposite the church, in stone with the same builder as the church, the Ryland farm, on two floors with standing wood paneling, which houses Lyrested’s color trade, and ” Color “on the church street, today heavily remodeled.

On the Södergatan there is the so-called stone magazine, a fairly simple stone building with red dotted façade, built in the 18th century.

Buildings from the 18th century
Varbergs Church.
Ryland farm.
Lundquistska House.
Stenmagasinet at Södergatan.

19th century
During the 19th century, the last actual expansions of the fortress took place. Still, it served as a prison. Below the middle of the middle a crown of honor was built, which stood clear in 1852. It has inflated facades in white and light yellow. Unlike in the old prison vault, each prisoner had his own cell.

The last city fire in Varberg occurred on November 5, 1863. All blocks south of Torggatan burned down. The church managed, but the town hall, Warberg newspaper’s editorial office and the residents of many residents were taken ashes. About 1,000 people – half the city’s population – were house villas.

When the city was to be rebuilt, Frans Jacob Heilborn was employed as Varberg’s first city architect. The square was made bigger, and a new town hall drawn by Heilborn was built in medieval romantic style. However, with its rounded windows, the building can hardly be said to be neo-Gothic. It is faced in yellow brick, with decorative brushing over the entrance. Apart from the church and Lundquistska house, both from the 18th century, the town hall is the oldest house in the square.

Several other houses, very similar to the city hall with crossroads in yellow bricks, were built around the part of the city that burned. All of them are of Heilborn’s hand. An example is a house at Östra Långgatan, which was a small and folk school until 1910 and the city library 1912 – 1981. Today, Halland Nyheters Varbergs Redaction is in the house. Another example is Adamssonska husetat Kungsgatan, built in 1865 for merchant CP Adamsson. Unlike the folk school it is on two floors and the building that is most similar to the town hall. The only difference is that the city’s more advanced crushing is missing.

Varberg has never grown as fast as in the late 1800’s. A strong contributor was the arrival of the railways. The Viskadalsbanan between Varberg and Borås was opened in 1880, and the stage of the West Coast Line past Varberg 1888. The station building was built 1878 – 79, probably after drawings by Adrian C. Peterson. Most of SJ’s stations were designed by Adolf W. Edelsvärd, but the one in Varberg was commissioned by the private company Göteborg-Hallands Railroad. The train station is on two floors with facade in red and yellow brick with two risalites. Upstairs there was originally the traffic manager’s expedition, but this was moved to Borås in 1922. The station was built 1922 – 23 under the direction of architect Thorvald Söderberg. The building got its current appearance 1939-40.

In the 19th century Varberg became a popular health resort. The source of the monkey at Apelviken was launched in 1811, but it was only with the railroad that more people went to Varberg to socialize and take medical baths. King Oscar II sometimes visited Varberg. Sunburn, however, was not sought after by the renowned visitors of this time. In the north-western coastal landscape, with its limited vegetation, it became necessary to park a park with large shady deciduous trees. The societal park was created in the 1880s, when the Society Housebuilt. The building of the currently popular Moorish style was designed by Adrian C. Peterson, the same man who designed the train station, in wood. Parts of the Society House were manufactured at a carpentry factory in Borås and transported by rail to Varberg; It was thus the city’s first prefabricated building. It was completed in 1886. Another place with lush greenery was the Pehrsson Garden, which was torn and replaced with a Domusvaruhus during the record years.

Between 1870 and 1910 more than doubled the city’s population, from around 2,344 to 7,375. This led to the city blasting outside the streets. When new representative buildings were built, this was made north of the old city center, sometimes known as the Northern Empire. Typical buildings are Varbergs Teater, the school of education, which is today a town hall, and the elementary school of girls, who today also occupy parts of the municipality’s administration. In the northern part, deciduous trees were planted along the streets. The largest are along Engelbrekt Street and in the small Esplanade park.

There are also buildings in the harbor area built in the 19th century, namely the old harbor magazine from 1874 in yellow brick which today is an art gallery under the name Konsthallen / Hamnmagasinet, as well as the customs chamber which was ready in 1883 with façade in yellow and red brick. Here is a royal Danish consulate and the Flea Men’s local association in Varberg’s premises.

Another 19th century building worth mentioning is Varbergs Sparbank building from 1898 on the square, built in yellow brick, Varbergsgranit (charnockit) and Skåne sandstone. Architect Emil Billing has really created a magnificent building with pendants and spiers.

Buildings from the 19th century

Kronhäktet at Varbergs fortress.
Town Hall.
Primary and lower secondary school.
Adamssonska house.
Railway station.
Societetshuset.
Varbergs Theater.
City Hall, originally schoolwork.
The harbor magazine, today’s art gallery.
The customs office
Sparbanken.

20th century
One of Varberg’s most famous buildings, the cold bathhouse, was completed in 1903. It is the third cold bathhouse on the site, the two predecessors were destroyed in tough storms. The building is in wood, painted in various shades of yellow, and stands on a lot of piles a piece in the water. The style is oriental with lollipops and the like, but also features Gothic features with a rosette window, relatively simple to its design, over the entrance.

Close to the cold bathhouse, on the other side of the societal park, lies the thermal bathhouse. It was built in 1925, replacing an older hot tub from 1866, which was closer to the cold bath house. The building is designed by Allan Berglund, and in comparison with the cold bathhouse the strict style is typically twenty-first classicalism.

The city hotel at the square was completed in 1902. It occupies the entire width of the neighborhood and was provided with sticks and thorns. These tore down in the 1950s, with the reason that they could break down and cause damage to people and vehicles. It was planned to demolish the entire city hotel, but it did not happen. The tower over the entrance was restored in 1994.

During the early 1900s, Varberg was still dominated by low wooden houses on one or two floors from the 1700s and 1800s. Even today, a number of cohesive wooden houses are still in place, but in the 20th century many buildings have been demolished in modernizations of the city center. The demolitions have been criticized hard, especially that of Gerlachska House in 1977.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the big villas were built just south of the center, the so-called Södra Villastaden. The houses are architecturally designed and individually designed, and different builders have hired different architects. The oldest is the Heijlska villa from 1904 in the Nordic national romantic style, drawn by Gottfrid Ljunggren. Wooden facade, with alternating overlapping wood chips and an illusion of lying logs, for the minds of stalk churches.

The municipal housing company Varbergs Bostad was founded in 1947, and was named the Hyresbostäder Foundation in Varberg. The first housing project was the Kurtinen quarter with 97 modern apartments. The construction took place in collaboration with HSB, which also responded to the administration.

The residential area of Brunnsberg began to be built in 1953, and was completed in the mid -1960s. It was the first large residential area in Varberg. There were 387 apartments in the area, as well as a local service like a bank and grocery store.

When the government made a decision about the million program, the construction of one million homes for ten years, the Sörsedammen, or Sörse, was most commonly called. The houses are up to three floors high and built in the Mexicans. Of the 872 apartments, most of the balconies have ground level patios. There is also a community center with a gym and sauna.

The hospital in Varberg was completed in 1972, with six floors housed in the care departments and a vast part of a plan with receptions.

In the 1970s, the Håsten residential area was built east of the city center, even that of the Hyresfastigheter Foundation as Varbergs Bostad was named at that time. The aim was to meet the criticisms of the soulless mass production of housing that took place during the Million Program. Therefore, it was decided that the houses would be in a maximum of two floors and that all apartments would have their own entrance. Most also had their own patio. The hay was designated by the newspaper Expressen for “The House of the Year” in 1973. Håsten had 650 apartments from the beginning, today they are 997 in number. The latter were added towards the end of the decade, with the area of postal and banking offices, swimming pool, grocery store and more. However, the area gained low status, and was restored in 1988 – 1993. The environment has improved, but Håsten is still considered to have lower status than other parts of Varberg.

When Varberg grew in the 20th century, the old church was not enough. It was adapted to Varberg’s population in the 18th century. Therefore, the Varberg Assembly has built three district churches: The Church of Brunnsberg from 1974, Church of Apelvik Heights from 1989 and the Church of Sollyck from 2005.

In the 1980s, the residential area of Apelvikshöjd was built with 200 apartments. Today they are 430. For the first time in Varberg, the houses had more than four floors, which also contributed to the view of the Kattegatt. The apartments have either a balcony or a patio.

In the 1990s, the first houses were built at Breared by Varbergs Bostads AB, which the Hyresfastigheter Foundation had since the conversion into a limited company in 1995. At Ranelid, Stenåsa and in Träslövsläge, residential buildings were built, both villas and high-rise buildings. It was in the 90s that Varberg’s first cooperative rental rights arose.

Buildings from the 20th century

Stadshotellet.
Kallbadhuset. Similar buildings were already in the 19th century.
The thermal bathhouse.
Heijlska villa.
Ternellska house.
Brunnsberg.
Sörsammen.
The hospital in Varberg.
Apelvik height.
Apelvik Heights church.
Varbergs library.

21st century
During the 21st century, Varberg has expanded to the south, through the continued construction at Breared. Unlike previous residential areas, only some houses have been built by Varbergs Bostad. Instead, smaller private property owners have constructed multi-family houses of varying height, size and appearance. There are both high-rise buildings up to seven floors with brick facade and lower houses with wooden facades. In the southern part of the area there are also villas owned by private individuals. It has given Breared a varied impression, and the area is very popular.

In 2003, the university campus Campus Varberg was completed in the port area. The architectural style is relatively modern. The complex consists of a plurality of body bodies connected to each other. The facade is light and smooth, with large windows giving a nice view of the harbor.

In the central parts of Varberg, construction of housing has taken place in the 21st century. The most prominent example is the district vicar, designed by Fredblad Architects, which was built in 2004 – 2005. The area between Västra Vallgatan, Prästgatan and Bäckgatan and the railroad had long been a gravel road which served as a parking lot. To give a varied but uniform impression, the houses were given different facades, but were made as high. Between the houses there is a large courtyard with garden farms that are managed and used by the residents. Under the courtyard there is a two-storey car park.

In 2007, the three high-rise buildings were completed at Söderhöjd, twelve, thirteen and fourteen-storey highs. Thus, they are Varberg’s tallest buildings (the highest in Varberg municipality, however, are the six transmitters at the radio station in Grimeton). The houses are designed by Gert Wingårdh and have a red brick facade. All 156 apartments have a large balcony.

In September 2010, the rebuilding of Varberg’s library began with the new Komediant Culture House, including library and art gallery. The building was designed by the Nyréén Architectural Office and was opened on January 14, 2012. At the same time, the theater was integrated from 1895 more than before with the library.

Buildings from the 21st century

Sollyckans Church
Söderhöjd
Breared
The Cultural House of the Comedy

Source from Wikipedia