A glimpse of Skövde's History

Sköfde, as Skövde used to be spelled, traces its history back to the medieval age. The town's patron is St. Helen or Elin as know in Swedish.

According to the legend, Elin lived in Våmb outside of Skövde during the 12th century. After a pilgrimage to Jerusalem she was murdered by relatives and buried in Skövde's church.

During the wars with Denmark (16th and 17th century) the small town of Skövde that had no more than few hundreds of inhabitants, was burned down and destroyed.

Only a few of the medieval houses remain, since the fire of 1759 destroyed the entire city except from those houses located in the area know as Helensgården.

Skövde remained a town of small population until the Stockholm - Gothenburg railway was laid, which led to city's industrial and population boost.

Timboholm's treasure was discovered in 1904 and is Sweden's largest gold treasure. It was found at Timboholm just outside Skövde and indicates that people have been living in the area during the stone age, something like 8000 years ago!

Nowadays, Skövde has a population of about 50 000 inhabitants, and its own University.