Mölndal

Mölndal
Mölndal
	Mölndal
	Coat of arms
	Mölndal Mölndal
	Coordinates: 57°39′N 12°01′E / 57.650°N 12.017°E
Country	Sweden
Municipality	Mölndal Municipality
County	Västra Götaland County
Province	Västergötland
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Climate	Cfb
Website	www.molndal.se

Mölndal (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmœ̌lndal])^[2] is the seat and administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality and a part of the Gothenburg urban area on the west coast of Sweden. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live in Mölndal proper.

Geography

Mölndal is located on the western main line railway between Gothenburg and Malmö and the European highways E6/E20 run through the area from north to south. Mölndal is served by the Gothenburg tramway system.

History

Mölndal in 1870

The name of the city derives from two words; Möln, which is a short form for Möllor, an old word for mills, and the word dal, which is the Swedish word for valley. Mölndal is the "Valley of mills". The narrow but high and long waterfalls in Kvarnbyn gave the necessary power to all the watermills that together with the windmills on the hills gave birth to the early industrialisation of Mölndal.

Industry

AstraZeneca's global research centre in Mölndal

Mölndal is best known for its high concentration of companies in life sciences. AstraZeneca has one of its global research centres here with more than 3,100 employees. Several other companies in areas of research such as pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, and biotechnology are also located here. The proximity to the University of Gothenburg and to Chalmers University of Technology - with their technology parks - has supported development of other sectors, such as microwave technology and information technology. Two national research institutes, IFP SICOMP AB and IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation, are also located in Mölndal.

Mölndalsfallen

Mölndalsfallen in 2006

Mölndalsfallen (Mölndal falls) has been a big part of the Mölndal industries, which got their power from the falls to make cotton, paper and oil.^[3]

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Mölndal:

The town is also home to the Hills Golf Club.

European Cooperation

Mölndal is a member city of Eurotowns network^[4]

Notable people

Mölndal's old industrial area, today a tourist attraction

Per Andersson (actor), comedian
Avatar, Swedish heavy metal band
Oscar Dronjak, guitarist and founder of the Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall
Anders Frisk, football (soccer) referee
Björn Goop, horse driver and trainer (trotting)
Ulla Jacobsson, actor
Erica Johansson, long jumper
Anna Kjellbin, ice hockey player
Mats Levén, metal singer
Claes Malmberg, actor and stand-up comedian
Annelie Pompe, world record holder in variable weights freediving

References

^ "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km² 2000 och 2005" (xls) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
^ Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 18.
^ "Översiktsplan för Mölndals stad Mölndal Kapitel 11" (PDF). molndal.se. 2006. p. 106. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
^ "Eurotowns".

[scb-1] "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km² 2000 och 2005" (xls) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2008-05-15.

[2] Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 18.

[3] "Översiktsplan för Mölndals stad Mölndal Kapitel 11" (PDF). molndal.se. 2006. p. 106. Retrieved 22 December 2023.

[4] "Eurotowns".

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