Säter Municipality

Säter is a Municipality in Dalarna County, in central Sweden. Its seat is in Säter (pop. 4,500).

Säter is a picturesque small town.

Geography

Säter is known for the Säter Valley. It is abour 5 kilometers long and has a dense vegetaion and steeps. On its bottom the Ljuster River flows. The valley is popular for walking.

Sub-divisioning

The municipality consists of Säter, Stora Skedvi, Gustafs and Silvberg/Ulfshyttan.

History

At the location was a royal mansion named Säter's Royal Mansion.

Sweden's first copper mint was built at the location in 1624, influenced by its proximity to the copper mountain at Falun with its tannery that had been located to Säter a few years earlier.

The town Säter was founded in 1630, and much of its old towm today has still kept wooden houses and street structure from that time, which few Swedish cities have. One of the oldest houses is the city hall.

On May 8, 1642 the town was chartered by Queen Christina of Sweden, making it one of the Cities in Sweden. The chosen coat of arms depicted a miner.

Today

The Säter hospital was opened in 1912 and was at a time Sweden's largest mental hospital. Among others, the serial killer Thomas Quick was admitted there for a short while but renderring him the nickname the Säter killer.

Sights

The Old Church of Stora Skedvi is one of Dalarna's oldest, with its oldest parts from the 13th century.

There are several remains from the province's mining history, such as the Östra Silvberg's Mining Area with a silver mining history traced to the 1480s with an adjecent cemetery and chapel. It was closed in the 19th century and the mine itself is today a water filled hole.

Bispbergs gruva was used for mining iron for over 600 years, until it was closed in 1967.

External links

Säter - Official site
article Säter from Nordisk Familjebok (1919).