Map - Landskrona

Landskrona (old Landskrone) is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona to the island of Ven, and for many years there was also a connection to Copenhagen. Landskrona is part of the Øresund region.

It is the seat of Landskrona Municipality. Landskrona is also the name of a district in Landskrona Municipality which is slightly smaller than the urban area.

The city of Landskrona is usually claimed to have been founded in 1413 by the King of Denmark, Eric of Pomerania, as a trading city intended to compete with Danish towns under the control of the Hanseatic League. There is however evidence found in the Danish National Archive, which mention the town by the name "Landzcrone" already in 1405.

The site occupies one of a few natural harbours in Scania, which at that time was part of Denmark. At the time of foundation, the site held a fishing settlement named Sønder Sæby. The original name of the officially founded town was Landszcrone, which changed to Landskrone sometime before 1450.

A Carmelite monastery was founded in 1410, English merchants were granted the privileges in a royal charter in 1412, and the town itself was chartered in 1413. The monastery was closed by King Christian III after the reformation, but survives in the name of the street "Karmelitergatan".

Construction of Landskrona Citadel started in the 1540s under the orders of Christian III. The castle was completed in 1559, and consisted of a fortress with a surrounding wall and moat. A huge system of moats was constructed around the castle over the centuries; parts of four of the moats survive. Sweden's second, and oldest surviving, allotment area is located in the northern part of the citadel.

The town supported the king Christian II in 1525, and opposed the Reformation in Denmark (1535); in both cases it found itself on the losing side. The reformist king Christian III of Denmark opted not to retaliate against the town, and instead founded a castle to protect the harbour. The castle, built where the monastery had been situated until the Reformation, was completed by 1559.

After Scania was ceded to the Swedish Crown in 1658, the good harbour and strong fort motivated plans to make Landskrona a commercial center of the acquired territory, with extraordinary privileges for foreign trade. The castle was reinforced by bastions, and the area inside the moats extended to 400x400 meters. The castle was considered the strongest and most modern in Scandinavia, but was temporarily lost to the Danes after a comparably short siege lasting from July 8 to August 2, 1676. The commandant, Colonel Hieronymus Lindeberg, was consequently sentenced to death for high treason. During the Danish reconquest in 1676-1679, Landskrona Citadel constituted as mobilisation centre for formal enlistment of pro-Danish guerrilla fighters.

In 1753 the Swedish military commander feared that the tower of Sancti Johannis Baptistae church could be a threat to the citadel and demanded the demolition of the church. Even though the cornerstone of the new Sofia Albertina Church was laid the following year, it was not inaugurated until 1788, and was finally completed in 1812. Unusually for a church that is not a diocesan seat, the new church was built with two towers, possibly in compensation for its much larger medieval predecessor.

Landskrona's military importance declined after the 18th century. The continued Swedish–Danish wars led to Karlskrona replacing Landskrona as a naval base, as it is located at a safer distance from Denmark. Although the fortifications at Landskrona were expanded considerably between 1747 and 1788, they were condemned in 1822, whereafter the garrison was abolished in 1869. The last military regiment, Skånska Husarregimentet, K5 was renamed and moved from Landskrona to Uppsala in 1926. Today the walls and moats of the fortifications of Landskrona Citadel are a recreational area and the castle holds a museum. On the northern side, an allotment-garden area of cottages was founded in the final years of the 19th century, and is today the oldest of its kind in Sweden. The military's large exercise field became a public heath, today called "Exercisfältet" or "Exan".