Boras is a textile town straddling the river Viska, founded by Gustavus Adolphus in 1622. It developed into a place of some commercial importance only after the railroad, the cotton trade and mechanical weaving looms came to Västergötland. Thereafter it became a leading center of the clothing industry and the mail order business.
The Town
In the market square (Stora Torget) is the massive Town Hall (ca. 1910), with a carillon. In front of it is the beautiful Sjuhärad Fountain (by Nils Sjögren, 1941). A little way north stands the Charles Church (1660; restored 1941), with a fine interior. The House of Culture (1975) houses the Museum of Art, the Municipal Theater and a library. In the Municipal Park is a swimming pool.
In Ramna Park is the Borås Museum, an open-air museum with an old farmhouses and a 16th century church.
Address: Borås Museum, Ramnaparken, S-50439 Boras, Sweden
Hours:
April 1 to September 30: 11am-5pm
October 1 to March 31: 11am-5pm; Closed: Mon
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), May Day / Labor Day (May 1), Swedish National Day (June 6), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Christmas Eve - Christian (December 24), New Year's Eve (December 31), Good Friday - Christian
Tips: Guided tours may be booked in advance. Call for information: (0) 33358580.
In the north of the town is Knalleland, the main center of the mail order business in the north. Nearby is Borås Park, with a zoo and an open-air swimming pool.
The Library Museum was opened in premises that had belonged to Borås Public Library. The museum has a permanent exhibition showing traveling libraries, parish libraries, study circle libraries within the Good Templars, workers, farmers and revivalists movement.
Address: Biblioteksmuseet, Sturegatan 36, S-50115 Boras, Sweden
Southwest of Borås on Road 41 is Seglora, with a stone recording the removal of the village church to the Skansen open-air museum, Stockholm. At Rydal are Sweden's oldest surviving spinning-mill and the first Swedish factory to be lit by electricity. Fristla has two fine old stone bridges over the Häggå.
Address: Borås Tourist Office, Hallbergsgatan 14, S-50115 Borås, Sweden
Northeast of Borås stands Brämhult (church with 18th C. paintings). At Dalsjöfors gold and silver articles can be bought. Farther east, on a small island in Lake Tolken, is the ruined castle of Sundholmen (16th C.). In Torpa, to the south of the Valdbrosjö, are a 14th century house where Gustavus Adolphus is said to have found his third wife and a former frontier stronghold between Denmark and Sweden.
The lake country between Borås and the little town of Ulricehamn offers walking, boating and fishing opportunities during summer months. Alpine and cross-country skiing are popular winter activities. The town grew up in the Middle Ages in the valley of the river Ätran. The church (1688) has fine 17th and 18th century ceiling paintings. The Town Hall is built in the style of a manor house.
Address: Ulricehamn Tourist Office, Rådhuset, Stora Torget, S-52386 Ulricehamn, Sweden
North of Ulricehamn, on Lake Tolken, is the church of Södra Vings, the oldest parts of which date from the 12th century; notable pictures (15th C.) and sculpture.
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Ulricehamn, Sweden
