Växjö

The name is usually explained as väg, "road", and sjö, "lake": the road over the frozen Växjö Lake that farmers took in winter to the marketplace that grew into the town. A wooden church probably stood here in the 11th century, and legend credits Saint Sigfrid, the town's patron saint, with founding it. In the late 1160s Växjö became the seat of its own diocese, split from Linköping and covering the five districts of Värend, and the first stone church, the core of today's cathedral, was built about then. The town received its first charter from Magnus Eriksson in 1342.

Växjö sat in a border land often fought over. During the Dacke War, the great peasant uprising, the town was held by Nils Dacke and his followers from the summer of 1542 until after New Year 1543, and the bishop's castle of Kronoberg on Helgasjön served as his base. Danish and Swedish wars and repeated fires followed; the town burned in 1277, 1516, 1570, 1612, 1658 and several more times, and after the last fire, in 1843, which left 1,140 people homeless, it was given the street plan it still has.

Between 1846 and 1930 about 1.3 million Swedes, a fifth of the population, emigrated, mainly to the United States, a story the Swedish Emigrant Institute, founded in 1965, now tells in the city's House of Emigrants. The university, begun as a department of Lund University in 1967, became Växjö University and merged with Kalmar in 2010 to form Linnaeus University. In 1985 Hans Runesson took the photograph "A Woman Hitting a Neo-Nazi With Her Handbag" in the city.

Växjö's identity is green and glassy. In 1996 the city adopted a policy to stop using fossil fuels by 2030, in response to pollution in its lakes; it has called itself "the Greenest City in Europe" since 2007, and in 2018 it became the first Swedish city to receive the European Green Leaf Award. Half its electricity and over 90 per cent of its heating come from trees, and new buildings are made of wood.

The city claims to be the capital of both the "Kingdom of Crystal" and the "Kingdom of Furniture". The cathedral is filled with modern glass art, the Småland Museum holds the Swedish Glass Museum, and glassworks producing both tableware and art pieces surround the city. The House of Emigrants keeps the memory of the great exodus, with letters, diaries and photographs sent home from America; its microfilmed church records serve family historians.

Sport is a big part of local life. The Växjö Lakers play ice hockey at the Vida Arena and Östers IF football at the Spiris Arena, and the city also has clubs in floorball, rugby, basketball, volleyball and orienteering. The heavy metal band Bullet comes from Växjö, and the university gives the city a large student population, including many international students.

As of 2023 the city had about 74,000 inhabitants, out of about 98,000 in the municipality in 2025. It is the administrative, cultural and industrial centre of Kronoberg County and the seat of the Diocese of Växjö.

Linnaeus University, with campuses in Växjö and Kalmar, brings a large student population to the south of the city. Industry includes GE Power and Aerotech Telub, and Volvo Articulated Haulers builds machines at Braås, about 29 km north. Software firms such as Fortnox and Visma are among the best-known service companies, and a science park supports start-ups in forestry, smart-city and circular-economy work.

Daily life is shaped by the lakes, with a 4.5 km path round Växjö Lake, and the city has built cycling and pedestrian routes and traffic-noise measures into its environmental strategy. Shopping is split between Storgatan and two larger shopping areas on the east side of the city. Like other Swedish cities it has districts with social problems; Araby, classified as an especially vulnerable area in 2015, was reclassified as a risk area in 2021.

Småland's food is country cooking. Ostkaka, Swedish curd cake, has roots in Småland, where it has a grainy texture and was originally cooked in a large copper pot with a thin layer of tin; it is made by adding rennet to warm milk and flour, eaten tepid with jam or berries and cream, and served in Småland at Christmas and local gatherings. Kroppkakor, boiled potato dumplings filled with onion and meat and served with melted butter, lingonberry jam or cream, are eaten across south-east Sweden; in Småland they are made mostly from boiled potato with a little raw.

Everyday eating is Swedish husmanskost, traditional home cooking based on pork, fish, potatoes, root vegetables, cabbage and berries, with dishes such as pea soup, herring and meatballs with brown cream sauce and lingonberry jam. Lunch is the main meal out, and some restaurants in the city serve a set lunch on Saturdays as well as weekdays.

Fika, the coffee break with a pastry, is taken seriously. Cafés line Storgatan and the streets near Stortorget, among them a konditori run by the same family since 1876, and the café on the Bergkvara estate serves local produce beside a castle ruin.