Blekinge - Historical importance and places to visit in Blekinge.

What does the name of the region mean?

The name Blekinge tells you a lot about what the main importance of the region was and is: the Swedish verb “bleke” is a nautical term that can be translated as “dead calm”. This is a reference to the waters of the Baltic Sea (Blekinge is next to the Baltic Sea).

What is the region's historical importance?

Not much is known about Blekinge before 1000 AD. Some time after 1000 AD, the region was taken over by the Danish and remained part of Denmark for a good 600 years. In 1658, after many raids during the war between Denmark and Sweden, Blekinge finally became a part of Sweden again (and this has not ever changed again). For over three hundred years, Blekinge was also well known because it is the home to Sweden's main naval base.

What is the region known for?

Blekinge is known to be the second-smallest region of Sweden as it only covers around 0.7% of the country's area. Yes, that's not even one whole percent of Sweden, and yes, there is a region that's even smaller. Blekinge can be a quite scenic region, and is sometimes referred to as “The Garden of Sweden”. The location next to the Baltic Sea, and the fact that Blekinge is the home to Sweden's main naval base, also makes this region famous for its connection to the sea and the navy. And even today, you can still see and hear the influence of the Danish occupation as one of the two dialects that is spoken in Blekinge is related to the Danish language.

What are some places you need to visit in Blekinge?

Blekinge can quite easily be explored within a rather short time – which isn't much of a surprise when you look at how small the whole region is. However, you would be mistaken if you thought a region as small as this would not have much to offer. The one place you definitely should not miss is the region's capital Karlskrona.

Karlskrona is the only baroque city in Sweden – so it is definitely a must-see if you are in the region and have even the smallest interest in baroque. Karlskrona is also quite different from other cities you might have visited in the past: after all, how often do you get to see a city that actually consists of over 30 islands? Karlskrona is also the name of the archipelago that lies just outside the city – and to top the attraction of the place, that archipelago is also the Southernmost archipelago in Sweden. The naval museum on one of the islands in Karlskrona city is definitely a must-do. You can even go into one of the submarines to experience first-hand what it is like to move around on a real submarine. It's not an experience you can make every day.

One other thing you might be interested in are the many golfing opportunities that you have in Blekinge. Often the coast of Blekinge is referred to as the golf coast of Sweden – and there are indeed plenty of golf courses in that region.

Apart from golfing and the important city of Karlskrona, the region of Blekinge is mainly about the sea: kayaking, canoeing, exploring the little islands, or simply enjoying a day at the beach!