TROLLHÄTTAN HISTORY

History
Trollhättan was founded by the river Göta älv, at the location of Trollhättan Falls. The site was first mentioned in literature from 1413. For centuries, Trollhättan was an obstacle for the boats travelling the river, up until a lock system was completed in the nineteenth century. It has since been updated several times and the present locks were finished in 1916.

In the late nineteenth century, hydropower was developed in Trollhättan. The Swedish energy corporation Vattenfall ("waterfall") took its name from the falls in Trollhättan. Today the city has two operational hydropower stations, Olidan and Håjum. The hydropower has helped the city in its industrial revolution.

Trollhättan was granted city rights (which today have no legal effect, but is purely historical) in 1916 at which time it had about 15,000 inhabitants, now grown to 54,000.

[edit] Name
The name "Trollhättan" comes from folkloristic tales. People believed that large trolls lived in the river Göta älv and that the islands in the river were the Trolls' hoods ("hättor"). Other former names of the site is Eiðar and Stora Edet; the latter lives on in the name of the south-bordering municipality of Lilla Edet. The Trollhättan Falls of Trollhättan has been theorized to be the Mímir's Well from the Norse mythology