Pre-16th century 16th century Karlskoga and its surrounding area were sparsely populated in the beginning of the 16th century. where they took up the farming method
slash-and-burn. They were followed by
Huguenots, fleeing religious oppression in
France, and by other groups including both
Dutch and
German settlers, mostly skilled
metalsmiths. The parish of Karlskoga was established in 1586 and a
wooden church was soon built. It was small in size, and was solely made up of the
sacristy still preserved at this site, which was a consequence of
population increase in the years prior. The first priest elected was Olaus Gestricius (herr Olaf på Möckelnsbodar) by the late 1500s.
Industrial era During the 17th century, fourteen small
ironworks and eight
water-driven hammers for producing
bar iron were established. This encompassed the emergence of both Björkborn Works and Bofors Works. As the owner of both ironworks,
Sigrid Ekehielm assumed the leadership of an industrial empire. Most of the original ironworks were still operating in the 1860s, but the dominating ironworks was the one in nearby
Bofors. In 1871, Bofors produced 6,124 metric tons of
iron, more than any other plant in Sweden. In 1882, Karlskoga Parish (
socken) had 11,184 inhabitants. The town of Karlskoga has evolved around Bofors, which in the late 19th century was transformed from an iron works to a manufacturer of
cannon and in the 20th century to a more diversified defense industry.
Bofors was incorporated in 1873 and has since the 1880s been specializing in the lucrative manufacture of cannon.
Alfred Nobel cameras c. 1897, rocket possibly by Captain
Wilhelm T. Unge.|leftThe most famous owner of
Bofors was
Alfred Nobel, who owned the company from 1894 until his death in December 1896. Nobel had a key role in reshaping the ironworks to a modern cannon manufacturer and
chemical industry. During the summers of 1894–1896 he lived in the
manor house Björkborn. Even though he died in his villa in
Sanremo,
Italy and had a home in
Paris, it was decided that his legal residence was at Björkborn in Karlskoga, which had been his final residence in Sweden. Because of that it was here his famous
testament that was written in Paris in 1895 was legally registered, which eventually made it possible to establish the
Nobel Prize.
Twentieth century In 1940 the town of Karlskoga and the surrounding area (the same territory as today's Karlskoga Municipality) got the formal title of a
city (
stad). Since 1971 this term has no legal meaning and only the built-up area is considered a
de facto town. Karlskoga spent most of the 20th century as a growing company town to Bofors. Only with the
demilitarization in the most recent decades has this started to be a problem for the town. There were 8,500 workers in Bofors in 1980, but the number had decreased to 2,600 as of 1998. On January 10, 1985, a
gas leak occurred in Karlskoga, when a chemical plant released
sulfuric acid gas over the area. The incident resulted in the evacuation of 300 people and left 20 individuals injured.
Recent history During the first decade of the 21st century, approximately 1,000 apartments in
multi-family buildings were demolished due to reduced demand for firearms products. This resulted in the population dwindling to 29,600. During the 2010s, however, the population trend reversed, and the numbers began to rise. In 2023, the magazine
Fokus ranked Karlskoga as the fifteenth best municipality to live in Sweden. == Geography ==