Säter

Säter is a locality and the seat of Säter Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 4,429 inhabitants in 2010.

Säter is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities.

History

At the location there was a royal mansion titled Säter's Royal Mansion.

Sweden's first copper mine was built at the location in 1624, influenced by its proximity to the copper mountain at Falun with its tannery that had been located in Säter a few years earlier.

The town Säter was founded in 1630, and much of its old town today has preserved wooden houses and street structure from that time, which few Swedish cities have. One of the oldest houses is the city hall.

On 8 May 1642, the town was chartered by Queen Christina of Sweden, making it one of the Cities in Sweden. The chosen coat of arms depicted a miner.

Today

The Säter hospital was opened in 1912 and was at the time Sweden's largest mental hospital which is usually associated with Säter in particular.

Transhumance

Transhumance is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (vertical transhumance), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Generally only the herds travel, with a certain number of people necessary to tend them, while the main population stays at the base. In contrast, horizontal transhumance is more susceptible to being disrupted by climatic, economic or political change.

Traditional or fixed transhumance occurs or has occurred throughout the inhabited world, particularly Europe and western Asia. It is often of high importance to pastoralist societies, as the dairy products of transhumance flocks and herds (milk, butter, yogurt and cheese) often form much of the diet of such populations. In many languages there are words for the higher summer pastures, and frequently these words have been used as place names: e.g. Hafod in Wales.

Sæter (station)

Sæter is a light rail station on the Oslo Tramway.

Located at Nordstrand, it was the terminus of the Ekeberg Line when it was opened in 1917 by AS Ekebergbanen in cooperation with Kristiania Sporveisselskab. In 1941 the Ekeberg Line was extended to Ljabru, the current terminus. Until 1967, the stretch between Sæter and Ljabru was the only single track rail in Oslo.

Sæter is a key word in John Buchan's novel "The Three Hostages".

References