Development of industry and commerce in Uppsala
Uppsala is a city with a long history. By the 6th century Uppsala was already a political and religious centre from which the old heathen kings reigned. The three royal burial mounds in Gamla Uppsala bear witness to the importance that the place had in Svea Rike.
Sweden's biggest market - Distinget – was held in Uppsala from heathen times right into the 19th century. Uppsala (Aros) was the link between Norrland and Southern Sweden. The dominant trading commodity was leather and the trading place gave rise to various types of local handicrafts made by tailors, smiths and carpenters.
At the beginning of the 13th century, an urban society began to take shape in the present city centre. Construction of Uppsala cathedral (Domkyrkan), consecrated in 1435, continued over a period of 200 years. The need for priest training was one of the factors that contributed to the foundation of Uppsala University. The university, the oldest in the Nordic countries, was inaugurated in 1477.
In 1866 the railway came to Uppsala, which contributed to the establishment of many industries here. In 1890 there were 23 factories. This increased rapidly to 93 in 1910. Eighty people worked within industry in 1867, but the number increased sharply at the beginning of the 20th century to around 3,000 in 1920. At that time Larssons shoe factory (Hästen), Nymans workshops and Uppsala-Ekeby were the biggest industries with around 200 employees each. Production was local – there was no export industry to speak of at that time.
Famous Uppsala companies
Uppsala Technical factory was founded in 1867. This factory developed into Uppsala's first industrial limited company: Aseptin-Amykos AB. Its main product was a preservative. It was not until 1911 that the company was named after its founder Henrik Gahn. During its period of greatness Gahns manufactured a number of products: floor polish, furniture polish, perfume, soap, hair tonic, shaving cream and other chemical technical products. The company was bought up, its production was moved and the company closed down.
Nymans bicycle factory, which started bicycle production in 1873, was not only Uppsala's but also the Nordic countries' biggest bicycle manufacturer with a peak of 1,200 employees in the 1940s. The last bicycle was assembled at the factory on 12 March 1963. Fram was another bicycle manufacturer in Uppsala. Even if production has now been moved, Uppsala is still a bicycle town. It is said that the bicycle park next to the Central Station is the biggest in Sweden.
In 1918, Uppsala-Ekeby was 1918 Scandinavia's biggest tile factory. When the tile kilns were gradually replaced by central heating and in the 1970s premises were modernised with vinyl flooring instead of tiles, this tolled the death knell for Upsala-Ekeby which closed down in 1977. St Eriks' production was also based on clay: They made tile kilns, art works and household goods, bricks and later on also cement and concrete. The company has altered its range and is today a part of Swerock.
Between 1906 and 1972, Almqvist & Wiksell had the sole rights to all printing of almanacks in Sweden. Almqvist & Wiksell has had a major customer in Uppsala University with printing of doctoral theses. Today Almqvist & Wiksell is a market leader within production of textbooks and teaching aids and almanacks.
The origin of "Slotts" was a vinegar factory founded before the turn of the century. The famous mustard was launched in 1920, but it was not until 1969 that the company changed its name to AB Slotts Industrier. The company has changed ownership and name several times in recent years, but today it is still among the 6-7 biggest industrial companies in the municipality with just over 100 employees at present.
The well know bookstore LundeQ in Uppsala originated from a bookshop that opened as early as 1810. When Nils Wilhelm Lundequist took over the bookshop 24 years later it was given the name LundeQ in popular parlance.
In 1887, Patisserie Dahlia opened at Sysslomansgatan 5. The café was owned by Erik Andersson, and later by Ofvandahl. The café was known not only for its good pastry but also for the pretentious poems that the owner wrote. Even today the tea shop is a natural meeting place for students.
At the turn of the century there was trading in livestock, meat, fish, milk, cream, butter, eggs, corn, cabbage, timber and much more on the squares. With the new regulations aimed at protecting the goods from contamination and the heat of the sun, trading was gradually moved indoors. This resulted in 1909 in customers being able to enter the market-hall (Saluhallen).
In 1950 Pharmacia moved to Uppsala. The most important reason was the collaboration with the Physical Chemistry Institute at Uppsala University. Pharmacia grew rapidly and extended its activity. The first subsidiary was formed in the USA in 1952. Several years before the merger with Upjohn, Pharmacia had 56 subsidiaries in 22 countries, and the total number of employees was 20,000, of whom 500 were in Uppsala. Pharmacia & Upjohn can still be found in Uppsala. However, parts have been sold off from the group and are now part of other companies, but they continue to work in Uppsala. This is the case with Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and Fresenius Kabi. An independent company has also emerged, namely Biacore.
Many small companies
From around 1920 to 1950, Uppsala was an industrial town when around 40 percent of Uppsala's population worked in industry. During the 1950s there were cutbacks and closures among industrial companies in Uppsala. Competition from abroad strengthened and for a period structural reorganisations hit Uppsala harder than many other towns.
Despite increased production volumes, the numbers employed in industry has fallen since the middle of the 1960s in both Uppsala and the country as a whole. This sharp reduction of the share of industrial workers is partly due to the structure that industry had. Many of the shut down companies belonged to industries that were hit hard by foreign competition or industries where size rationalisation has been a strong feature.
Industrial employment in Uppsala increased between 1970 and 1990 from around 7 500 to 9 000 people. The industry now found in Uppsala has changed its nature. Low technology manufacturing industry has reduced sharply and a knowledge industry with an international focus is expanding instead. Two growing industries in Uppsala are information technology (IT) and medicine with medical technology.
Five listed companies have their head offices in Uppsala: Beijer & Alma, Biacore, BioPhausia, Diös and Pricer. It is chiefly these relatively large companies, but especially Pharmacia & Upjohn, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Fresenius Kabi and Slotts that are responsible for the exports that come from Uppsala.
The goods manufacturing branches of industry (agriculture and forestry, construction and manufacturing industry) were together responsible in 1965 for 40 percent of the jobs in the City of Uppsala. The remaining 60 percent comprised the service sector (commerce, communications, the financial sector, the public sector). In 1990 the service sector's share of employment was 80 percent.
Uppsala is today perhaps the most noted service city in Sweden. Large parts of Uppsala's public sector serves not only the inhabitants in the City of Uppsala but also the inhabitants of the whole county, and within some fields even the whole country. Examples of such activities are the County Council of Uppsala (Landstinget), The County Administrative Board of Uppsala (Länsstyrelsen), the National Food Administration (Sveriges livsmedelsverk), the Geological Survey of Sweden (Sveriges Geologiska Undersökningar), National Veterinary Institute (Sveriges Veterinärmedicinska Anstalt), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet) and Uppsala University.
Here extensive knowledge can thus be found to use not least for industrial production. Company offshoots from the universities and government bodies have given rise to at least 250 companies in the City of Uppsala.