Norrtälje

Norrtälje lies at the head of a long inlet on the coast of Roslagen. Gustav II Adolf founded the town in 1622 and established a gun factory beside its river, where water power and charcoal from nearby woodland supplied the workshops and their heavy ironworking equipment. German gunsmiths were recruited to make firearms, and the new settlement became a place of both Swedish and German speech.

The works contained forges, workshops and homes for the craftsmen. Markets from Lännaby and Söderby-Karl were moved to the new town, although it remained modest in size. In 1719, during the final years of the Great Northern War, a Russian galley fleet burned the town and its factory. Rebuilding was slow, and the church was completed in 1733.