Öland

Öland is a long Baltic island separated from Småland by the Kalmar Strait. Its thin limestone soils include the open alvar, while ancient burial grounds and ringforts such as Eketorp testify to settlement long before the Middle Ages. Ottenby and Halltorp became royal hunting reserves, and Borgholm Castle guarded the island's western shore.

The castle is first mentioned in a letter of King Magnus in 1281. It was damaged during Sören Norby's siege in 1520 and later rebuilt; in the seventeenth century Karl Gustav made it a grand palace. The island remained a royal hunting ground for centuries, placing restrictions on its inhabitants. Borgholm Castle fell into disrepair and burned in 1806. A small town grew beside its ruins and received a charter in 1816.