Tingvalla

Tingvalla was a medieval market and assembly place where the Klarälven divides before entering Lake Vänern. Its position joined the river valley to shipping across the lake, making it a natural centre for Värmland. The place is recorded in 1290, and a church is mentioned in the fourteenth century.

In 1584 Duke Charles founded a town here and named it Karlstad. Its inhabitants received Tingvalla island and its fishing waters, while the duke kept a royal estate on Lagberget. The young town remained small, with about forty-five households recorded in 1585. In the eighteenth century iron from Värmland's works was weighed at the harbour before being shipped onwards towards Gothenburg. Fire repeatedly damaged the town, including a great destructive blaze in the year 1719.