Varberg

Varberg stands on the Halland coast beside the Kattegat. Its fortress was built at the end of the thirteenth century, and the nearby settlement of Getakärr took its name from the stronghold in the fourteenth century. Around 1400 the town moved farther north. War repeatedly affected the coast: the town was destroyed during the Kalmar War and rebuilt near the fortress, while the fortifications were strengthened under the Danish king Christian IV. The Treaty of Brömsebro transferred Halland to Sweden for thirty years in 1645, and the Treaty of Roskilde made the transfer permanent in 1658. After a fire in 1666, Varberg moved again to the site of its present centre.