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APPENDIX 1
Nordens Ark (Ark of the North) is a zoo located on the 383-hectare (950-acre) Åby Manor in
Bohuslän, Sweden. Nordens Ark was opened in 1989 and is operated by the Nordens Ark
Foundation etc
History
Historic letters show that King Håkon of Norway lived at Åby Manor in 1307, establishing that the
manor is at least that old and making it one of Bohuslän’s oldest estates. In 1661, Margareta
Hvitfeldt purchased the property, consisting of some 90 farms and cottages. After her death
in 1683, the property was managed until 1975 by the scholarship fund that inherited her wealth.
The Agricultural Society in Gothenburg and Bohus County purchased the property at this time,
and held it until 1996. The dwelling house at the manor was built in 1729, and parts of the 60metre (200 ft) barn, the largest timbered structure in Bohuslän, are believed to date back to the
17th century.
Nordens Ark was inaugurated by Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on 14 June 1989. In 1996 the
foundation purchased Åby Manor from the Agricultural Society in Gothenburg and Bohus County.
In 1997, the name of the foundation was changed to the current Nordens Ark Foundation
(Stiftelsen Nordens Ark), and in 1999 Nordens Ark created The Farm and opened to the public.
APPENDIX 2
Old Älvsborg Fortress
A fortified outpost was especially important for Sweden when the area north of Älvsborg, Bohuslän,
was part of Norway (until 1658), and the area south of it, Halland, was part of Denmark (until 1645)
Sweden's only Atlantic settlement, Gothenburg's first predecessor Lödöse ("Gothenburg 1") at the
mouth of the Göta Älv, was built about 1200, superseded by New Lödöse ("Gothenburg 2") near the
modern town
In 1473, New Lödöse was granted substantial privileges.The Old Älvsborg Fortress was built in the
14th century, located at the Klippan area near what is now the harbour entrance of Gothenburg.
After the Danes several times easily conquered the fortress, the fortification works was gradually
expanded. New Lödöse was burned down by Danish forces in 1521, and after it was initially rebuilt
at the same spot in 1526, it was later relocated ("Gothenburg 3") near the Älvsborg fortress, west of
the modern town.
In 1563, when the Northern Seven Years' War broke out, the Swedish burned down this town by
themselves to not let Denmark capture it, and Denmark took over Älvsborg Fortress The war ended
with the Treaty of Stettin (1570), which obliged Sweden to pay 150,000 riksdaler for the ransom of
the fortress of Älvsborg. To pay this extraordinarily high amount of money, Sweden heavily taxed all
moveables in the country, resulting in further impoverishment of the war-torn population. Unburned
towns had to pay one twelfth, peasants one tenth, burned down towns one eighteenth of their
properties' value. In 1603, the adjacent town was again relocated ("Gothenburg 4") to the site of the
channel opposing Älvsborg Fortress, it was the first town called "Göteborg", built by Charles IX of
Sweden The town was annilihated by Denmark in 1611, who took possession of Älvsborg between
1612 and 1619.
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