A brief overview of Swedish

history

Introduction

The following historical section is by no means complete from a historical perspective. The purpose of this page is to provide a chronological historical overview of events in Sweden that may have had a connection with or impact on the lives and livelihoods of my and others’ Swedish ancestors.

Related Links

• Swedish history - 1500s - 1600s • The Reformation and King Gustav I • Swedish history - 1700s • Swedish history - 1800s • Swedish history - Part 1 • Swedish history - Part 1 • The New Sweden Colony in North America • Swedish Witch Trials • The Allotment System • Swedish School System • Swedish Banking • Swedish Monetary System • History of the Swedish Police System • Poor Relief in the past • Health Care and Diseases in the Past • The Many Swedish Wars • Swedish Inventions • Inns and Stage Services • History of Railways in Sweden • History of Church of Sweden • History of the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament)

Source References

• Wikipedia • Svenska krig 1521 – 1814. Ulf Sundberg, 1998 • Svenska freder och stillestånd 1249 - 1814, Ulf Sundberg, 1997 • Ånga och Dynamit, Historien om Sverige, Herman Lindqvist, 1999 • När Sverige blev stormakt, Historien om Sverige, Herman Lindqvist, 1994 • Ofredsår, Peter Englund, 1993 • Trolldomsprocesserna i Sverige av Bengt Ankarloo, 1996. Top of page

1900s - Part 2

The 20th century began somewhat dramatically for Sweden with the dissolution of the union with Norway in 1905. Furthermore, the military allotment system (with its standing army) was abolished in 1901 in favor of a conscript army, i.e., universal conscription. The 20th century also saw two major conflicts: World War I and World War II.

Swedish Vacation Entitlement

The first legislation in Sweden regarding vacation entitlement was enacted in 1938. Under this law, all employees were entitled to two weeks of vacation. Vacation duration was increased to three weeks in 1951 and four weeks in 1963. The current law dates from 1977 (1977:480) and took effect in 1978. At that time, vacation entitlement was extended to five weeks. The Vacation Act governs the annual leave, annual leave pay, and annual leave compensation. Any agreement that provides the employee with benefits less favorable than those stipulated by law is invalid. Employees who are entitled to more than 20 days of annual leave may carry over any unused days for up to five years and then take them as a single block of time off. If operational circumstances permit, the law allows them to accumulate ten weeks of leave once every six years. Saturdays and Sundays are not normally counted as vacation days. The length of the statutory vacation is a minimum requirement. Today, many people have vacations lasting six or seven weeks under their employment contracts. Similarly, people took vacations even before they became statutory in 1938, including those in lower- paying jobs. In Sweden today, the statutory vacation is 25 working days. However, the law is discretionary, and it is therefore permissible to agree on a longer vacation than the minimum requirement specified by law. For more information, visit the page: Swedish Vacation Entitlement

The History of Pensions in Sweden

It was only a little over 100 years ago—in 1913, to be precise—that we established a pension system covering all citizens: the universal pension insurance. Various pension systems existed even before 1913, but they operated differently for different groups. For the vast majority of people in the past, poor relief was the norm once they were no longer able to work. On May 21, 1913, the Swedish Parliament passed a resolution to introduce a universal pension insurance system that covered virtually the entire population. Sweden thus became the first country in the world to introduce a universal pension insurance system. As early as 1884, the Riksdag appointed a “Workers’ Insurance Committee.” The proposals put forward by this committee set in motion a process of social policy legislation that led, among other things, to the Occupational Safety Act of 1889, support for health insurance funds in 1891, accident insurance in 1901/1916, and finally the Pension Insurance Act of 1913. Under the decision, the pension would cover the entire population and would be paid to anyone who was unable to work or had reached the age of 67. The pension system consisted of two components: a contribution-based insurance component and a grant component. The immediate outcome of the pension reform was the transfer of the elderly poor and disabled individuals from the poor relief system to the pension system. The pension amount under the universal pension insurance scheme was low, making it challenging for many individuals to sustain themselves on their pension. In 1914, the Pension Board was established as a new national agency to manage and record contributions to the pension insurance system. The 1936 pension legislation amended the 1913 Act, but the basic structure remained unchanged. It continued to be a two-part system, consisting of a basic pension based on contributions paid and an income-dependent pension supplement. The national basic pension (Swedish: Folkpension) was no longer based on a defined-contribution system. Everyone was required to pay a contribution to the national treasury. The supplements were altered so that anyone earning a modest income and over the age of 67 might get a pension supplement. Under the 1936 pension reform, the pension thus consisted of a basic pension (Swedish grundpension), which was paid as a fixed amount that was the same for everyone, and a supplementary pension (Swedish: tilläggpension), which depended on the contributions paid. The reform took effect in 1937. Various objections were raised against the universal pension insurance system, including the claim that it discriminated against women. The Riksdag passed a resolution on a national basic pension in 1946, and it was introduced in 1948. It consisted of a basic amount (Swedish: grundbelopp) and a means-tested housing supplement. With the national basic pension reform, the practice of differentiating pensions based on gender was abandoned. As a result of the 1946 national pension reform and several supplementary decisions in the early 1950s, the national basic pension was structured in such a way that old age was no longer a cause of poverty. The indexation of pensions in 1950 and the introduction of municipal housing supplements in the mid-1950s brought pensioners’ basic financial security up to a reasonable level. A third pension committee was appointed in 1956. To move the issue forward, the government decided to hold an indicative referendum on October 13, 1957. Three proposals were put to a vote in the referendum, and Option 1 received the most votes. Proposal 1: A universal and mandatory occupational pension (Swedish: tjänstepension) funded by employer contributions (Swedish: arbetsgivaravgifter). The pension should be proportional to income earned during one’s working life, and the fund assets should be managed by a board appointed by the government and representatives of employers and employees. The Social Democratic Party did, however, propose a proposal (Proposal 1) in Parliament, which was defeated in the Second Chamber. In the final vote in the Parliament on May 14, 1959, the Act on the Universal Supplementary Pension (Swedish: Allmän Tillägspension—ATP) passed by a single vote. The system consisted of a basic pension—the national basic pension (folkpension), which was the same for everyone—and an income-based supplementary pension, the ATP. The ATP system went into effect on January 1, 1960. On July 1, 1976, the retirement age was lowered to 65. The Swedish Parliament decided in 1994 and 1998 on a major pension reform that came into effect in 1999. The reason was that a completely benefits- based pension system was too costly. Instead, a contribution-based system was chosen. In the new system, the pension is based partly on lifetime income and partly on paid premiums. The new pension system, the universal pension (Swedish: allmänna pensionen), consists of the income-based pension, the premium pension, and the guaranteed pension. For more information, visit the page: The History of Pensions in Sweden

Personal Identity Numbers Introduced in

1947

Every Swedish citizen has a unique personal identity number (PIN). It is also known as “Citizen's Codes.” In Sweden, the term is “personnummer.” A personal identification number is a unique identifier for individuals. The personal identification number system was introduced in Sweden in 1947. Individuals born before 1947 were assigned a personal identification number in the county where they were living at the time. Everyone listed in the Swedish Population Register (Swedish: folkbokföringen) has a personal identification number. The personal identification number is unique to each individual and remains with them throughout their life. The Swedish Tax Agency assigns personal identification numbers upon registration in the Population Register. This also applies to people who were not born in Sweden. The personal identification number initially consisted of 9 digits, with the first six based on the individual’s date of birth (YYMMDD), followed by a hyphen and then 3 more digits. The first two of these digits indicated the county of birth, and the last digit was an odd number for men and an even number for women. For example: 001219-342. The format was set to the birth date (without the century) followed by a separator and the three digits. For people born in the 1800s, the separator was a plus sign, and for those born in the 1900s, a hyphen. In 1967, a check digit was added to the personal identification number. The check digit is calculated based on the date and time of birth and the birth number and is added to the birth number as a fourth digit. The check digit is calculated using a method known as the modulus-10 method (the Luhn algorithm). For example: 001219-3421. Before 1990, a specific number series was used for each county. At that time, a person’s birthplace could be determined from their birth number. For example, Stockholm County had the number series 00–13. Västernorrland, for example, had a series starting with 78. Immigrants were assigned a birth number from the series 93–99. However, starting in 1990, a single series has been used for all of Sweden. When storing data on computers, the Swedish Tax Agency includes the year in the personal identification number as a four-digit code, resulting in a total of twelve digits, often without hyphens, for example, 198112189876. This applies only to data stored in the registry and therefore does not need to be visible outside the registry. In the USA the Social Security Number (SSN) is a personal identity number comparable to the Swedish one. For more information, see the page: Personal Identity Numbers

The Municipal Consolidations of 1952

Until 1862, local administration (governance) of the parish (Swedish: socken) was handled by the parish assembly (Swedish: sockenstämman). In 1863, rural municipalities (Swedish: landskommuner) were established to replace the parish (“socken”) as the governing body in rural areas. In the vast majority of cases, the territorial areas of the new rural municipalities corresponded to the old civil parishes, i.e., relatively small units. In addition to the rural municipalities, there were also a number of city and market town (Swedish: köping) municipalities. In 1946, the Riksdag decided to reform the municipal system. The 1952 municipal reform resulted in the number of rural municipalities being reduced from 2,281 to 816 through consolidations. During the 20th century, Sweden experienced extensive population migration and urbanization. The proportion of the population living in rural areas declined, and many of the small rural municipalities struggled to cope with the ever-increasing responsibilities placed on them, leading to challenges in providing essential services and maintaining infrastructure. More than 500 of Sweden’s rural municipalities had fewer than 500 residents in 1943. In principle, the municipal reform affected only rural areas, i.e., rural municipalities. The number of cities remained unchanged at 133. For more information, see the pages: Swedish Municipalities and About Municipalities

The 1971 Municipal Reform

The 1971 Municipal Reform was a significant milestone in the evolution of municipal governance. Following the 1952 municipal reform, the municipalities’ areas of responsibility were further expanded, which meant that the 1952 reform was deemed insufficient; in 1961, a government commission concluded that a new municipal reform was necessary. The politicians began to consider the principle of a central town. The commission’s proposal was to abolish the division into cities, market towns (Swedish: köping), and rural municipalities (Swedish: landskommun); instead, a uniform concept of municipalities was introduced. The Riksdag passed the municipal reform in 1962. On January 1, 1971, a unified municipal structure was introduced. All former rural municipalities, cities, and market towns were reorganized into municipalities (Swedish: kommun). The number of municipalities was drastically reduced, from just over 1,000 to 278. In 2019, there were 290 municipalities in Sweden. It was not until 1974 that the reform was largely completed, by which time most of the new types of municipalities had been established. Cities and rural areas would together form unified municipalities, with the city—or another major urban center—serving as the regional hub for the surrounding area. Typically, several rural municipalities were consolidated with the nearby town/city to form a single municipality, known simply as a “municipality” (“kommun”). For example, there were several rural municipalities around the city of Sundsvall—such as Njurunda, Matfors, Indals-Liden, and Stöde—which were merged with the city of Sundsvall to form the municipality of Sundsvall (the Sundsvall Kommun). The US term “consolidated city-county” probably best describes the Swedish “kommun”, as of 1971. [In the United States local government, a consolidated city-county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such, it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state. It has the powers and responsibilities of both types of entities.] Please note that a Swedish county (“Län”) is not at all the same as a “county” in the United States. For more information, see the page: The Swedish “Kommun”

The Nationalization of the Swedish Police

Force in 1965

The origins of today’s Swedish police force, and of the police profession itself, can be traced back to the 1850 police reform in Stockholm. During the 1962 and 1964 sessions of the Riksdag (Parliament), it was decided that the police in Sweden would be nationalized, a decision that took effect on January 1, 1965. In connection with the nationalization, the National Police Board (Swedish: Rikspolisstyrelsen) was established as the coordinating authority for police operations. From 1850 until the police force was nationalized in 1965, law enforcement was referred to as the police only in cities and market towns (Swedish: köping). In rural areas, “länsmän” and “fjärdingsmän (roughly county sheriffs and deputy sheriffs in the US) continued to handle police matters. In 1918, the police force was reorganized, and the county sheriffs ((länsman”) were replaced by rural district police superintendent and public attorneys (Swedish: landsfiskal), while in cities they were replaced by city police superintendent and attorneys (Swedis: stadsfiskal). Until 1965, the Swedish police force was a municipal police force, meaning that the municipalities were responsible for policing within their respective jurisdictions. In other words, police officers were employed by the municipalities, towns and cities respectively. The image shows a municipal police officer equipped with a baton and a saber directing traffic in Örebro on Children’s Day in 1953. Photo: Örebro City Archives, ID PS-232-0108. However, as early as January 1, 1933, following a 1932 parliamentary decision, a State Police Department was established under the command of a State Police Superintendent stationed in Stockholm. The State Police Department was divided into the Public Order Police, the Criminal Investigation Police, and the Security Police. The force eventually grew to 226 criminal investigators and 306 public order officers. The State Public Order Police could be deployed anywhere in Sweden in the event of unrest. The State Police was primarily intended to serve as reinforcements for municipal police districts in rural areas. The rest of the time, the State Police carried out routine police work in the cities where they were stationed. In the late 1930s, following the outbreak of World War II, a State Police Criminal Investigation Department (Swedish: Rikskrim) was also established, whose primary task was to assist the regular municipal police in investigating serious crimes. On January 1, 1965, the entire Swedish police force was nationalized. The three branches of the system—police, prosecution, and enforcement—were now completely separated from one another, and three independent organizations were created: the police service, the office of the public prosecutor, and the enforcement service. As a result, both the city attorneys and their rural counterparts, the rural prosecutors, were abolished. A regional police chief (Swedish: länspolischef) became responsible for police operations within each region (Swedish: Län). The county administrative board (Swedish: Länsstyrelsen) became the highest police authority in a county (“Län”). In connection with the nationalization, the National Police Board (“Rikspolisstyrelsen”) was established as the coordinating authority for police operations. In 1967, police cars were painted with the word “POLIS” (“POLICE.”) A national police training academy was established in Solna in 1965 to serve police officers throughout the country. The image shows a police officer and his police car (Volvo Amazon) in Hälsingland province, late 1960s/early 1970s. Photo: Digital Bild in Söderhamn, ID: XTJ00114. On January 1, 2015, the police force was reorganized, and the 21 police agencies (one per county (“Län”)) were merged into two separate agencies: the Police Agency and the Security Service. For more information on the history of the police, visit the following pages: History of the Swedish Police and The Swedish Police of Today

The Switch to Right-Hand Traffic in 1967

On September 3, 1967, at 5:00 a.m., Sweden switched from driving on the left to driving on the right. This process was called the Switch to Right- Hand Traffic, also known as “H-Day” (the "H" stands for "Högertrafik," Swedish for right-hand traffic.) The change meant that all vehicle traffic, including cyclists, would henceforth travel on the right side of the road. The first regulation mandating right-hand traffic in Sweden was issued as early as 1718, but it did not last long. In 1734, it was replaced by a new regulation that instead mandated left-hand traffic. The fact that Sweden had left-hand traffic posed no problem until motor vehicle traffic began to expand significantly, at which point proposals were put forward to align with the traffic system dominant on the European continent. Improved road safety from an international perspective was the primary reason for switching to right-hand traffic. From the very beginning, Swedish automakers built left-hand-drive cars so that they would be ready for the switch to right-hand traffic that the authorities had indicated would take place. Furthermore, since right-hand traffic was the norm in most of the countries to which Sweden exported its cars, these vehicles had to be built with the steering wheel on the left side. As a result, the cars sold to Swedish drivers had the steering wheel on the left side (as they do today), even though we still drove on the left at the time. The arrangement made passing other vehicles more difficult and dangerous. As early as 1927, a committee suggested that a switch to right-hand traffic be studied. Several suggestions for right-hand traffic were raised in the Riksdag (the Parliament) during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1954, a committee plainly and definitely proposed that right-hand traffic be implemented. In 1955, an advisory referendum was held, and the transition to right-hand traffic was rejected. On May 10, 1963, the Riksdag finally decided that Sweden would switch to right-hand traffic at 5:00 a.m. on September 3, 1967. Since all vehicles sold in Sweden up to that point had the steering wheel on the left side, virtually all vehicles were already equipped for right-hand traffic. However, the buses were not designed for right- hand traffic. They had been right-hand drive during the era of left-hand traffic and had their boarding and alighting doors on the left side, i.e., facing the curb. They couldn't be used as is, as that would have required passengers to board and alight in the middle of the road. A large portion had already been prepared, but a significant portion of the funding for the transition went to bus companies for retrofitting. Either the newer buses were retrofitted or new buses were purchased. Buses that were not retrofitted were donated as a form of emergency aid to countries with left-hand traffic, such as Pakistan. Before the switch to driving on the right, the postal service’s vehicles were left-hand drive, which made it easy for the mail carrier to deliver mail to mailboxes directly from the vehicle. However, since the switch to driving on the right, postal vehicles are typically right-handed to facilitate the delivery of newspapers and mail. Many interchanges and intersections had to be rebuilt. Road signs, traffic signals, and lane markings had to be relocated and modified. In preparation for the switch to right-hand traffic on September 3, 1967, black hexagonal signs bearing a yellow “H” were put up. This was done to remind drivers to keep to the right after “H-Day.” At 4:50 a.m. on Sunday morning, September 3, 1967, all vehicles were to stop and remain stationary on the left side of the road for 10 minutes. The countdown to 5:00 a.m. was broadcast on the radio. After this pause, all drivers then carefully moved over to the right side of the road. Sweden thus switched from driving on the left to driving on the right. In the immediate period following the change, police traffic monitoring was very intensive. The image shows ongoing conversion to right-hand traffic on Kungsgatan, downtown Stockholm, at 5:00 a.m. on September 3, 1967. Photo: Wikipedia.

The Unicameral Parliament of 1971

The old Parliament of the Four Estates was abolished in 1866. The electoral reform was adopted in December 1865. It took effect after the conclusion of the parliamentary session on June 22, 1866. With the reform, the estates-based representation was replaced by a system with two separate chambers, i.e., a bicameral parliament: the First Chamber, elected by the county councils, and the Second Chamber, elected in direct parliamentary elections. The bicameral Riksdag was replaced by a unicameral Riksdag following an amendment to the Riksdag Act in 1971. The Riksdag now consisted of a single chamber with 350 members. Three years later, in 1974, Sweden adopted both new parliamentary rules of procedure and a new constitution. The Constitution entrenched the ideas of parliamentarism and accorded the Speaker a prominent role in the formation of governments. For the 1976 election, the voting age was lowered from 20 to 18. At the same time, the number of members of the parliament was reduced from 350 to 349. In 1994, the Riksdag decided to extend the electoral term from three to four years. The Parliament Building is the seat of the Swedish Parliament and is located on Helgeandsholmen in downtown Stockholm. The image shows the Parliament Building on Helgeandsholmen in Stockholm. Photo: Wikipedia. After the bicameral Riksdag was replaced by the unicameral Riksdag in 1971, the parliament building was refurbished to accommodate the new plenary chamber. During the renovation, the Riksdag was temporarily housed in the then-newly constructed Kulturhuset on Sergels Torg. In 1975, the Riksdag moved back to Helgeandsholmen.

New license plates on Swedish vehicles in

1973

Until 1973, every vehicle in Sweden was registered in the county (“Län”) where it was based. In other words, there was no national registry prior to 1973. The county administrative board (Swedish: Länstyrelsen) in each county maintained a registry of vehicles in the county. The license plate, therefore, consisted of the county letter plus a serial number of up to five digits. Each county in Sweden has a unique county letter, such as “C” for Uppsala County, “D” for Södermanland County, “E” for Östergötland County, and so on. If a county had more than 99,999 registered vehicles, the county code was extended by an A and, where applicable, by a B. The City of Stockholm had many registered vehicles and used the following different county codes on its cars: A, AA, and AB, while Stockholm County used B, BA, and BB. The image shows an example of a license plate from Stockholm County prior to 1973 (BA85392). Image: Wikipedia. It was fun with those old license plates that had the county letter on them. On a road trip in Sweden, people would wave to each other if they saw a car with the same county letter. On May 1, 1973, a centralized vehicle registration system was introduced in Sweden, thereby abolishing the system of county-specific license plates. The new format consisted of three letters followed by three numbers, such as HBP 622. The transition to the new system took place on a county-by-county basis, beginning in Uppsala County as early as 1972. All vehicles in Sweden were issued new license plates, not just newly registered ones. The image shows a Swedish license plate (HBP622) with a vehicle inspection sticker. The plate was issued after 1973 but before 2003. The inspection sticker indicated that the vehicle had passed the inspection, that the vehicle tax had been paid, and that the vehicle had valid third-party motor insurance. The inspection stickers were abolished in 2010. The so-called EU license plate was introduced in Sweden on April 1, 2003, featuring a blue section with the EU symbol and the country code letter “S.” Starting in 2003, all newly registered vehicles in Sweden were issued license plates bearing the EU symbol. The image shows a license plate from 2003 with an inspection sticker and the EU symbol. Image: Wikipedia. License plates from 2019: During the 2010s, it became clear that a new system for vehicle registration numbers would be needed, as the system used up to that point would not be sufficient for all the new vehicles that would be registered in the future. The solution was to introduce a letter as the last character in the registration number. On February 16, 2017, the government made a decision allowing the Swedish Transport Agency to issue license plates where the last character is alphanumeric (i.e., a number or a letter), such as MLB 80A—that is, three letters, two numbers, and one letter or number. The decision applied only to newly registered vehicles. The new type of registration number began to be used on January 16, 2019. The image shows an example of a license plate from 2019 with a letter as the last character.

The 1980 Nuclear Power Referendum

An advisory referendum (non-binding) on nuclear power in Sweden was held on March 23, 1980. The referendum offered not just two options—YES or NO to nuclear power—but three. The referendum concerned three proposals known as Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3. The ballots of the three options all called for the phase-out of nuclear power. What primarily set them apart was the pace of the phase-out. Option 3 proposed a phase-out within 10 years, while the others proposed a pace that would be feasible given the need for electricity to sustain employment and welfare. Option 2 received the most votes. The results were 18.9 percent for Option 1 (phased phase-out), 39.1 percent for Option 2 (phased phase-out, public ownership, conservation, and investment in renewable energy), and 38.7 percent for Option 3 (phase-out within 10 years and investment in renewable energy). The Moderate Party supported Option 1, the Liberal Party (now the Liberals) and the Social Democrats supported Option 2, and the Center Party and the VPK (now the Left Party) backed Option 3. The KDS, now the Christian Democrats (which at that time were not yet a party represented in the Parliament), also backed Line 3. The decision to hold a referendum was made in response to growing awareness of the risks associated with nuclear power following the 1979 Harrisburg accident and amid mounting opposition to nuclear power in Sweden. After the referendum, the Riksdag (the Parliament) resolved to phase out all nuclear reactors by 2010. In 1997, the Riksdag (1997:1320) made the decision to gradually phase out nuclear power without establishing a deadline. However, on June 17, 2010, the Riksdag voted in favor of allowing the construction of new reactors to replace the existing ones, an option that was not included in the nuclear power referendum. In 2020, Sweden had six nuclear reactors in operation.

Sweden's accession to the EU in 1995

On November 13, 1994, Sweden held a consultative referendum on EU membership. 52.3 percent voted in favor of Swedish membership. Following the referendum, Sweden joined the European Union (EU) on January 1, 1995. Sweden had been a member of EFTA (the European Free Trade Association) since 1960. In 1987, Sweden expressed its desire to join the European Community’s (EC) single market. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in the fall of 1989, there was increased discussion regarding Swedish EC membership. In July 1991, Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson submitted Sweden’s application for membership. Finland joined the EU at the same time as Sweden. The European Union (EU) is a union based on treaties among 27 European countries and an international organization with a uniquely high degree of supranationality. The European Union was established on November 1, 1993, but its history dates back to the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) on July 23, 1952. An Economic Community (EC) was established on January 1, 1958, and just over ten years later, the creation of a customs union was completed.

The Church of Sweden was separated

from the state in 2000

On January 1, 2000, the Church of Sweden was formally separated from the state. However, in reality, the separation was not fully completed, as the Church of Sweden still enjoys state-like privileges compared to other religious communities and organizations. The Act on the Church of Sweden (SFS 1998:1591) is a Swedish law that, among other things, governs the relationship between the Swedish state and the Church of Sweden. The Act was enacted on November 26, 1998, and entered into force on January 1, 2000. The law defines the Church of Sweden as an Evangelical Lutheran denomination. The Church of Sweden shall continue to be an open national church, governed and led through cooperation between a democratic organization and the church’s clergy. The congregation’s fundamental mission is defined as conducting worship services, providing religious education, and carrying out church welfare and missionary work. The General Synod is designated as the highest decision-making body. Since 2000, the Church of Sweden has been responsible for organizing the church elections, which take place every four years. The number of parishes has dropped by slightly more than 1,100 since the Church of Sweden broke away from the state in 2000.

Women's access to traditionally male-

dominated professions

Female police officers Sweden’s first female police officers began serving in 1908. The first women hired were nurses and were known as “police sisters.” The police sisters’ duties focused primarily on providing social and medical assistance to women and children who, for various reasons, had been taken into police custody. The police sisters served in nursing attire instead of police uniforms, and they were unarmed. However, from the very beginning, they were granted the protection and authority of a police officer—in other words, they were police officers. For this reason, they also wore the police insignia, namely a police badge. Starting in the 1940s, they began to be referred to more and more as female police officers, even though their official title was “police sister.” The title “police sister” was abolished in 1954. In the fall of 1957, 24 female police cadets were admitted to the National Police Academy in Stockholm. In January 1958, they began their duties as uniformed officers and were assigned to various districts to perform patrol duties. Thus, starting that year, female police officers began patrolling in uniform. At that time, the police force was still under municipal jurisdiction. The image shows female Swedish police officers in Stockholm in 1958. Photo: Wikipedia. In other words, in 1958, female police officers graduated from the same police training program as their male counterparts (prior to that, there had been special courses for female police officers). However, the idea that they would wear the same uniform as the men was completely unthinkable. It had to be clear from a distance which officers were male and which were female. Such considerations led to the exclusion of pants for women. However, it was recognized that wearing skirts on patrol duty would be problematic and inappropriate, so the skirt-pants (culottes) were introduced. The image shows a female police officer in uniform wearing skirt-style pants (culottes) circa 1955–1970. Photo: Bo Trenter. Image: Nordic Museum, ID: NMA.0110628. In 1957, the first female police officers were hired in Stockholm. In January of the following year, they began their duties as patrol police officers. The women had the same responsibilities as their male counterparts but were equipped with batons instead of sabers. During the 1960s, female police officers participated on a trial basis in regular surveillance and investigative operations. The nationalization of the police force in 1965: Following the nationalization of the police force in 1965, the newly established Swedish National Police Board decided to launch a pilot program assigning special duties to female police officers. Under this program, women hired by the police in 1969 and thereafter should exclusively be placed in investigation units or on other duties, excluding them from patrols. They were not to perform uniformed police duties; in other words, female police officers were denied the right to wear a uniform. In 1971, however, the Ministry of Justice approved a request that female police officers be allowed to perform patrol duties. Since then, women in the police force have, in principle, had the same duties, training, equipment, and pay and benefits as their male colleagues. It was not until 1971, however, that female police officers began working under the same conditions as their male colleagues and that uniformed female police officers were allowed to patrol on the streets for the first time. In other words, the ban on female police officers wearing uniforms was lifted in 1971, and three years later, in 1974, they were also granted the right to wear pants. The image shows a female police officer in uniform wearing pants on June 13, 1974, in Örebro. Photo: Roger Lundberg. Image: Örebro County Museum, ID: OLM- 2012-8-11413.

Women in the Armed Forces

Women were formally admitted to all branches of the Swedish Armed Forces in 1989, but until 1994, women were required to intend to pursue officer training to be eligible for military service at all. Of those currently serving in the Swedish Armed Forces, approximately 22 percent are women and 78 percent are men. The first woman to complete (voluntary) military service was Inger-Lena Hultberg, who served in ground support with the Air Force in 1962. She was, however, an exception. It would not be until 1980 that women were able to apply for certain positions and training programs in the military. The following year, in 1981, the Swedish Parliament decided that both women and men should be eligible for officer positions in all branches of the armed forces. Women were permitted to serve as officers and, later, also as soldiers and sailors. Women were formally admitted to all branches of the Armed Forces in 1989, but until 1994, women were required to intend to pursue officer training to be eligible for military service at all. However, women have served in the Swedish Armed Forces since the early 1900s through voluntary defense services such as the Blue Star, the Red Cross, the Lotta Corps, and others. The photo shows a Swedish female aircraft observer on duty in an air observation tower, equipped with field glasses, a loaded rifle, and an ammunition belt during World War II. They carried live ammunition and were authorized to fire if attacked. Photo: The Swedish Military Archives. Ever since universal conscription was introduced in 1901, it has been mandatory for all young men to undergo military training; in other words, it was compulsory to perform military service. Since 1980, women have had the option to perform military service on a voluntary basis. Since 1989, all positions in the armed forces have been open to women, including combat roles, and since 1994, it has also been possible for women to perform military service without undergoing subsequent officer training. In 2010, conscription was suspended in favor of a professional military. Since it was difficult to fill all vacancies in the Armed Forces with professional soldiers and sailors, conscription was reinstated in 2017, but now with a limited number of conscripts each year. Conscription, which was reinstated in 2017, now applies to both men and women. The requirement to register for conscription took effect on July 1, 2017, and the obligation to complete basic military training was introduced on January 1, 2018. Conscripts are now filling the vacancies that previously existed in the professional military units, enabling them to operate at full strength.. So, in 2018, conscription in Sweden was expanded to include both women and men aged 18 for basic training, i.e., gender-neutral conscription. The image shows two female Swedish soldiers, March 2026. Photo: Johanna Åkerberg Kassel. Image: Swedish Armed Forces.

Women Parish Ministers in the Church of

Sweden

As early as 1919, the issue of women’s eligibility to become clergymen in Sweden was raised. It would be nearly 40 years before women were admitted to the priesthood. Not until 1958 were the women first allowed to be ordained as clergy in the Church of Sweden. In 1960, the first female clergymen were ordained: Margit Sahlin and Elisabeth Djurle Olander in the Diocese of Stockholm, and Ingrid Persson in the Diocese of Härnösand. In 1973, Dora Wikner became the first woman to be ordained in the Diocese of Skara. However, the decision to ordain women as clergymen sparked controversy. The majority of the church opposed the decision to allow women to become clergy in 1958. The government pushed the reform through. Since the Church of Sweden was still a state church at that time, ultimate power lay in the hands of politicians. For the government, it was a matter of gender equality; for the church, it was a matter of theology. In 1957, the Church Assembly, the church’s highest decision-making body, received a request from the Swedish Parliament asking for its views on women clergy. The response was negative. The government rejected the decision and subsequently introduced a bill in the Riksdag for a new law, reminding the Church of Sweden that its staff were government employees and that gender discrimination was not permitted. An extraordinary synod convened in 1958 then decided to allow the ordination of women. To mitigate criticism from opponents of women clergy, the church adopted a so-called conscience clause that gave clergy the right to follow their own convictions if they did not feel able to work with female colleagues. Nor could a bishop be compelled to ordain a woman against his conscience. This meant that the ordination of women was blocked in certain dioceses. However, the conscience clause was repealed by the Church Assembly in 1982. In 1993, the Church Assembly also ruled that if a man seeking ordination objects to his female colleagues, he may be denied ordination. The ordination of women has also been a controversial issue in other countries. Denmark ordained its first female pastor in 1948, Norway in 1961, and Finland in 1988. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the first woman was ordained in 1970. The Roman Catholic Church still opposes the ordination of women, as do the Orthodox Churches. Ingrid Persson (1912–2000) was one of the first female clergy in Sweden. On Palm Sunday 1960, she was ordained by the Church of Sweden in Härnösand. Beginning in 1963, she served as an assistant parish minister at Svartvik Church in the Njurunda parish, just south of Sundsvall. When I was confirmed in the mid-1960s, I attended catechism sessions led by Ingrid Persson herself.