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Sweden – Town of Kristianstad Shooting Festival
circa 1800-1900 A.D. Silver Medal 31mm (14.19 grams)
CHRISTIANSTADS SKYTTEGILLE around the coat-of-arms of Kristianstad with two crossed rifles below.
Laurel wreath (originally designed to inscribe medal winner’s name on; three counter-marks at base of wreath.
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  Kristianstad is a city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years,it has gone from a garrison town to a developed commercial city, today attracting visitors in the summertime mainly from Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands.
The city was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV of Denmark (the city’s name literally means ‘Town of Christian’) as a planned city after the burning of the nearby town of Vä and moving the city rights of the neighbouring town of Vå and �…hus to the new town. The purpose of the town was to safeguard the eastern half of the Danish province of Scania against any future raids from Sweden in the north, but also as a symbol of the power of Christian himself. One of these raids had sacked the nearby town of Vä in 1612. Vä then lost its charter and the people were relocated to the new, better fortified city. The king also founded the town of Kristianopel in eastern Blekinge to serve a similar purpose.
Construction of the towns was a great prestige project for the king, and Kristianstad’s church (Danish: Trefoldighedskirken; Swedish: Heliga Trefaldighetskyrkan) is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful buildings constructed by King Christian IV, or even northern Europe’s most beautiful Renaissance church. This meant that the church was built considerably larger than there was initially use for. The king also wanted a castle or fortress constructed inside the town but shortage of funds made this impossible, of the intended castle only an arsenal was constructed which today serves as the main building of the local museum. Also in Christianstad the town planning of the Renaissance could be laid down for the first time at the foundation of the town. This makes the Kristianstad town centre of today exceptionally well-kept and easy to get around in.
The city’s coat of arms depicts two lions holding the King Christian IV’s crowned insignia, the monogram C4. The coat of arms was only slightly modified after the Swedish takeover following the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde in which the eastern third of Denmark was ceded to Sweden. The coat of arms is very similar to the coat of arms of the former town of Christianopel in eastern Blekinge, a town also founded by Christian IV. Since 1971, the coat of arms is used by Kristianstad Municipality. Kristianstad’s coat of arms is one of the few coat of arms in the world depicting a foreign king’s or queen’s coat of arms. A reason for the Swedes to continue using the old coat of arms could be its colours �” blue and yellow, but Denmark is also held in high regard locally in Scania.
Pylyp Orlyk was after 1709 chosen as a Hetman in exile by the cossacks and the Swedish king Charles XII. While in Bender Orlyk wrote one of the first state constitutions in Europe. This Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk was confirmed by Charles XII and it also names him as the protector of Ukraine. After 1714 Orlyk now together with several other cossacks followed the Swedish king Charles XII to Sweden. Orlyk with his family and about 40 other Cossacks arrived in Ystad, Sweden in late November 1715. After some months in Ystad they lived in the city of Kristianstad for some years. Orlyk wrote numerous proclamations and essays about Ukraine including the 1710 Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk.
Kristianstad served as capital of Kristianstad County between 1719 and 1997. It now houses the administration and the regional parliament of the Skåne Regional Council. For a long time Kristianstad also was a very important garrison town, the A3 Wendes Artillery Regiment and the P6 South Scanian Infantry Regiment being the town’s most prominent military units. Also the town housed for many years the so-called Scanian Fortification Brigade. The Wendes Artillery Regiment served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. One of Sweden’s higher courts of appeal was located in Kristianstad before being moved to Malmö in 1917.
At the end of the 19th century, Christianstads Enskilda Bank (founded in 1865) issued banknotes with portraits of Christian IV instead of the Swedish king (the individual banks’ right to issue banknotes ceased in 1898).
Until 1996, Kristianstad was a city of residence in Kristianstad County, but in 1997 merged with Skåne County. Since the county councils were also merged into Region Skåne, the city became the seat of its regional council from 1999. The County Administrative Court in Skåne County was also located in Kristianstad until 2008.
In Kristianstad, seven countries have maintained honorary consulates during different periods. A Royal Danish Vice Consulate was established in 1855 and elevated to a consulate in 2002, but was withdrawn in 2012. A North American consular agency existed 1873 – 1887 (the same man was the Danish deputy consul and North American consular agent). The independent Kingdom of Norway established a deputy consulate in 1907, which was, however, withdrawn in 1937, to be re-established in 1946 and elevated to a consulate in 1988, but it is now revoked. Argentina had a vice consulate 1911 – 1935. Finland also had a vice consulate in Kristianstad 1923 – 1925 and 1931 – 1967. Lithuania established a consulate in 1995 and it is the only consulate left in Kristianstad today. Germany established a consulate in 1996, but it is now withdrawn.
 Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of over 9.8 million. Sweden consequently has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54/sq mi), with the highest concentration in the southern half of the country. Approximately 85% of the population lives in urban areas. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia.
 Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, beginning with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union.
Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining an official policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Sweden’s current borders. Though it was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995, but declined NATO membership.
Today, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with the Monarch as the head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country. Legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the Government, chaired by the Prime Minister. Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities.
Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the world’s eighth-highest per capita income and ranks highly in numerous metrics of national performance, including quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, equality, prosperity and human development. Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995, but declined Eurozone membership following a referendum. It is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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