Excursions in Kungälv

In the middle of the river, lying just outside the old Kungälv, is an island clad with woods and tranquil foliage. Whose name gossips about a dramatic and gruesome past. When the island first received its name we don’t know.

The gallows on the island’s peak used to be clearly visible for miles around, like a threatening warning to the inhabitants of Kungälv.
Mystic and fear encompassed the gallows -hill of Tjuvholmen and people avoided travelling there. The island was not just an uninviting cliff but also barely accessible. At the end of the 19 th century woods were planted on Tjuvholmen and the island became pasture ground as it is today.

It was a long time ago since the gallows on Tjuvholmen were in use. Even if this place conjures up frightful memories it is indeed a fine place for a picnic with a viewpoint of the old Kungälv.

Gothenburg’s Biscuit is the leading biscuit manufacture in Scandinavia. The company has a long history connected with its home base, Kungälv. Its factory still lies by the Nordre Älv River, on the exact same site where it first began manufacturing biscuits nearly 100 years ago. Within its biscuit assortment is a range of well-known brand names like Ballerina, Singoalla, ect. Bräckboden is Gothenburg`s Biscuit’s own little outlet where one can buy packages of slightly broken biscuits very cheaply.

4 kilometres downstream of the Nordre River is the original site of Kungälv – Kungahälla, with Klosterkullen – a place of historical interest. In Klosterkullen, stood the ancient defence battlements of Kungahälla that became destroyed in 1135. At the end of the 12 th Century an Augustine monastery was built there and its foundations can still be seen from the top of the hill of Klosterkullen.

The ancient monastery domains, the so-called Kastelleladugård, were firstly built in 1613, and later became a royal estate of Bohus Manor. Today, under the The National Property Board (SFV), Kastelleladugård functions as a tenant farm/ leasehold property and its buildings are listed as protected ancient monumental buildings. Klosterkullen and Ragnhildsholmen offer the best viewing points in which to survey the site of the old town.

The church is believed to have been erected during the 12 th Century. In the NW corner there is a stone with two engraved faces. The larger face is said to be that of St. Halvard and the smaller one a women which he once saved. Halvard died in 1043 andlater became canonised as a saint and is Oslo’s patron saint. According to legend it is he who allowed the building of Ytterby Church.

The districts of Kungälv’s most predominant fishing- waters are the Göta and Nordre rivers. Due to the efforts of fish conservation fish quotas have increased and have thereby been assigned for angling purposes. These two rivers are today among Sweden’s most interesting fishing-waters.

Fishing Permit (licence)
Gula kortet -the yellow permit (for anglers in Gothenburg) is required for fishing within the Göta River(from southwards and upwards towards the Jordfalls Bridge, similarly, the Nordre River).

Sea fishing
The fishing waters of the west, were, and partly still are an Eldorado for anglers from all over Sweden.