Eskilstuna
[key], city, Södermanland co., SE Sweden, between lakes
Hjälmaren and Mälaren. Named after Eskil, an 11th-century
English missionary who was martyred, the city was chartered (1659) by
Charles X, who founded a gun factory there. This factory became the nucleus
of an expanding steel and tool industry, which has made Eskilstuna the rival
of Sheffield, England, and Solingen, Germany, in the production of cutlery.
Machinery and precision instruments are also manufactured. There is a
technical college in the city. The statesman Axel Oxenstierna
(1583–1654) is buried at the nearby Jader church.
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