The Peace monument at the Town Square

The Peace monument at the Town square.

The peace monument was raised in remembrance of the peaceful union dissolution between Sweden and Norway in 1905. The statue was unveiled in 1955, fifty years after the dissolution. The monument has been heavily criticised over the years and has had many, less pleasant, pet-names. In a TV-program, the peace monument was chosen as the ugliest statue in Sweden. Despite of all this, the woman with the broken sword still stands on Stora Torget.

Stora Torget, the town square, is located in the middle of Karlstad and is a natural meeting place. It is one of the largest squares in Sweden, and got it's present look after the great fire in 1865.