History

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Published on Monday, 19 September 2011 22:48

History

The 29 Febuary 1696 is the first time Kalmar Nation existence is recorded. In a protocol from the ‘Konsistoriet’ (what today would be called the University Board) it is stated that the “Calmerienses, Junekopienses and those from Visingsö” were to form a Nation. It is possible that initially the students originating from Kalmar belonged to Smålands Nation, but from now on they were to form their own organisation. The first Inspector in this new nation was Professor Erland Lagerlöf.

It is uncertain if Kalmar Nation acted as an independent nation under the first half of the 1700 hundreds. Most likely Kalmar cooperated with other nations. It is known for certain that in 1767 Kalmar nation joined Östgöta and Västgöta Nation and created the Götiska Nation. This cohesion was made due to the fact that the small nations in Lund at this time had very few members. But in 1817 Kalmar nation once again became a fully independent nation and the chosen inspector was Jonas Albin Engeström.

One of the biggest happenings in the history of the Nation occurred the 1 March 1897 as this marks the inauguration of Storaste Kroppkakan. Since then over 50 ‘Kroppkakefester’ have been held, and this is still a very popular and enjoyable event attracting several hundred vistors. Today ‘Storaste Kroppkakan’ is a ball and is held every second year. At the event the first timers, called baby potatoes, are initiated into the secrets of the ‘Kroppkaka’. A competition is held at the formal sit down dinner and the winner is the person who can eat the largest amount of ‘kroppkakor’, a local dish mainly consisting of potatoes. The known record is 20.5 ‘kroppkakor’ and it held by Markus Johansson.

A Nation like Kalmar that is a little bit older than 310 years has a lot of history to tell. It is impossible to tell everything in a short summary like this, but the nation has published a small series of booklets, called Småskrifter. These publications can be bought or borrowed at the office, but unfortunately they only exist in Swedish.

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