History:

Gothenburg, Nebraska, is proud of its Swedish heritage. Gothenburg was founded in 1882 by Olof Bergstrom, a native of Hassela, Sweden, who worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. Gothenburg, Nebraska, and Göteborg, Sweden, are the only two Gothenburgs in the World. Bergstrom selected the site that was to be Gothenburg and located a farmstead about a mile north. The Union Pacific Railroad laid out the original town of eight blocks. The town was laid out parallel with the railroad tracks but not with the world, which accounts for the bend in the city's streets. Mr. Bergstrom returned to Sweden and enticed a number of people to migrate to Gothenburg. He told them it was to be a Swedish town so they would not have to learn English