Björnlunda
Björnlunda is a locality situated in Gnesta Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, which had a population of 827 inhabitants in 2010. Björnlunda is located between the city of Södertälje and the city of Katrineholm and close to halfway between Strängnäs and Nyköping in a north–south direction.
History
The earliest citation for Björnlunda is in a document dating from around 1314 in which the settlement is called "Biornlundum". However, traces of Viking-era settlement and Iron Age burial sites have been found in the area.For a long time the nearby village of Önnersta was the main settlement in the area, as it lay on the route used by Swedish monarchs travelling between Gripsholm Castle and Nyköpingshus.
However, the establishment of a railway line between Stockholm and Gothenburg in 1862 led to a gradual drift of markets and population to the area nearest the new railway station in Björnlunda, which became the dominant settlement in the area.