Editing Mark Municipality (section)

== History ==

=== Medieval times ===
The word ''Mark'' comes from an old documented district called ''Mark Härad ''that existed in the southern parts of the region sometime during the 13th century.

The word ''Mark'' is believed to be an old Swedish name for "border" or "edge". During the medieval times the district of ''Mark Härad'' (now Mark municipality) was situated right at the border region between the Kingdom of Denmark and Kingdom of Sweden.

Several wars were fought in the region during medieval times, and it is not uncommon that farmers accidentally unearth old remains and weapons when plowing the fields.

The fields close to ''Öresten Fortress'' have been the place for most of the relic findings. Öresten Fortress was originally built by the Danes, and the first documented nobleman to rule and inhabit the fortress was Tyge Puder (1364-1384/86). The fortress was conquered by the Swedish army during the battle of Öresten in 1470 when the Danish king Kristian the First lost the battle against [[Sten Sture the Elder]]

The fortress was later destroyed in early 1500 and is now a protected historical sight open to the public year-round.

In 1682, as a sign of the times, the local governance established a place of execution outside Skene village called Galgbacken (eng: ''The hill of hanging''). Thieves were executed there as well as those judged as witches were burned on the stake. In 1934 archeologists found the buried remains of those that were executed.

=== The Industrial Revolution ===
The Mark region was the cradle of Sweden's textile industry and has since the late 18th century been known as the Fabric Kingdom due to the widespread textile workmanship that comes from the region. It was from Mark that several of the nationwide travelling salesmen were based, spreading high-quality fabric manufacturing throughout the county. The region later evolved into a national industrial center for sewing, dyeing and textile manufacturing after the industrial revolution.

The biggest textile factories of the time was ''Kungsfors Textilfabrik ''in central Skene, ''Fritsla Textilfabrik'' in Fritsla, ''Rydal Textilfabrik'' in Rydal. As of 2014 none of those factories remain in use but the old factory in ''Rydal ''has been converted into a museum for the regions textile and entrepreneur heritage.

=== Modern era ===
In 1971 Mark Municipality was created out of a consolidation of eight smaller municipalities. The common name given to the municipality was Mark, signifying the historical events taken place which is also manifested in its shield.

During the early 1980s most of the textile factories had disappeared and only a few remained.

Today there are only three major textile and dyeing factories remaining: ''Almedahls'' (central Kinna), ''Ekelund'' (central Horred), ''Ludvig Svensson'' (outskirts of Kinna).

Throughout Mark municipality the textile heritage has been preserved and the region is famous for its textile "know-how" and specialist production. The region is home to Sweden's largest manufacturer of fire hoses, bulletproof materials and filtering equipment.