Eskilstuna is easiest to understand from its river. Eskilstunaån runs through the centre, where bridges, old workshop districts and newer cultural venues sit close together. The town’s identity is often reduced to metalwork, but the more interesting story is how a local craft economy grew into a manufacturing city, then made space for museums, parks and new work in the same waterside setting. A walk can pass the red timber smithies of Rademachersmedjorna, the former machinery works of Munktellstaden and the lawns of Stadsparken without leaving the central area.

First, the population figure needs a boundary. Eskilstuna municipality reports 106,789 residents on 31 December 2025. That is the administrative municipality total, not a count limited to the central built-up locality; the municipal area also contains other settlements, including Torshälla, which is reported separately in the same statistics. The exact scope matters in a place where “Eskilstuna” may mean the city centre, the statistical tätort or the wider municipality.

The earliest story is partly documentary and partly devotional tradition. Eskilskällan, the municipality’s local archive and history service, describes evidence for early Christianity in the Rekarne district and a Johannite monastery established around the grave church associated with the missionary Eskil in the later twelfth century. The account that Eskil was killed by stoning at Strängnäs is identified as a legend, not a securely documented event. A settlement grew around the monastery and along today’s Köpmangatan, but medieval Eskilstuna did not receive city privileges. Nearby Torshälla, at the river’s mouth toward Lake Mälaren, did receive them in 1317 as a port and trading place. These are related histories, not interchangeable town identities.

The decisive change came with metalworking. In 1654 King Karl X Gustav invited the Livonian smith Reinhold Rademacher to move his manufactory to Eskilstuna. The first smithies were ready in 1659, and city privileges followed on 25 October that year. The king had envisioned 120 stone workshops; only 20 timber smithies were built after the court’s financing faltered. Their production included tools and fine metal goods under a state-controlled system. Rademachersmedjorna is now among Sweden’s best-preserved seventeenth-century working-class environments. Six of the original smithies remain, and the site became a cultural reserve in 1959. Craftspeople and associations still use the buildings, so this is a living historic setting rather than a row of empty façades.

In 1771 the Riksdag established Eskilstuna Fristad, where small metalworking businesses could operate without guild restrictions and customs duties. That decision helped turn a group of smiths into an industrial economy. The town’s factories later included Gevärsfaktoriet, Jernbolaget and Munktell’s mechanical workshop. The latter’s history gives the city a second industrial chapter: Theofron Munktell arrived in 1832, developed machinery production and presented a steam locomotive in 1853. The older industrial buildings now form the Munktellstaden cultural quarter, where the city museum, art museum and Munktell museum sit alongside a sports arena and public bath. The machinery past is not merely scenery; the district’s new uses keep it part of everyday city life.

Eskilstuna’s current economy is broader than the heritage narrative. Municipal business statistics list about 8,200 companies and 555 new businesses started in 2025. Industry, construction, staffing and wholesale trade are the largest sectors by employee count. The municipality also reports thousands commuting in to work, while business services, public-sector employment and the university broaden the city’s working life. These figures describe the whole municipality, not only the centre. In the core, retail, cafés, restaurants, public services and cultural institutions make the riverfront more than a museum district.

For a first visit, the official “Eskilstuna på en timme” walk follows the river between central landmarks. Its published route is about three kilometres and roughly 40 minutes; the guide says it can be travelled by wheelchair and pram, though current construction and surface conditions still deserve a check. Stadsparken, laid out around 1877, offers lawns, play areas, exercise facilities and planted paths near the water. From there, continue toward the workshop streets and Munktellstaden, allowing time for a museum or a craft studio rather than treating the whole route as a checklist.

Rademachersmedjorna, museums and leisure facilities have different opening calendars, and demonstrations or exhibitions may be seasonal. Check the current visitor information before planning an interior visit. Eskilstuna Centralstation connects the city with regional rail, while Sörmlandstrafiken buses serve the centre and surrounding districts; its planner is the reliable source for the day’s connections and disruptions. The river walk itself is a useful orientation route, not a substitute for checking accessibility or event closures. If time allows, Torshälla makes a natural nearby excursion for a separate chapter of regional history. Eskilstuna is at its most distinctive when the visitor sees how its working river, metalworking memory and present-day cultural life occupy the same compact centre.

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