Ramnasjön, Lake in Borås, Sweden

Ramnasjön is a lake in the western part of central Borås in Västergötland, about a kilometre from the city centre. It covers 8 hectares, reaches a maximum depth of 7 metres, and has a 1.3 km training loop around it. Since 1929 it has formed part of Ramnaparken, which takes its name from the lake.

Ramnasjön appears under its present name on 17th-century land survey maps. Its Old Norse name derives from hrafn, 'raven', a bird linked to Odin. On the wooded plateau above the southern shore, Borås's gallows stood during the Caroline absolute monarchy; it was last used in 1725, when Maria Romberg and three others were executed there.

The name Ramnasjön is Old Norse, from hrafn, 'raven', a bird tied to Odin; it appears on 17th-century land-survey maps. The lake gave its name to Ramnaparken in 1929. Engineer Fritz Hjalmar Thorén created the bird colony in the northern bay, inaugurated in September 1926, with a canal and birdhouses still in place; a memorial stone stands nearby.

Ramnasjön lies in western central Borås, about a kilometre from the city centre, and forms part of Ramnaparken. A circuit of the lake measures 1.3 km, and the maximum depth is 7 m. Fishing is free and needs no permit, but only rod-and-line angling is allowed, and ice fishing is also permitted; the fenced bird colony in the northern bay is excluded.

Almost a quarter of the lake is a fenced bird colony in the northern bay, created by engineer Fritz Hjalmar Thorén and opened in September 1926; a stone near the water commemorates him. A dug channel separates a bird island, and the birdhouses on it and out in the water remain. After a donation by Thorén's children Ingemar and Kerstin Avalder, the colony was refurbished in 2007 with more birdhouses and aviaries.