Tønsberg

Name	Tønsberg
Idnumber	0704
County	Vestfold
District	Viken
Capital	Tønsberg
Language	Bokmål
Coatofarms	Tonsberg komm.png
Demonym	TønsbergensarTønsbergenser
Munwebpage	www.tonsberg.kommune.no
Mayor	Petter Berg
Mayor party	H
Mayor as of	2009
Area rank	381
Area total km2	107
Area land km2	106
Area water percent	0.03
Population as of	2009
Population rank	21
Population total	38914
Populationpercent	1.23
Population density km2	367
Population increase	10.1
Utm zone	32V | utm_northing = 6574122 | utm_easting = 0581092 | geo_cat = adm2nd

is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg.

The city of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Sem was merged into the municipality of Tønsberg on 1 January 1988.

The population of the entire urban area, regardless of municipality borders, and following the guidelines set by Statistics Norway, was 46,862 on 1 January 2008, making Tønsberg the tenth most populous urban area in Norway. Tønsberg is generally regarded as the oldest town in Norway.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Túnsberg. The first element is the genitive case of tún (n), meaning fenced area or garden. The last element is berg (n), meaning mountain. The name originally referred to the fortifications on Slottsfjellet. The old spelling has been retained in the name of the diocese, Tunsberg bispedømme.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is an old city seal from as far back as 1349. The seal shows Tønsberg Fortress surrounded by a ring wall on a mountain with the sea in front. There is also a longship in the water in front of the fortress. Around the seal are the words (in Latin): This is the seal of Tunsberg.

History

The first time the town was mentioned by a contemporary writer was in the year 1130. According to Snorri Sturluson, Tønsberg was founded before the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which, according to Snorri, took place in 871. What year the battle took place is disputed, however, and most current historians believe the battle took place closer to 900. However, if the battle did in fact take place in 871, this would make Tønsberg the oldest present Scandinavian city. It was based upon this that the city's 1000 years jubilee was celebrated in 1871, and 1100 years jubilee in 1971. The archaeological excavations conducted in 1987-88 underneath the monastery ruins revealed several Viking graves which have served to confirm the earlier age of the original settlement.

The king or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at Sæheimr, today the Jarlsberg Estate (Jarlsberg Hovedgård), and on the farm Haugar, which can be assumed to be Tønsberg's birthplace. Haugar became the seat for Haugathing, the Thing for Vestfold and Norway's second most important place for the proclamation of kings. The site had probably been named after two Viking era mound, which tradition links to two sons of King Harald I, Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, who was king in Vestfold, and his half-brother, Sigrød Haraldsson, king of Trondheim. Both are presumed to have fallen in battle at Haugar against their half-brother Eric Bloodaxe and to have been buried on the same spot.

Slottsfjellet (), north of the city centre, made for a near impregnable natural fortress. During the civil war era of the 12th century, it was fortified by the Baglers. The Birkebeiners besieged it for 20 weeks in the winter of 1201 before the Baglers surrendered. In the 13th century, King Haakon Haakonson set up a castle in Tønsberg, Tønsberg Fortress. The town was destroyed by fire in 1536, but Tønsberg remained one of the most important harbour towns in Norway.

During the German occupation of Norway in World War II, the Berg concentration camp was constructed near Tønsberg. In 1948, Tønsberg became the cathedral city of the Diocese of Tunsberg (Tunsberg bispedømme), created when the counties of Buskerud and Vestfold were separated from the Diocese of Oslo.

Oseberghaugen

Tønsberg is the site of Oseberghaugen, a Viking era burial mound. (Norwegian: Oseberghaugen ved Slagen from the Old Norse Word haugr meaning mound) The Oseberg ship was found in the Oseberg burial mound in 1904. This Viking era longship is now in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Archaeological excavations in 1904 uncovered history's largest and richest example of craftmanship from the Viking Age. In addition to the Oseberg ship, Oseberghaugen contained the Oseberg carriage, five beautifully carved bed-posts shaped like animal heads, four sledges, beds, chests, weaving-frames, household utensils and much more. Scientific examinations in 1992 now date the burial to 834 AD, and indicate a probability that it was Queen Alvhild, the first wife of King Gudrød, who was buried here.

Tourist sites

Perhaps the most important landmark in the town is the tower standing on the hill. It was erected in 1888 as a memorial to the old fortress, of which just fragmentary ruins remain today. Several streets in the town are named after old kings of Norway. Other tourist sites include ruins of the Tønsberg Fortress (Tønsberghus), St. Michael's Church, and the Royal Castle. Sem Church (Sem kirke) located near the Jarlsberg Estate, is Vestfold's oldest stone church built before 1100 in the Romanesque style. Haugar Vestfold Art Museum is located in the parkland between the site of the ancient assembly of Haugating and the two Viking era mounds.

Economy

Tønsberg is still an industrial and maritime centre, with such diverse concerns as metal shops, shipyards, paper mills, leather processing, and breweries. It is noted especially for its silverware. The city is served by the railway line Vestfoldbanen, which runs in a loop through the city before reaching Tønsberg Station.

Population

On 1 January 2009, the population of Tønsberg municipality was 38,914. The population of the urban area, Norway's tenth most populous, was 46,091. 30,061 lived in Tønsberg municipality, while 16,030 lived in Nøtterøy municipality. The urban area extends from Eik in the north, to Tolvsrød, Vallø and Ringshaug in the east and Borgheim on Nøtterøy in the south. Tønsberg municipality contains four additional urban areas: Sem, with 2,147 inhabitants of which 2,100 live in Tønsberg and 47 live in Stokke; Barkåker, with 1,292 inhabitants; Åsgårdstrand, with 2,847 inhabitants of which 2,794 in Horten and 53 in Tønsberg; and Vear, with a population of 3,502 of which 2,263 live in Stokke and 1,239 live in Tønsberg.

Notable residents

Hjalmar Andersen, three time European (1950–1952) and World champion (1950–1952) as well as 1952 Winter Olympics champion in speedskating

Anders Aukland, the six-time winner of the world championship in cross-country skiing, was born in the Husvik area in Tønsberg in 1972.

Odd Børretzen, a Norwegian writer and artist lives outside Tønsberg.

Ronny Johnsen, professional footballer (Manchester United), lives in Tønsberg

Lise Karlsnes, a Norwegian singer from the band Briskeby

Lene Nystrøm, singer of Aqua, was born here.

Marion Raven, a Norwegian singer, lived outside Tønsberg with her parents

DJ Ravi (Ivar Johansen) is born and raised in the town.

Seigmen, a Norwegian alternative rock band, comes from Tønsberg.

Jahn Teigen, the lead singer of Popol Ace (formerly Popol Vuh), came from Tønsberg.

Tonje Larsen, handball player, was born and raised here.

Magnus Carlsen, world blitz champion in chess, was born in Tønsberg.

Twin towns - sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Tønsberg:

Covarrubias, Spain Évora, Portugal Ísafjörður, Iceland Joensuu, Finland Lamia, Greece Linköping, Sweden Ravenna, Italy Speyer, Germany

References

;Notes

External links

Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway

Municipality website

Tønsberg Navigasjonsskole

Haugar Art Museum

Category:Municipalities of Vestfold Category:Populated places in Vestfold Category:Port cities and towns in Norway Category:Port cities and towns of the North Sea Category:Populated places established in the 9th century