Bærum kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Akershus within Norway
Bærum within Akershus
Coordinates: 59°56′18″N 10°30′24″E / 59.93833°N 10.50667°E / 59.93833; 10.50667Coordinates: 59°56′18″N 10°30′24″E / 59.93833°N 10.50667°E / 59.93833; 10.50667
Country	Norway
County	Akershus
Administrative centre	Sandvika
Government
• Mayor (2011)	Lisbeth Hammer Krog (H)
Area
• Total	192 km2 (74 sq mi)
• Land	189 km2 (73 sq mi)
Area rank	334 in Norway
Population (2010)
• Total	113,659
• Rank	5 in Norway
• Density	547/km2 (1,420/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	9.8 %
Demonym	Bæring[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0219
Official language form	Bokmål
Website	www.baerum.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

 Bærum (help·info) is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city.

Bærum has the highest income per capita in Norway^[3] and the highest proportion of university-educated individuals.^[4] Bærum, particularly its eastern neighbourhoods bordering West End Oslo, is one of Norway's priciest and most fashionable residential areas, leading Bærum residents to be frequently stereotyped as snobs in Norwegian popular culture. The municipality are voted the best Norwegian city to live in considering governance and public services to citizens.^[5]

General information[link]

Name[link]

The name (Old Norse: Bergheimr) is composed of berg which means "mountain" and heimr which means "homestead" or "farm". It has probably originally belonged to a farm located at the base of the prominent mountain of Kolsås. In Old Norse times, the municipality was often called Bergheimsherað meaning "the herað (parish/ district) of Bergheimr".^[6]

Bergheimur means "world/home of rock/mountain" lots of stones or mountains

Coat-of-arms[link]

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 9 January 1976. The arms show an old silver-colored lime kiln on a green background. This was an important aspect of the local economy from the Middle Ages until around 1800. There are still some original ovens visible in the municipality.^[7]

History[link]

The area known today as Bærum was a fertile agricultural area as far back as the Bronze Age, and several archeological finds stem from the Iron Age. The first mention of the name is from the saga of Sverre of Norway, from about 1200. There are ruins of stone churches from the 12th century at Haslum and Tanum.^[8]

View of most of Bærum from Holmenkollen in Oslo

The pilgrim road to Trondheim that was established after 1030 went through Bærum, and there is evidence that lime kilns were in use in the area in 850. There were shipping ports for the quicklime at Slependen and Sandvika. The lime kiln is the main motif for the municipality's coat of arms.^[8]

In the 17th century, iron ore was discovered in Bærum and the ironworks at Bærums Verk were founded. Industries such as paper mills, nail factories, sawmills, glassworks, and brickworks were established along the rivers Lysakerelven and Sandvikselva in the following centuries. There were orchards and other agricultural concerns throughout the area, remnants of which still exist today.^[8]

A number of artists established themselves in Bærum, particularly around the art school run by Johan Fredrik Eckersberg. Among the artists who did much of their work in Bærum are Frits Thaulow, Christian Skredsvig, Harriet Backer, Kitty Lange Kielland, Otto Sinding, Eilif Pettersen, Gerhardt Munthe, and Erik Werenskiold.^[8]

Starting in the mid-20th century, Bærum's agricultural base gradually gave way to residential construction. Still, only a third of the area, 64 square kilometres (24.7 sq mi), is built up for residential use; over half is productive forestry; and nearly 17 square kilometres (6.6 sq mi) is still agricultural.^[9]

In 2010, the city hosted that year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Geography[link]

The physical geography of Bærum is dominated by a craggy coastline along the Oslofjord and inland, hilly areas rising to the north and east, where there are large forested areas. The mountain of Kolsås forms a natural center, but the municipality also includes the secluded valley of Lommedalen. Four major rivers flow through the municipality: Lysakerelven, Sandvikselva, Lomma, and Øverlandselva, and there are numerous lakes, both in residential and forested areas. The official municipality flower is Anemone ranunculoides.^[6]

The geology of Bærum is part of the Oslo Graben and includes Rhomb porphyry at Kolsås.^[10]

Since nearly two-thirds of Bærum's area consists of forests, there are rich opportunities for outdoor activities, such as skiing, hiking, and fishing. The forests are considered part of Marka, the forested areas in and around Greater Oslo. Areas within the municipality of Bærum include Bærumsmarka, Vestmarka, and Krokskogen.^[11][12][13]

The highest point in Bærum is Vidvangshøgda at 60°01′27″N 10°29′02″E / 60.0242329°N 10.4838324°E / 60.0242329; 10.4838324 with an altitude of 552 metres (1,811 ft). The largest lake is Stovivatnet with an area of 0.420 square kilometres (0.162 sq mi) at 59°54′28″N 10°27′03″E / 59.9078776°N 10.4508305°E / 59.9078776; 10.4508305^[8]

Economy[link]

Diamanten, the head office of Norwegian Air Shuttle, in Fornebu

Bærum's industrial base has since the 1950s given way to service industries, including retailing, engineering, public services, etc. It derives much of its tax base by being a bedroom community to Oslo. It is one of the most affluent areas in Norway.^[6]

Two of Norway's busiest highways (E18 and E16) and one railroad traverse the municipality. There has been considerable development of office parks along E18, especially around Lysaker in the last 20–30 years, reducing some of the pressure on downtown areas of Oslo.^[6]

Scandinavian Airlines System Norway has its offices in Fornebu, Bærum.^[14] The airline Widerøe has some administrative offices in Lysaker, Bærum.^[15] Norwegian Air Shuttle has its head office in Fornebu.^[16]

The head office of SAS Norway and an office of Widerøe in Fornebu

Partnair, a charter airline, was headquartered at Fornebu Airport.^[17] When the airline Busy Bee of Norway existed, its head office was on the grounds of Fornebu Airport.^[18] Braathens and SAS Braathens had their head office facilities in a building on the grounds of Fornebu Airport. In 2010 Norwegian Air Shuttle bought the former Braathens head office.^[19]

Demographics[link]

Source: Asker og Bærum-leksikon, Bærum kommune

As of 2009, Bærum is the fifth most densely populated municipalities in Norway. Along the E18 highway, the residential area is continuous with Oslo and continues with some interruption through to the neighboring municipality of Asker.^[20]

Bærum is also the most affluent of Norwegian municipalities, with average per capita income (2002 figures) of NOK 370,800; compared with the national average of NOK 262,800. It also has the highest level of education nationwide.

Administratively, Bærum is divided into 22 sections. The population for each section on 1 January 2005 was:

Sports[link]

Stabæk IF plays in Tippeligaen, the highest division for mens football in Norway.

Høvik IF and Stabæk IF plays in the highest bandy division.

Notable residents[link]

• Princess Märtha Louise of Norway
• Finn Alnæs (1932–1991), writer
• Torger Baardseth (1875–1947), bookseller and publisher
• Harriet Backer (1845–1932), painter
• Herman Bang (1857–1912), Danish writer
• Jo Benkow (born 1924), politician
• Gro Harlem Brundtland (born 1939), politician and former prime minister
• Hans Petter Buraas (born 1975), Alpine skier
• Ivo Caprino (1920–2001), filmmaker
• Magnus Carlsen (born 1990), chess player
• Harald Eia (born 1966), comedian
• Viktor Esbensen (1881–1942), Whaler, Explorer
• Kjell Hallbing (1934–2004), writer
• Kitty Lange Kielland (1845–1932), painter
• Claude Monet (1840–1926), painter, stayed in Sandvika for two months in the winter of 1895. His most famous painting from his stay is probably one of Sandvika featuring the Løkke bridge, with Kolsås in the background.
• Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930), Zoologist, Explorer, Scientist, Diplomat, Nobel Peace Prize, League of Nations High Commissioner
• Eilif Peterssen (1852–1928), painter
• Vebjørn Sand (born 1966), artist
• Jan Tore Sanner (born 1965), politician
• Anita Skorgan (born 1958), singer
• Bjørn Einar Romøren (born 1981), ski jumper
• Tom Hilde (born 1987), ski jumper
• Harcharan Chawla (1926–2001), writer
• Emilie Haavi (born 1992), footballer

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

The following cities are twinned with Bærum:^[21]

• - Frederiksberg, Region Hovedstaden, Denmark^[22]
• - Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
• - Hämeenlinna, Tavastia Proper, Finland
• - Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
• - Uppsala, Uppsala län, Sweden

References[link]

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Norway portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bærum

Look up Bærum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Akershus travel guide from Wikitravel
• Municipality of Bærum official web site (Norwegian)
• Tourist information from the municipality of Bærum
• IT Fornebu (Norwegian)
• Weather forecast and map for Bærum (Norwegian)
• Budstikka (local newspaper for Asker and Bærum) (Norwegian)
• Page featuring Monet's paintings from Norway

v t e Sections of Bærum Blommenholm Bryn/Hammerbakken Bærums Verk Eikeli Eiksmarka Eiksmarka/Grav Emma Hjort/Skui Evje Fornebu Gjønnes Grav Grini Gullhaug Haslum Hosle Høvik Høvik Verk Jar Jong Lesterud Levre Lommedalen Lysaker Løkeberg Nadderud Rykkinn Snarøya Stabekk Tanum

v t e Municipalities of Akershus Ås Asker Aurskog-Høland Bærum Eidsvoll Enebakk Fet Frogn Gjerdrum Hurdal Lørenskog Nannestad Nes Nesodden Nittedal Oppegård Rælingen Skedsmo Ski Sørum Ullensaker Vestby