Askim () is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
and a former
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in (from January 1, 2020)
Indre Østfold Kommune in the former county of
Østfold
Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side ...
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
(from January 1, 2020 a part of
Viken county
Viken may refer to:
*Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region
*Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020
*Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden
*Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...
),
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
.
The administrative centre of the Askim municipality was the town of Askim. Askim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt).
Askim is the largest population centre in the
Indre Østfold region, with 15,315 inhabitants as of 2012, and serves as a regional center for nine municipalities in the
Indre Østfold region. It lies next to the longest river in Norway,
Glomma
The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country.
Geography
At its fullest length, the ...
, which forms the border with the former
Spydeberg
Spydeberg was a municipality in former Østfold county, Norway, until December 31. 2019. At January 1. 2020 it became a part of the new and greater municipality named " Indre Østfold Kommune" after the region, together with Askim and Trøgstad a ...
municipality to the north and west, and
Skiptvet
Skiptvet is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Meieribyen. Skiptvet was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see '' formannskapsdistrikt'').
General information Na ...
municipality to the south. Askim also borders to the former
Trøgstad
Trøgstad is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjønhaug. The municipality is divided into the parishes of Skjønhaug, Havnås and Båstad. The parish of ''Trygstad'' was ...
municipality to the northeast and the former
Eidsberg municipality to the southeast.
Askim produces large amounts of
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
at three
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s /
hydroelectric power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...
s in the river
Glomma
The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country.
Geography
At its fullest length, the ...
. From upstream to downstream:
Solbergfoss
Solbergfoss is a small village in Askim municipality, Norway. Located a few miles north of the town Askim on the east bank of the Glomma
The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drain ...
,
Kykkelsrud, then
Vamma.
There was
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
at
Kykkelsrud at the turn of the 20th century. These mines are also one of the few places where "
Spheroidal Norite" ("Potato Stone") is found.
Askim has been an industrial city for most of the 20th century. The main employer,
Viking Gummi
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
(producing rubber products like boots and tyres etc.), shut down their
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
product production in 1991 after being taken over by the
Continental Tyres owned swedish
Gislaved
Gislaved () is a locality and the seat of Gislaved Municipality, Jönköping County
Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötl ...
Tyres.
Glava Glava AS is a Norwegian industrial company with headquarters in Askim. The name is a portmanteau of the Norwegian word ''glassvatt'', meaning glass wool. Glass wool used as insulation material is the company's main product. Production takes place a ...
was the main employer by the 2010s, making
glass cotton insulation etc.
History
Askim has always been a strategic point in wars due to its relative easy crossing of the river. The last battle between Norway and
Sweden was fought at the crossing over Glomma on 9 August 1814. There is a yearly historical reenactment, as well as a stone monument at Langnes to commemorate this event.
During the
Norwegian Campaign of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, a battle occurred at
Fossum Bridge when the
Norwegian Army
The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...
defended the crossing against invading
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
in April 1940.
Name
The municipality (originally the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
) is named after the old ''Askim'' farm (
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
: ''Askheimr''), since the first church was built here. The first element is ''askr'' which means "
ash tree" and the last element is ''heimr'' which means "
home", "
homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
", or "
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...
".
Coat-of-arms
The
coat-of-arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...
is from modern times. They were granted on 1 November 1963. The arms symbolize the three large
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
s in the municipality, the Solbergfoss, Kykkelsrudfoss, and Vammafoss. The
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
s and waterfalls are also partially harnessed for hydroelectric power.
Transportation
European route E18
European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length.
Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jo ...
used to go through the city centre, however, since the upgrade to four-lane
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...
in 2005, its route now runs outside the centre.
Vy's Eastern Østfold Line
The Eastern Østfold Line ( no, Østfoldbanens østlige linje) is a railway line which runs between Ski and Sarpsborg. It follows a more eastern route than the Østfold Line, with which it adjoins at both Ski Station and Sarpsborg Station, serving ...
serves the municipality with stops at
Langnes Station and
Næringsparken and
Askim Station in between.
Government
The municipal council runs the government of Askim. The
2007 election results are as follows:
Attractions
Østfoldbadet
*
Askim videregående skole
Askimtorget
* Askim Golf Course
Twin towns — sister cities
The following cities are
twinned with Askim:
* -
Huddinge
Huddinge Municipality ( sv, Huddinge kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County, east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge (), which is a part of Stockholm urban area.
The municipality is, with its approximately 110,000 inhabitants, ...
,
Stockholm County,
Sweden
* -
Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune,
Region Hovedstaden
The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperso ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
* -
Nuuk
Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other coun ...
,
Nuuk Municipality
Nuuk Municipality was one of the municipalities of Greenland until 31 December 2008. On 1 January 2009, it was merged with four other former municipalities into the new Sermersooq municipality. The central town was Nuuk. Other settlements within it ...
,
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
* -
Rapla
Rapla (German: ''Rappel'') is a town in central Estonia, the capital of Rapla County and the centre of Rapla Parish. The oldest records date back to 1241 in the Danish Census Book, when it was said that it was a small village with 8 acres of ...
,
Rapla County
Rapla County ( et, Rapla maakond or ''Raplamaa'') is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in the western part of the country and borders Järva County to the east, Pärnu County to the south, Lääne County to the west, and Har ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
* -
Seyðisfjörður
Seyðisfjörður () is a town in the Eastern Region of Iceland at the innermost point of the fjord of the same name. The town is located in the municipality of Múlaþing.
A road over Fjarðarheiði mountain pass (elevation ) connects Seyðisfjö ...
,
Seyðisfjarðarkaupstaður,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
* -
Vantaa
Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland ...
,
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
Notable people
References
External links
Municipal fact sheetfrom
Statistics Norway
Municipal website
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Østfold
Cities and towns in Norway
Populated places in Østfold
Populated places on the Glomma River