Gjøvik () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and Hunndalen. The municipality is the 169th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gjøvik is the 35th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 31,175. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has increased by 3.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Historically, the village of Gjøvik was part of the parish and municipality of

Vardal Vardal is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between Gjøvik Municipality and Vestre Toten M ...

. On 1 January 1861, the village was granted kjøpstad (town) status. At that time, the village was separated from Vardal to form a separate municipality given its new status as a town. Initially, the new town and municipality of Gjøvik had 626 residents. On 1 July 1921, a part of

municipality located just outside the town of Gjøvik (population: 723) was

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

into the town. Again, on 1 January 1955, another part of

(population: 1,372) was transferred to the town. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring rural municipalities of Biri (population: 3,274), Snertingdal (population: 2,471), and most of

(population: 9,612) were all merged with the town of Gjøvik (population: 8,251) to form the new, larger Gjøvik Municipality.

Etymology

The municipality (originally the town) is named after the old ''

Gjøvik Gjøvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Norway, Biri, Bybrua, ...

'' farm (). The first element is which means "deep". The last element is which means "small bay" or "

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

Coat of arms

The original

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted in 1922 and it was in use until 2 September 1960 when a new coat of arms was put into use. The diagonal division of the shield shows green and white to symbolise the dark forests around the (light) city. The vertical wavy pale symbolises the Hunnselva river that runs into the lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway and the fourth deepest in Norway and Europe. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the river Gudbrandsdalslågen flowing in from the north; the ...

(the largest lake in Norway). At the same time the pale also symbolizes a linden tree (which has no known symbolism). The linden tree has yellow leaves over the green background and red leaves over the white background. The arms included the statement (meaning "force and will") on the lower part of the

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

. The base of the design was meant to look like both water (the lake) and also a so-called "

potpourri Potpourri ( ) is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant materials used to provide a gentle natural scent, commonly in residential settings. It is often placed in a decorative bowl. Etymology The word "potpourri" comes into English from ...

" vase, the most significant design of the

glassworks Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container p ...

factory that was the founding industry of the town.Photo
of the old arms. The current

was granted on 2 September 1960 to replace an older coat of arms. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''" Azure, a

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

naiant

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a swimming swan ('' Cygnus cygnus''). The swan has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The swan is a symbol for the side-wheel steamer ''Skiblander'', often called the "white swan of

", which is usually docked in the town harbor. The arms were designed by Finn Krafft. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has seven parishes () within the municipality of Gjøvik. It is part of the Toten prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the Diocese of Hamar. Gjøvik Church is the main church for the municipality. It was designed by architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The wooden structure was built between 1881 and 1882. Both the church buildings and fixtures are designed in

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

. The exterior of the church has contrasting colors on wall surfaces and bearing structures. The altarpiece was painted by artist,

Asta Nørregaard Asta Nørregaard (13 August 1853 – 23 March 1933) was a Norwegian painter who was best known for her portraits. Biography Nørregaard was born in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of Hans Peter Nørregaard (1818–18 ...

. The churchyard has a monument dedicated to the memory of Lutheran missionary, Paul Olaf Bodding. The church was restored during 1927, 1960, 2004-2005 and in 2009.

Geography

Along with

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, Brumunddal, and Moelv, Gjøvik is one of the many towns bordering Norway's biggest lake,

. The town administration of Gjøvik also includes the suburb area Hunndalen and the rural districts of Biri, Snertingdal, and Vardal. Gjøvik is bordered on the north by Lillehammer Municipality, in the south by Østre Toten Municipality and Vestre Toten Municipality, and in the west by Søndre Land Municipality and Nordre Land Municipality. Across Lake Mjøsa to the east lies

Ringsaker Municipality Ringsaker () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Br ...

. The highest point is Ringsrudåsen with a height of .

Economy

Gjøvik owes much of its early growth to the local glassworks, which were established there by Caspar Kauffeldt in 1807. In the early 19th century, there was considerable

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

there from

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre S ...

and

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

, aiding Gjøvik's growth. The village of Gjøvik was granted kjøpstad status in 1861, making it a town and self-governing municipality. Later, O. Mustad & Son became one of the world's largest manufacturers of

fish hook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called an angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by i ...

s. Today dolphitech, Hoff Potetindustrier, Hunton Fiber, and Natre Vinduer are some of the industrial companies operating from Gjøvik. The town is also a port for the former traffic ship, '' Skibladner'', which is now a tourist ship. The local paper is the '' Oppland Arbeiderblad''. It was formerly a Labour Party newspaper. Defunct newspapers include '' Oplændingen'' and '' Velgeren'' (Labour Democrat/Liberal), '' Samhold'' (Liberal, later Agrarian) and '' Ny Dag'' (Communist). Gjøvik has two notable hotels, the Grand hotel and the Strand hotel. There have been three notable concerts held in Gjøvik's history, which starred Toto,

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

and

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

(June 2011).

Government

Gjøvik Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Gjøvik is made up of 41 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() of Gjøvik: *1861–1872: Adolph Martin Lund *1873-1873: Peter Soelberg *1874-1874: Martin Opsahl *1875–1879: Adolph Martin Lund *1879–1884: Haagen Skattum ( H) *1885–1888: Mathias Wildaasen ( V) *1889-1889: Hans O. Eger ( V) *1890-1890: Andreas Slettum *1891–1893: Fredrik Fischer ( H) *1894-1894: Christian Nygaard ( V) *1895–1896: Anders Østbye ( V) *1897-1898: Fredrik Fischer ( H) *1898–1899: Anders Østbye ( V) *1900-1900: Fredrik Fischer ( H) *1901-1901: Anders Østbye ( V) *1902–1904: Alf Mjøen ( V) *1905-1905: Fredrik Fischer ( H) *1906-1906: Adolf Houg ( V) *1907-1907: Fredrik Fischer ( H) *1908-1908: Leif Castberg ( AD) *1909-1909: Adolf Skattum ( H) *1910–1916: Leif Castberg ( AD) *1917–1922: Johan Granvin ( H) *1923–1941: Niels Ødegaard ( Ap) *1941–1945: John Lærum ( NS) *1945–1967: Niels Ødegaard ( Ap) *1968–1978: Nils Røstadstuen ( Ap) *1978–1981: Alf Iversen ( Ap) *1982–1991: Martin Stikbakke ( Ap) *1992–2000: Tore Hagebakken ( Ap) *2000–2001: Kåre Haugen ( Ap) *2001–2005: Tore Hagebakken ( Ap) *2005–2007: Kåre Haugen ( Ap) *2007–2019: Bjørn Iddberg ( Ap) *2019–2023: Torvild Sveen ( Sp) *2023-present: Anne Bjertnæs ( H)

Attractions

* The world's largest arena excavated in rock, called Gjøvik Olympic Hall (), is located in Gjøvik. It was one of the sites of the Lillehammer Winter Olympics

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

in 1994. * Gjøvik farm * Gjøvik glassworks * Eiktunet cultural-history museum * The world's oldest

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

still on a regular schedule, the PS Skibladner * Biri Travbane

Notable people

Public Service & public thinking

* Anders Lysgaard (1756–1827), a farmer and representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly * Hans Schikkelstad (1789–1843), a farmer and politician who founded O. Mustad & Søn * Balthazar Mathias Keilhau (1797–1858), a Norwegian geologist and mountain pioneer * Hans Mustad (1837–1918), a Norwegian businessperson who shaped the company O. Mustad & Son * Johan Castberg (1862–1926), a jurist and politician in Gjøvik from 1890-1900 * Paul Olaf Bodding (1865–1938), a missionary to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

memorialized by monument at Gjøvik church * Ole Evinrude (1877–1934), a Norwegian-American who invented the first practical outboard motor * Niels Ødegaard (1892–1976), an educator, newspaper editor, and politician * Harold Harby (1894–1978), a city council member in Los Angeles, California * Arne Austeen DFC (1911–1945), a Norwegian flying ace who was killed in WWII * Ragnhild A. Lothe (born 1958), a microbiologist and cancer researcher * Hans Olav Lahlum (born 1973), an historian, crime author, chess player, and politician

The Arts

* Finn Lange (1895–1976), a Norwegian actor * Georg Adelly (1919–1997), a Swedish film actor * Torbjørn Sunde (born 1954), a jazz trombonist and former speed-skater * Kjell Ola Dahl (born 1958), an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of Nordic noir crime novels * Per A. Borglund (born 1961), a Norwegian newspaper and magazine editor * Per Elvestuen (born 1962), a Norwegian illustrator * Mai Britt Normann (born 1966), a Norwegian singer-songwriter * Eirik Hegdal (bornr 1973), a jazz saxophonist, composer, and leader of Trondheim Jazz Orchestra * Ali Pirzad-Amoli (born 1988), a pop singer-songwriter and rapper who goes by the stage name '' A-Lee'' * Anna Lotterud (born 1989), a singer-songwriter who goes by the stage name ''

Anna of the North Anna of the North (born 8 June 1989) is the solo project of Anna Lotterud, an Oslo-based Norwegian singer-songwriter from Gjøvik. Originally formed as a duo with producer Brady Daniell-Smith in 2014, their debut studio album '' Lovers'' was re ...

'' *

Nora Foss al-Jabri Nora Foss al-Jabri () (born 29 January 1996) is a Norwegian singer. Early life She was born to an Iraqi father and a Norwegian mother in Gjøvik, Norway. She started singing when she was eight years old and took singing lessons regularly. Car ...

(born 1996), a singer and participant in the Norwegian 2012

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

Sport

* Guttorm Berge (1929–2004), an Alpine skier, bronze medalist at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, were a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Discussions about Oslo hosting ...

* Roger Aandalen (born 1965), a Norwegian

boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes w ...

player and paralympic medallist * Bente Nordby (born 1974), a former football goalkeeper with 172 caps with Norway women * Tord Linnerud (born 1974), a rallycross driver * Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk (born 1978), a retired team handball player and Olympic medallist * Gro Hammerseng (born 1980), a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player and captain of the Norwegian national team * Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (born 1990), a cross-country skier and medallist at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

* Maren Lundby (born 1994), a successful ski jumper and gold medallist at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Gjøvik is twinned with: *

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

, Sweden *

Næstved Næstved () is a town in Næstved Municipality, the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five Primary education, elemen ...

, Denmark * Rauma, Finland * Stoughton, United States

Media gallery

Gjovik rådhus 2019 - 1.jpg, Gjøvik City Hall Gjoevik gaard park.jpg, Park at the Gjøvik farm Skibladner boathouse Gjøvik.jpg, Skibladner boathouse, Gjøvik

References

External links

*
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

Tourist information

NTNU Gjøvik
- University {{DEFAULTSORT:Gjovik Municipalities of Innlandet 1838 establishments in Norway