Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The

administrative centre An administrative center 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 administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, Ekne, Hokstad, Markabygd, Momarka, Frol,

Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

, Nesset, Okkenhaug, Ronglan, Skogn, and Åsen. The town of Levanger lies at the mouth of the Levangselva river along the Trondheimsfjord. One of the main roads through the town is Kirkegata. The town has a population (6 October 2020) of 10,333. The population density is . The town has held "town status" as of 1997 and houses a campus of the

Nord University Nord University ( no, Nord universitet; sma, Noerhte universitete; smj, Nuortta universitiehtta) is a state university in the Nordland and Trøndelag counties of Norway. The university has 11,000 students at study locations in Northern and Ce ...

as of 2016. Levanger is a member of the Italian initiative, Cittaslow, for ''slow towns'' that don't adopt a "fast-lane" approach that is so common in most modern towns. The municipality is the 174th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Levanger is the 62nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 20,171. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 6.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The kjøpstad of Levanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). In 1856, the ''kjøpstad'' (market town) of Levanger (population: 1,017) and the rural areas surrounding the town (population: 2,290) were separated and the rural area became the rural municipality of Levanger landsogn (the name was later changed to ''Frol''). On 13 November 1951, a small area of Frol (population: 51) was transferred to the town of Levanger. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the town of Levanger (population: 1,669) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Frol (population: 3,774), Åsen (population: 1,939), and Skogn (population: 4,756) to form a new, larger municipality called Levanger. Then, on 1 January 1964, the island municipality of Ytterøy was merged with the newly enlarged municipality of Levanger. Before the merger, Levanger had 12,281 residents, and Ytterøy added 772 to bring the municipality to a population of 13,053. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

county to the new Trøndelag county.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Levanger'' farm ( Old Norse: ''Lifangr''), since the first church was built there. The first element is "Lif" old Norse for "lun" (sheltered) and the last element is ''angr'' which means " fjord".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 25 November 1960 as the arms of the town of Levanger. The arms show a gold-colored horse on a red background. The horse is a symbol for the town as a major trading center between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and Norway for many centuries. The arms did not change after the addition of the other municipalities (they had no arms when they were merged with Levanger). Alstadhaug kirke 002

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

has seven parishes () within the municipality of Levanger. It is part of the

Sør-Innherad prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrati ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 residenc ...

) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

History

Levanger can probably be traced back to the Iron Age, and with certainty back to the Viking Age. Alvshaugen (from the Old Norse word ''haugr'' meaning mound) is a large burial mound located in the middle of the cemetery at

Alstadhaug Church Alstadhaug Church ( no, Alstadhaug kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the village of Alstadhaug, in Levanger municipality in Trøndelag county. It is the church for the Alstadhaug parish, which is part of the Stiklestad prosti ...

. The burial mound has been dated to 300–600 CE. It is about in diameter, and about tall. The name "Levanger" is listed in Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu. The historic town site was located in a place somewhat different from the current town center, probably in relation to the ''Halsstein bygdeborg'' ( hill fort). In the Middle Ages, the area now part of the municipality of Levanger was part of the county of Skeyna in the traditional district of Innherred. The county was ruled by earls who resided at the manor of Geite, situated on a hill nearby the present town. The county was divided into six parishes: Ekne, Alstadhaug, Levanger, Frol, Ytterøy, and Leksvik. The county church was located in Alstadhaug, which also contained the '' fylking'', while Levanger was the main port and market town. Not much is known about the earls of Skeyna, as few documents still exist that document their existence. The Reformation and the Danish occupation of Norway in 1537 caused the

Norwegian nobility Aristocracy of Norway refers to Modern history, modern and Medieval Ages, medieval Aristocracy (class), aristocracy in Norway. Additionally, there have been economical, political, and military elites thatrelating to the main lines of History of N ...

to disintegrate, and the last earl was most likely executed during the Reformation. The Danish rulers united Skeyna with four other counties in Innherred, creating the county of Steinvikholm. Later, the Levanger area was part of '' Trondhjems amt'' which was later divided in ''

Nordre Trondhjems amt ''Nordre'' (Northern), formerly known as ''Haramsnytt'' (The Haram News), is a local Norwegian newspaper covering events in the northern part of the municipality of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county. History The newspaper was established as ''Ha ...

''. That was later renamed

fylke. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

county to the new Trøndelag county.

Town

Sverres gate i Levanger mot jernbanestasjonen

The town of Levanger was founded by King

Charles XIV John of Sweden sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...

on 18 May 1836, on the site where the village of Levanger already existed. The village had expanded from the traditional winter

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

, known as the ''marsimartnan'' (lit. ''the St. Marcus Market of Levanger''), dating back to the 13th century. In October 1836, as the town's borders set,

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Mons Lie proposed that "the town shall bear the name of ''Carlslevanger'', so the name of this ancient soil can be united with that of the new town's glorious founder". Despite the suggestion's being refused, the town protocols spoke of ''Carlslevanger Stad'' instead of ''Kjøpstaden Levanger'' until 1838. In 1838, the

law classified this town as a '' ladested'' or port town. The inhabitants of Levanger were not prepared for becoming a town, and so it took a long time before the town was constituted. In these early days the town was ruled by the

Foged (in Norwegian; also Norwegian , Danish , Swedish , Finnish ) is a historical Scandinavian official title, translated as '' bailiff'', relating to the administration of bailiwicks. He was in charge of the administration and collection of taxes on ...

(Royal rural administrator). At that time there were already established a trade organization, "Levangerpatrisiatet", from 1695, based on the market. But only citizens of Trondheim could be members, until Levanger became a town in its own right. In 1839, the first guild of the town was established, and in the following years several new trades and craftsmen settled in the town. In 1841, the first official elections were held, and

Hans Nicolai Grønn Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

was elected the first mayor of the town. Two years later, the town got its first water-pipe system, its first two primitive street lamps and a town hall. The fire-security report of 1844 clearly confirmed the great risk of disastrous fire in the town's narrow lanes; all houses were wooden houses. Therefore, the mayor hired Major Johannes Mathias Sejersted (1797-1886) to make a general report and draw up a new regulation plan, showing Levanger as a more "continental" town. And already in 1846, two years later the town was nearly totally ruined by a great fire. Sejersted's regulation plan was used when the town was rebuilt. Levanger was damaged by two great fires after that time, in 1877 and 1897, but each time the town has been rebuilt as a wooden town, and still today most houses are wooden houses. Throughout the 19th century, the famous market's economical importance faded out, and the ancient arrangement was reduced to a tradition without much content. That was the end of Levanger as an important port of foreign trade between Sweden and Norway. However, in the early 20th century, the town of Levanger was pleased by new establishments such as county hospital and college of education. The German occupation in 1940 was the beginning of a 40-year-long "

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

" of the traditional "Marsimartnan". In 1961, the town of Levanger decided to merge with its neighbors. On 1 January 1962, Frol, Skogn, and Åsen were merged with Levanger, and at the same time, it lost its "town status". The municipality of Ytterøy was merged with Levanger two years later. Over thirty years later, in 1997, as a result of the resurrection of the "Marsimartnan" in 1989, the town of Levanger was re-established, though the town still is part of Levanger municipality. But the center of administration is to be found in the town of Levanger, which is also, in historical terms, the administrative basis for the municipality. And Levanger's town traditions and culture go way back. The town is laid out according to an urban and regulated plot with proper streets such as Kirkegata. It's more than just a town hall and a city square. In fact, Levanger's always been a town, though not always officially, and every inhabitant in the town area carries this piece of knowledge with pride. Thus there does exist a sense of distinction between town people and the people from the countryside. In 2002, Levanger joined the Cittaslow movement, although there have been some violations of the Cittaslow charter, of which can be mentioned the construction of the unharmonic new mini mall in Sjøgata, down by the seaside. This mini mall includes two grocery stores and several electrical appliances stores .

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Levanger, are responsible for

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

(through 10th grade), outpatient

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

, senior citizen services, unemployment 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. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Levanger is made up of 35 representatives that are elected every four years. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayors

Since the municipal merger in 1961 that created the present municipality of Levanger, there have been several people who have served as mayor.

Economy

The world's largest paper-producing company, Norske Skog, built its first ever factory in Skogn, south of the town of Levanger. This factory started production in 1966, is working today, and it provides 530 jobs at the plant, and an additional 1,900 jobs in transportation and forestry. Levanger encompasses some of the best agricultural areas in Trøndelag. The Fiborgtangen industrial area is located in Skogn and has freight access to the Nordland Line. Most of the town's commercial area is concentrated around the main street, called Kirkegata (Church Street), and in more recent years around the shopping mall Magneten, located at the suburban area of Moan. Magneten has since its beginning faced rapid growth, and several stores earlier located in Kirkegata have now moved to Moan and/or Magneten. The

Inntrøndelag District Court Inntrøndelag District Court ( no, Inntrøndelag tingrett) was a district court in the Inntrøndelag region in Trøndelag county, Norway. The court was based in Steinkjer. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the municipalities ...

is also located in the town. The

Levanger Hospital Levanger Hospital ( no, Sykehuset Levanger) is a hospital located in the town of Levanger in the municipality of Levanger in Trøndelag county, Norway. The hospital is located along the road Kirkegata on the west side of the town of Levanger. A ...

and the

also are major employers in the municipality.

Transportation

The main street of the town of Levanger has roads connecting to the E6 highway at both ends and the Norwegian County Road 774 at the north end which connects to the Levanger–Hokstad Ferry, which regularly runs between the town of Levanger and the island of Ytterøya in the Trondheimsfjord. The Nordland Line runs to the north through the municipality. It stops at the following stations: Åsen Station, HiNT Station, Ronglan Station,

Skogn Station Skogn Station ( no, Skogn stasjon) is a railway station located in the village of Skogn in the municipality of Levanger in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the Nordland Line railway line. The station is served hourly by the Trø ...

, and Levanger Station. The train used to stop at

at the Innherred Sykehus Station, but that station is now closed.

Geography

The municipality is located in the Innherred region of Trøndelag county. It lies on the eastern shore of the Trondheimsfjord and it includes the island of Ytterøya. There are many lakes in the municipality, including Byavatnet, Feren, Hammervatnet, Hoklingen, Movatnet, and Sønningen. The Levangselva river runs through the municipality. The Rinnleiret beach area lies on the Levanger– Verdal border.

Attractions

* Alvshaugen burial mound at Alstadhaug * Alstadhaug Medieval church (next to Alvshaugen burial mound) * Brusve Museum *

Falstad Center The Falstad Centre ( no, Falstadsenteret) and Falstad Museum is a memorial site in Ekne, Norway. The Falstad Centre Foundation was established in August 2000 as a national centre for the education and documentation of the history of imprisonment ...

* Falstad concentration camp * Fenka art gallery * Hveding Auto Museum * Munkeby Abbey ruins * Halsteinen hillfort * The Iron to Viking Age gravemounds at Gjeite

Notable people

Oluf Christian Dietrichson, norwegian polar explorer

Public service and public thinking

* Frederik Heidmann (1777 in Skogn – 1850) military officer, civil servant and politician *

Oluf Christian Dietrichson Oluf Christian Dietrichson (3 May 1856 – 20 February 1942) was a Norwegian explorer and military officer. He was a member of the Greenland expedition of 1888 led by Fridtjof Nansen, the first documented crossing of Greenland. Oluf Dietri ...

(1856 in Skogn – 1942) a polar explorer and military officer *

Peter August Poppe Peter August Poppe (17 August 1870 – 13 February 1933) was a Norwegian-born engineer, designer and developer of engines and complete motor vehicles for the British motor industry. He was a co-founder of the engine manufacturer White and Poppe. ...

(1870 in Skogn – 1933) an engineer, designer and developer of engines and complete motor vehicles for the British motor industry *

Arne Falstad Arne Falstad (1 May 1874 – 27 November 1958) was a Norwegian attorney, banker and politician for the Conservative Party. He was born at Skjerpengen in Skogn as a son of banker Peder Falstad (1842–1921) and his wife Oline Kathrine Sæther (1 ...

(1874 at Skjerpengen – 1958) attorney, banker and Mayor of Levanger in 1930's * Albert Fredrik Eggen (1878 at Østborg – 1966) farmer, politician, pre-WWII Mayor of Stod *

Helge Klæstad Helge Klæstad (6 December 1885 – 23 May 1965) was a Norwegian judge. He was born in Levanger. He took the dr.juris degree in 1921, and was a Supreme Court Justice from 1929 to 1946, except for the period between December 1940 and May 1945, duri ...

(1885–1965) a Norwegian judge, a

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice 1929-1946 * Bjarne Skard (1896 in Levanger – 1961) Bishop of Tunsberg; put carrots in his beard * Erling Gjone (1898 in Levanger – 1990) an architectural historian and antiquarian * Henry Rinnan (1915 in Levanger – 1947) a Gestapo agent and Nazi collaborator * Martin Stavrum (born 1938) a politician, Mayor of Levanger 1996-1999 * Erling Folkvord (born 1949 in Levanger) a left wing politician and writer * Per Erik Bergsjø (born 1958 in Levanger) a

Justice from March 2012 * Per Sandberg (born 1960 in Levanger) a politician, stokes controversy

The Arts

Martin Aagaard Zacharias Martin Aagaard (13 October 1863 – 6 December 1913) was a Norwegian painter who specialized in marine painting. Early life Zackarias Martini Aagaard was born in Levanger in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. He was educated at Trondhei ...

(1863 in Levanger – 1913) a Norwegian painter of marine paintings *

Benny Motzfeldt Benny Anette Motzfeldt (née Berg Nilssen; 26 June 190924 November 1995) was a Norwegian visual artist and glass designer and sculptor. Biography Benny Anette Berg Motzfeldt was born at Levanger in Trøndelag, Norway. She was a daughter of phy ...

(1909 in Levanger – 1995) a visual artist, glass designer and sculptor * Jens Bolling (1915 in Levanger – 1992) a Norwegian actor and theatre director * Sverre Valen (born 1925 in Levanger) a Norwegian retired choir conductor *

Eli Rygg Eli Rygg (born 22 September 1955) is a Norwegian television personality and children's writer. She grew up in Veblungsnes and moved to Levanger at the age of 12. She attended folk high school in Skogn and Inderøy. She had a daughter as a teena ...

(born 1955) a TV personality and children's writer, brought up in Levanger *

Frode Haltli Frode Haltli (born 15 May 1975 in Levanger), is a Norwegian accordion player. Biography Haltli started to play the accordion at the age of seven and over the following few years he won several national competitions and scholarships and was awa ...

(born 1975 in Levanger) a Norwegian accordion player

Sport

* Einar Jørum (1924 in Åsen – 1997) footballer and president of the Football Association of Norway 1970-1980 * Knut Knudsen (born 1950) retired track-cyclist, gold medallist at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

* Sturla Voll, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1954) a Norwegian soccer coach * Marit Breivik (born 1955 in Levanger), former handballer and head coach for the national team *

Tina Svensson Tina Svensson Grønlund (born 16 November 1966, in Levanger) is a former Norwegian footballer, world champion and Olympic medalist. She debuted for the Norwegian national team in 1990, and played 57 matches for the national team. She ...

(born 1966 in Levanger) footballer, team bronze medallist at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

* Stein Berg Johansen (born 1969 in Levanger) a retired Norwegian football striker and coach * Jon Olav Hjelde (born 1972 in Levanger) a former footballer with over 250 club caps *

Trond Viggo Toresen Trond Viggo Toresen (born 22 February 1978) is a Norwegian football midfielder who currently plays for Verdal. He joined the team from Levanger in 2011. Before he went back to his home towns of Verdal and Levanger he played in Norwegian Tippeli ...

(born 1978 in Levanger) a footballer with over 250 club caps * Eldar Rønning (born 1982 in Levanger) a cross-country skier, competed in two Winter Olympics * Per Verner Rønning (born 1983 in Levanger) a former footballer with 380 club caps * Johan Kjølstad (born 1983 in Levanger) a cross-country skier, competed in two Winter Olympics * Birgit Skarstein (born 1989) a paraplegic competitive rower and cross-country skier * Dardan Dreshaj (born 1992 in Levanger) a football striker with over 250 club caps

Expatriates

* Zakarias Toftezen (1821 in Levanger - 1901) an early settler in the

State of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

Bernt Julius Muus Bernt Julius Muus (March 15, 1832 – May 25, 1900) was a Norwegian-American Lutheran minister and church leader. He helped found St. Olaf College, a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Biography Early life and education ...

(1832 in Levanger – 1900) a Lutheran minister and church leader in Northfield, Minnesota * Bernt B. Haugan (1862 in Skogn – 1931) a Lutheran minister, politician and temperance leader *

Edin Cornelius Alfsen Edin Cornelius Kristoffersen Alfsen (Chinese: 安理生, 15 April 1896 – 1 August 1966)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. Social Security Administration. was a Norwegian-American Lutheran missionary affiliated with the Norwegian Mission A ...

(1896 in Skogn – 1966) a Lutheran missionary, founded the Norwegian Tibet Mission

References

External links

*
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, 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 yea ...

Levanger seen from the airAlvshaugen
{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2020 Municipalities of Trøndelag 1838 establishments in Norway