Årstad, Bergen
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Årstad is a
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
in the city of
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
in
Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the cit ...
county,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...
. Historically, the area was a separate municipality called Årstad until 1916 when it was merged into the city of Bergen. The borough has similar (but not the same) boundaries to those of the old municipality. The borough is located south of the
city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
, and has a population of around 39,906 as of 1 January 2014. Årstad is home to Bergen's hospital,
Haukeland University Hospital Haukeland University Hospital ( no, Haukeland universitetssjukehus) is a hospital in Bergen, Norway, and one of the eleven institutions that make up Bergen Hospital Trust. Haukeland is the largest in Norway in terms of number of patients, and serv ...
, as well as Norway's second largest vocational high school, Årstad videregående skole (the largest being Sandefjord videregående skole), and Brann Stadion, the stadium of the city's largest
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team, Brann.


Name

"This whole area of the city was part of the king's property Ålrekstad (Årstad)", according to encyclopedia ''
Store norske leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' ( no, Store Norske Leksikon, abbreviated ''SNL''), is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian published sites, with more than two million unique vi ...
''. The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old ''Årstad'' 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 settlement ...
: ''Álreksstaðir''), since the first Årstad Church was built there. The first element is probably the genitive of ''Álrekr'', the old name of the mountain Ulriken. The last element is ''staðir'' meaning "farm".


History

During the early
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
s, a king of Norway is believed to have had a
Kongsgård Kongsgård (Swedish:''Kungsgård'') is a residence, estate, or farmland that has belonged or still belongs to the Scandinavian monarchs or royal families. History During the Viking Age and early Middle Ages, the nations of Scandinavia were orga ...
estate at the foot of Ulriken called ''Álreksstaðir'' (
Alrekstad Alrekstad ( Norwegian: ''Kongsgården på Alrekstad'', Old Norse: ''Álreksstaðir'') was one of the largest Kongsgård estates on the west coast of Norway during the early Middle Ages. History Alrekstad was situated at the foot of Ulriken, the h ...
). At times the farm was the home of, at least, King
Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from  872 to 930 and was the first King of No ...
, his son, King Eric Bloodaxe, Bloodaxe's children, and King Haakon the Good (Haakon I). Later, the founder of
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
, King Olav Kyrre (Olaf III), ruled the city from Alrekstad for 26 years. However, Alrekstad lost its importance when King Eystein I moved his seat to Holmen, located within the city limits. Around year 1300, the farm was handed over to the monastery of Nonneseter. It is believed that the name Álreksstaðir is derived from Ulriken rather than the name Alrekr, the name ''Årstad'' being an abbreviation of the word Alrekstad. Another theory is that the farm was named after a king Alrek, who may or may not have existed, and who may have ruled over the petty kingdom of Hordariket around year 400. Today, the area where the farm was located (included in, but not limited to, the place now called Årstadvollen) is not a part of the borough of Årstad, but Bergenhus. The 19th century was a period of heavy industrial development in the municipality of Årstad, most significantly in the bay of Solheimsviken. At the end of the century, there were approximately 25 factories in the municipality, and it was the country's 4th largest in terms of industrial production output. The parish of ''Aarstad'' was established as Aarstad 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 Janu ...
). It remained a separate municipality until 1 July 1916, when it, as the second of six municipalities over the years, was merged with
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
, increasing the area of Bergen municipality from to . The merger happened after a long political process, following decades of close cooperation between the two municipalities - most of Årstad had been included in the Bergen Police District since 1808.


Economy

The inhabitants of Årstad have the lowest average
income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...
of Bergen's boroughs, earning on average almost (US$) less per annum than the inhabitants of the borough with the highest average income, Ytrebygda.


Demographics

As of 1 January 2008, 7.4% of the population of Årstad was 0–5 years of age. 5.5% was in the age group 6–12 years, 2.5% between 13–15 years, 69.5% between 16–66 years, 8.1% between 67–79 years, and 7.0% were over 80 years of age. In total, 15.1% of the population were over 67 years of age, the Norwegian age of
retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
, the highest amount in Bergen. In 2006, the mean gross income was (approximately March 2008 USD). As of 1 January 2007, a total of 71.4% of the 6,589 couples living together were married. 43.5% were married without children, while the remaining 27.9% were married with children. 28.6% of the couples were not married; 15.9% were cohabitating couples without children while 12.7% were cohabitating with children.


Education

Årstad contains five elementary schools, Fridalen skole, Kronstad skole, Landås skole, Minde skole, and Slettebakken skole, one lower secondary school, Gimle skole, one combined elementary and lower secondary school, Ny Krohnborg barne- og ungdomsskole, one
special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
, Alrekstad alternative skole, as well as two upper secondary schools, Årstad videregående skole and Langhaugen videregående skole. Årstad videregående skole is one of the largest upper secondary schools in Norway, with a total of 300 employees and 1400 students. Over the last few years, there have been plans to shut down several schools in the borough. Kronstad skole was proposed for closure most recently in 2006. This proposal didn't go through, however, as the majority of the parties in the city council, as well as several parties in the opposition, voted against the school being shut down. Due to the school building being in poor condition, it was decided in 2004 that Fridalen skole was to be closed. However, following protests from the neighbourhood, the decision was retracted, at least temporarily. In 2008, the municipality released a report which predicts an increasing number of pupils in Årstad after many years of decline.


Neighbourhoods

The list of neighborhoods in Årstad include
Gyldenpris Gyldenpris is a neighborhood in Bergen, Norway in the borough of Årstad. Geography Gyldenpris lies on the border between the boroughs of Årstad and Laksevåg, with the Solheim neighborhood to the southeast, the Damsgård neighborhood to th ...
, Kronstad, Landås,
Løvstakksiden Løvstakksiden, commonly shortened to Løvstakken or simply Stakken, is a neighbourhood in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. Currently it is part of the borough of Årstad, but before 2000 it was part of a borough called "Løvstakke ...
, Minde (incl. WergelandFrykter spredning av narkomiljøet
/ref>), Nattland, Solheim, Slettebakken Årstad is the smallest borough in Bergen (by area), but also the second most densely populated. Most of the land in the borough was already built-up before the construction of the city's outer suburbs began in the middle of the 20th century. Årstad lacks traditional neighbourhood names as found in the city centre borough, Bergenhus, where these were established over several hundred years. Neighbourhood names are frequently named after the farm that owned the land before the area was urbanized. Some parts of western Årstad, is however for example locally referred to as
Løvstakksiden Løvstakksiden, commonly shortened to Løvstakken or simply Stakken, is a neighbourhood in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. Currently it is part of the borough of Årstad, but before 2000 it was part of a borough called "Løvstakke ...
, which makes up one neighbourhood. Throughout the borough more such more or less informal neighbourhood names do also exist.


Sports and culture

Brann stadion, the stadium of Bergen's most successful football club SK Brann, was constructed in the late 1910s, and opened 25 May 1919, with a match between Brann and Norway's national team. The stadium has been upgraded several times since, and is currently being upgraded to an all-seater capacity of more than 20,000. As of June 2007, the stadium has a total seating capacity of 17,824. Several other sport clubs have or have had their home in Årstad. The first was IL Nornen, founded in 1893 as a
mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...
,
skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...
,
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
and
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...
club. Today, Nornen is mainly a gymnastics,
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic 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 throwing it into the ...
and
floorball Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...
club. Other sport clubs include the football club Nymark IL, Ny-Krohnborg IL, SK Baune. The main activity of most of the clubs is youth sports. Although almost twenty
buekorps Buekorps (; literally "Bow Corps" or "Archery Brigade") are traditional marching neighbourhood youth organizations in Bergen, Norway. The tradition is unique to Bergen. The organizations, which are called ''bataljoner'' (battalions), were first ...
have had their home in Årstad, only one, ''
Løvstakkens Jægerkorps Løvstakkens Jægerkorps is a buekorps in Bergen, Norway. It is mainly the buekorps for the neighbourhood of Løvstakksiden. It was founded for the first time in 1903, then for boys only. On May 11, 1999 it was founded again as a "mixed brigade ...
'', still exists. As of 2000, ''Løvstakkens Jægerkorps'' is the only buekorps in the city to allow both girls and boys to join.


References


External links


Årstad videregående skole

Årstad IL


{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarstad Boroughs of Bergen