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

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 ...

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold ...

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 ...

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 municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The neighboring rural municipality of

Botne Botne is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The parish of Botne was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 1,600. In 1942 a part o ...

was merged into the municipality of Holmestrand on 1 January 1964. Sande municipality merged into Holmestrand on January 1, 2020. The municipality of Hof was merged into Holmestrand on January 1, 2018. The town lies by the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

and is built beside the water. It was granted

municipal status 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 1752, but had been a harbour for exporting of timber/

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

since around 1550. It borders the Oslo Fjord in the east,

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

in the south, and it shares a short border with Larvik in the south-west. It is bordered by

Viken 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 ...

in the west and north. Holmestrand is home to Vestfold County's largest lake,

Eikeren Eikeren or Eikern is a long and deep lake in the municipalities of Hof in the county of Vestfold og Telemark and Øvre Eiker in the county of Viken, Norway. It is the largest lake in Vestfold. At the eastern end of Vestfold is the village of E ...

. It is also '' Vestfjellet'', which is the highest peak in the county.

Name

The

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 ...

form of the name was ''Holmastrand''. The first element is the genitive case of ''holmi'' which means "(rocky)

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

" and the last element is ''strand'' which means "

shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

", "

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

", or "strand".

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 relatively modern, granted on 14 November 1898. The arms show a silver

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

holding a gold

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

in its left claw and a gold

Rod of Asclepius In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; grc, Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού, , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god A ...

in its right claw all on a red background. The eagle in the arms is derived from the arms of the merchant Johan Heinrich Tordenskiold, who, in 1819, donated all his fortune to build a school in Holmestrand. The eagle also gave its name to the main ship of the merchant, which is shown on the breast-shield, the White Eagle. The anchor symbolises the importance of Holmestrand as a harbour town. The snake on the Rod of Asclepius is the symbol of

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

and symbolises the former health spa in Holmestrand that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Ethnic and foreign minority

Geography

Its islands include

Langøya Langøya is the third largest island of Norway (outside of Svalbard), with an area of . The island is a part of the Vesterålen archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island includes the municipalities of Bø and Øksnes as well as parts ...

Transportation

The

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 ...

through Vestfold goes to the west around downtown Holmestrand and secondary roads connect the city to this highway. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line

Vestfoldbanen The Vestfold Line ( no, Vestfoldbanen) is a railway line which runs between Drammen and Eidanger in Norway. The line connects to the Drammen Line at the northern terminus at Drammen Station and continues as the Bratsberg Line past Skien Stati ...

runs through the centre of Holmestrand, and the city is served by the station

Holmestrand Station The new Holmestrand Station is a railway station on the Vestfold Line located in the town of Holmestrand in Vestfold, Norway, that opened for traffic on 28 November 2016. It is located inside the tunnel Holmestrandsporten. In October 2016, the ...

Notable residents

* Hans Hein Nysom (1767–1831) a Norwegian priest and politician * Gullik Madsen Røed (1786 in Holmestrand–1857) soldier and farmer, rep. at

Norwegian Constitutional Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

* Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen (1826 in Holmestrand – 1892) an engineer and industrialist *

Morten Müller Morten Müller (13 February 1828 – 10 February 1911) was a Norwegian landscape painter. Biography Morten Müller was born by the Christianiafjord at Holmestrand, in Vestfold County, Norway. Morten Müller began his art studies with Adolph T ...

(1828 at Christianiafjord – 1911) a Norwegian landscape painter * Jacob Thurmann Ihlen (1833 in Holmestrand – 1903) a barrister and politician *

Harriet Backer Harriet Backer (21 January 1845 – 25 March 1932) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed ...

(1845 in Holmestrand – 1932) painter of detailed interior scenes *

Agathe Backer Grøndahl Agathe Ursula Backer Grøndahl (1 December 1847 – 4 June 1907) was a Norwegian pianist and composer. Her son Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl (1885–1959) was also a pianist and composer, who promoted his mother's compositions in his concerts. Biogr ...

(1847 in Holmestrand – 1907) a Norwegian pianist, music teacher and composer *

Nils Kjær Nils Kjær (11 September 1870 – 9 February 1924) was a Norwegian playwright, short story writer, essayist, literary critic and theatre critic. Personal life Kjær was born in Holmestrand as the son of Nils Henrik Kjær and Christine Smest ...

(1870 in Holmestrand – 1924) a playwright, short story writer and theatre critic * Signe Heide Steen (1881 in Holmestrand – 1959) a Norwegian actress * Øivind Lorentzen (1882 in Holmestrand – 1980) a Norwegian shipping magnate * Ragnhild Sundby (1922 in Hof – 2006) a Norwegian zoologist who specialized in entomology * Odd Børretzen (1926–2012) author, illustrator, folk singer and artist; lived in Holmestrand * brothers Ulf Lövaas (born 1947) &

Dag Lovaas Dag, or variant forms, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''DAG'' (American TV series), 2000–2001 * ''Dag'' (Norwegian TV series), 2010–2015 * ''DAG'' (newspaper), a former free Dutch newspaper * DAG (band), an American funk band * D ...

(born 1953) former motorcycle speedway riders * Johannes Eick (born 1964 in Eidsfoss) a Norwegian double bass and electric bass guitar player * Christine Sagen Helgø (born 1968 in Holmestrand), mayor of Stavanger from 2011 to 2019 * Runhild Gammelsæter (born 1976 in Holmestrand) singer and biologist

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Holmestrand: *

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

* Herning,

Region Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...

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 ...

* Husby,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Kangasala Kangasala is a city in Finland which is situated about 16 kilometres East of Tampere. The city was founded in 1865 and had a population of people as of . Kangasala covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finnish auth ...

Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...

Siglufjörður Siglufjörður () is a small fishing town in a narrow fjord with the same name on the northern coast of Iceland. The population in 2011 was 1,206; the town has been shrinking in size since the 1950s when the town reached its peak of 3,000 inhabi ...

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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 ...

Vänersborg Vänersborg () is a locality and the seat of Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 23,882 inhabitants (out of a municipal total of 39,591) Until 1997 it was the capital of Älvsborg County, which was dissolved in 1998. Sin ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

, Sweden

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway * * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Norway Municipalities of Vestfold og Telemark