Rygge was a

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It was merged into Moss municipality on January 1, 2020. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rygge. Rygge was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The emblem of Rygge is the Pasque flower. Rygge is connected to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

by double-tracked railway, and four-lane motorway. Rygge was served by Moss Airport, which has not been operational since 2016.

General information

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 ''Rygge'' farm, since the first church was built there. 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 is not known (the oldest manuscripts from 1353-1528 use the form "Ryg(g)jof"). A possible (but uncertain) reconstruction is ''Rýgjuhof''. The first element would then be the genitive case of ''rýgja'', a sideform of ''rýgr'' which means "lady". (Like ''ylgja'' to ''ylgr'', both forms with the meaning 'she-wolf'.) The last element is probably ''hof'' meaning "

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

". If this is correct, then the word ''rýgja'' most probably is referring to the goddess

Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

, since the meaning of the word ''freyja'' also is 'lady'. An alternative explanation is that the word is derived from ''"rygg"'', which means ''"ridge"'', and related to place names like ''"Ryen"'' further east. The "ridge" in question would be the end moraine that runs across the landscape here, from the other side of the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...

and stretching east through Sweden and into the Baltic region. In Østfold, this moraine is referred to as the ''" Raet"''.

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. It was granted on 30 November 1984. The arms show a golden

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

on a red background. A spur like this was found in the area that dated back to the

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 ...

. It is one of the largest golden items that was ever found in Norway and was thus chosen as a symbol on the arms. Rygge kirke 20080511-1

Rygge Church

Rygge church (''Rygge kirke'') is a medieval era church located in the village of

Kirkegrenda Kirkegrenda is a village in the municipality of Rygge in Østfold, 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 ...

. The church belongs to Vestre Borgesyssel deanery in Diocese of Borg. Rygge church is one of the county's better preserved medieval stone churches. It is built around the year 1170. Rygge church was originally a chapter church, which had income from a larger area than a parish and contained several villages. The building is characterized by the use of large stones, partly of granite, but parts of the facade is carved of stone cultivar, including large parts of the north portal. It has long nave and lower and narrower choir. The church was restored in 1967.

Military

Rygge Air Station Rygge Air Force Base ( no, Rygge flystasjon) is located in the municipalities of Rygge and Råde in Viken county, Norway. The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) operates various squadron and aircraft at the airbase, including AgustaWestland AW101 ...

replaced a temporary airfield constructed by German forces during

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 ...

. The contemporary airfield, northeast of the highway and main railway is situated in Rygge and its neighbouring municipality

Råde Råde is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Karlshus. The parish of ''Raade'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The neighbouring ...

. It was constructed from 1952–1954 and until recently it was one of the largest establishments of the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

. The military use of the airfield is now much reduced. A civilian air terminal

Moss Airport, Rygge Moss Airport, Rygge ( no, Moss lufthavn, Rygge; ) was an international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway. It is located in Rygge, outside Moss and outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for Østfold county and owned ...

, was opened in early 2008. The airport was closed to all civilian traffic on 1 November 2016 after its main commercial operator, Ryanair, decided to shut down its base there.

Climate

Notable people

References

External links

* *
Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway * {{authority control Municipalities of Østfold Villages in Østfold