Stavern is a small water-side town in Larvik municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It is south of the city of Larvik. Currently there are around 3,000 inhabitants in Stavern. It is a small town where tourism is one of the most important sources of income. During summer, the population increases to around 30,000-40,000 people, due to camping sites and cottages around the town centre as well as boats visiting the harbour. Stavern experiences 200 days of sunshine per year. Consequentially, Stavern's population more than doubles during summers. From the mid 1750s until 1864, Stavern was home to the nation's main naval base located in a shipyard in

Fredriksvern Fredriksvern (also called ''Friderichsværn'' (1801), ''Frederiksværn'' (1865), ''Fredriksværen'' (1900) and abbreviated ''Frsværn'') was an important Norwegian naval base, just south of Larvik in Vestfold. It is named after Fredrik V Denmark- ...

. A gunpowder tower and commandant's house remain on Citadel Island, a current refuge for artists. The town is also home of Hall of Remembrance, a monument dedicated to seamen killed during World Wars I and II.

History

Stavern has probably been a harbour since ancient times. The name is found in written sources from the 11th century and the 12th century where it is referred to as a good fishing harbour. Stavern in the 17th and 18th century was an important port for civil ship traffic from Norway to Denmark and Sweden. The port and naval base of

Staverns Fortress Staverns Fortress was a military facility located on the island of Citadelløya at Stavern in Vestfold, Norway. History The construction of Staverns Fort began in 1677 when Ulrik Frederick Gyldenløve built a blockhouse with battery and pali ...

(until 1930 named

) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Even though it was an important port it was first given its status as a town (''kjøpstad'') 1 July 1942. The small town and municipality of Stavern was merged with the larger town of Larvik 1 January 1988. Its former and current name is Stavern, but from 1799 to 1930 even the civilian part of the town was titled

Fredriksværn Fredriksvern (also called ''Friderichsværn'' (1801), ''Frederiksværn'' (1865), ''Fredriksværen'' (1900) and abbreviated ''Frsværn'') was an important Norwegian naval base, just south of Larvik in Vestfold. It is named after Fredrik V Denmark ...

as its only function was as the site of that naval base. From 1942 the town was Norway's smallest until it merged with Larvik in 1988 and lost its town status. In 1996 Stavern was again elevated to town status. During the 20th century, Stavern became a popular site for artists and craftsmen. The poet

Herman Wildenvey Herman Wildenvey (20 July 1885 – 27 September 1959), born Herman Theodor Portaas, was one of the most prominent Norwegian poets of the twentieth century. During his lifetime he published 44 books of his own poetry, in addition to translati ...

, the writer Jonas Lie as well as the painters

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

and Christian Krohg all lived in Stavern at some point in their lives. Today, the town is well known in southern Norway for its many exhibitions and art galleries. Stavern also is the site of

Minnehallen Minnehallen or Hall of Remembrance is a national memorial located outside Stavern in Larvik, Vestfold, Norway. The memorial was commissioned by the Norwegian Parliament after World War I to commemorate the fallen Norwegian sailors of the war. I ...

, the national memorial to fallen sailors of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

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 ...

and a statue of the 18th century naval hero

Peder Tordenskjold Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the ran ...

The 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 ''Staferni''. The first element is ''stafr'' 'staff, stick', the last element is the suffix ''-erni'' (often used in names of islands). What the word ''stafr'' is referring to here is unknown (see for instance under Stavanger).

Notable residents

Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen (23 September 1848 – 4 October 1895) was a Norwegian-American author and college professor. He is best remembered for his novel ''Gunnar: A Tale of Norse Life'', which is generally considered to have been the first novel ...

, Norwegian-American author, was born at Fredriksvern.

References

External links

Short history of Stavern
{{Coord, 59, 00, N, 10, 02, E, display=title, region:NO_type:city(5514)_source:dewiki Cities and towns in Norway Populated coastal places in Norway Populated places in Vestfold og Telemark Former municipalities of Norway Larvik