Gjøvik () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and

Hunndalen Hunndalen is a commercial and residential area of Gjøvik municipality, Innlandet (formerly Oppland) County. The area is considered to be one of districts of Gjøvik and is approximately three kilometers west of downtown Gjøvik. History Hunnd ...

. The municipality is the 169th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gjøvik is the 35th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 31,175. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has increased by 3.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Historically, the village of Gjøvik was part of the parish and municipality of

Vardal Vardal is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between Gjøvik Municipality and Vestre Toten M ...

. On 1 January 1861, the village was granted

kjøpstad A (historically ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'', from ) is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" in Denmark–Norway for several hundred years. Kjøpstads were places of trade and exporting materials (e.g. timber, flour, iron ...

(town) status. At that time, the village was separated from Vardal to form a separate municipality given its new status as a town. Initially, the new town and municipality of Gjøvik had 626 residents. On 1 July 1921, a part of

municipality located just outside the town of Gjøvik (population: 723) was

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

into the town. Again, on 1 January 1955, another part of

(population: 1,372) was transferred to the town. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring rural municipalities of Biri (population: 3,274),

Snertingdal Snertingdal is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1910 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Gjøvik Municipality in the traditional district of Vestoppland. The administrati ...

(population: 2,471), and most of

(population: 9,612) were all merged with the town of Gjøvik (population: 8,251) to form the new, larger Gjøvik Municipality.

Etymology

The municipality (originally the town) is named after the old ''

Gjøvik Gjøvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Norway, Biri, Bybrua, ...

'' farm (). The first element is which means "deep". The last element is which means "small bay" or "

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

Coat of arms

The original

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted in 1922 and it was in use until 2 September 1960 when a new coat of arms was put into use. The diagonal division of the shield shows green and white to symbolise the dark forests around the (light) city. The vertical wavy

pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

symbolises the

Hunnselva Hunnselva is a river in Innlandet and Akershus counties in Norway. The long river is located mostly in Innlandet county, but the headwaters are actually just over the border in Akershus county. The river generally flows north and it runs through ...

river that runs into the lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway and the fourth deepest in Norway and Europe. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the river Gudbrandsdalslågen flowing in from the north; the ...

(the largest lake in Norway). At the same time the pale also symbolizes a linden tree (which has no known symbolism). The linden tree has yellow leaves over the green background and red leaves over the white background. The arms included the statement (meaning "force and will") on the lower part of the

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

. The base of the design was meant to look like both water (the lake) and also a so-called "

potpourri Potpourri ( ) is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant materials used to provide a gentle natural scent, commonly in residential settings. It is often placed in a decorative bowl. Etymology The word "potpourri" comes into English from ...

" vase, the most significant design of the

glassworks Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container p ...

factory that was the founding industry of the town.Photo
of the old arms. The current

was granted on 2 September 1960 to replace an older coat of arms. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Azure Azure may refer to: Color * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 * ...

, a

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

naiant

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a swimming swan ('' Cygnus cygnus''). The swan has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The swan is a symbol for the

side-wheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

''Skiblander'', often called the "white swan of

", which is usually docked in the town harbor. The arms were designed by Finn Krafft. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has seven parishes () within the municipality of Gjøvik. It is part of the Toten prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

Gjøvik Church Gjøvik Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gjøvik Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the town of Gjøvik. It is the church for the Gjøvik parish which is part of the Toten prosti (deanery) in the Di ...

is the main church for the municipality. It was designed by architect

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Nor ...

. The wooden structure was built between 1881 and 1882. Both the church buildings and fixtures are designed in

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

. The exterior of the church has contrasting colors on wall surfaces and bearing structures. The altarpiece was painted by artist,

Asta Nørregaard Asta Nørregaard (13 August 1853 – 23 March 1933) was a Norwegian painter who was best known for her portraits. Biography Nørregaard was born in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of Hans Peter Nørregaard (1818–18 ...

. The churchyard has a monument dedicated to the memory of Lutheran missionary,

Paul Olaf Bodding Paul Olaf Bodding (2 November 1865 – 25 September 1938) was a Norwegian missionary, linguist and folklorist. Biography Paul Olaf Bodding was born at Gjøvik in Oppland, Norway. He was the son of Edward Olsen Bodding (1825–1905) and Betzy E ...

. The church was restored during 1927, 1960, 2004-2005 and in 2009.

Geography

Along with

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

Brumunddal Brumunddal is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Ringsaker Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. It is located on the shores of the lake Mjøsa, about north of the town of ...

, and

Moelv Moelv is a town in Ringsaker Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is located along the shores of the lake Mjøsa, about south of the town of Lillehammer and about the same distance northwest of the town of Hamar. Moelv is the seco ...

, Gjøvik is one of the many towns bordering Norway's biggest lake,

. The town administration of Gjøvik also includes the suburb area

and the rural districts of Biri, Snertingdal, and Vardal. Gjøvik is bordered on the north by

Lillehammer Municipality Lillehammer Municipality is the local government for Lillehammer, Norway. The administration is located in the town of Lillehammer. The municipality is governed by a 47-member municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a ...

, in the south by Østre Toten Municipality and

Vestre Toten Municipality Vestre Toten is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rau ...

, and in the west by Søndre Land Municipality and

Nordre Land Municipality Nordre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka. Other villages in the municipality include Vest-Torpa, Nord-To ...

. Across Lake Mjøsa to the east lies

Ringsaker Municipality Ringsaker () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Br ...

. The highest point is Ringsrudåsen with a height of .

Economy

Gjøvik owes much of its early growth to the local glassworks, which were established there by Caspar Kauffeldt in 1807. In the early 19th century, there was considerable

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

there from

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre S ...

and

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

, aiding Gjøvik's growth. The village of Gjøvik was granted

status in 1861, making it a town and self-governing municipality. Later, O. Mustad & Son became one of the world's largest manufacturers of

fish hook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called an angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by i ...

s. Today dolphitech, Hoff Potetindustrier, Hunton Fiber, and Natre Vinduer are some of the industrial companies operating from Gjøvik. The town is also a port for the former traffic ship, ''

Skibladner PS ''Skibladner'' is the world's oldest paddle steamer in timetabled service, and the only paddle steamer operating in Norway, sailing on lake Mjøsa. ''Skibladner'' is a side-wheel paddle steamer, and her maiden voyage was on 2 August 1856. ...

'', which is now a tourist ship. The local paper is the ''

Oppland Arbeiderblad ''Oppland Arbeiderblad'' (''OA'') is a newspaper based in Gjøvik, Norway. It was founded in 1924 after the Labour Party lost its newspaper in the city, '' Ny Dag'', to the Communists. At that time there were several daily newspapers in Vestoppl ...

''. It was formerly a Labour Party newspaper. Defunct newspapers include '' Oplændingen'' and '' Velgeren'' (Labour Democrat/Liberal), '' Samhold'' (Liberal, later Agrarian) and '' Ny Dag'' (Communist). Gjøvik has two notable hotels, the Grand hotel and the Strand hotel. There have been three notable concerts held in Gjøvik's history, which starred Toto,

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

and Bryan Adams (June 2011).

Government

Gjøvik Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient Health care, health services, old age, senior citizen services, welfare spending, welfare and other Social work, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a Municipal council (Norway), municipal council of Direct election, directly elected representatives. The mayor is Indirect election, indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The Municipal council (Norway), municipal council of Gjøvik is made up of 41 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political Political party, party.

Mayors

The Mayor#Scandinavia, mayors () of Gjøvik: *1861–1872: Adolph Martin Lund *1873-1873: Peter Soelberg *1874-1874: Martin Opsahl *1875–1879: Adolph Martin Lund *1879–1884: Haagen Skattum (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1885–1888: Mathias Wildaasen (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1889-1889: Hans O. Eger (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1890-1890: Andreas Slettum *1891–1893: Fredrik Fischer (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1894-1894: Christian Nygaard (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1895–1896: Anders Østbye (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1897-1898: Fredrik Fischer (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1898–1899: Anders Østbye (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1900-1900: Fredrik Fischer (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1901-1901: Anders Østbye (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1902–1904: Alf Mjøen (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1905-1905: Fredrik Fischer (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1906-1906: Adolf Houg (Liberal Party (Norway), V) *1907-1907: Fredrik Fischer (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1908-1908: Leif Castberg (Radical People's Party (Norway), AD) *1909-1909: Adolf Skattum (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1910–1916: Leif Castberg (Radical People's Party (Norway), AD) *1917–1922: Johan Granvin (Conservative Party (Norway), H) *1923–1941: Niels Ødegaard (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *1941–1945: John Lærum (Nasjonal Samling, NS) *1945–1967: Niels Ødegaard (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *1968–1978: Nils Røstadstuen (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *1978–1981: Alf Iversen (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *1982–1991: Martin Stikbakke (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *1992–2000: Tore Hagebakken (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *2000–2001: Kåre Haugen (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *2001–2005: Tore Hagebakken (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *2005–2007: Kåre Haugen (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *2007–2019: Bjørn Iddberg (Labour Party (Norway), Ap) *2019–2023: Torvild Sveen (Centre Party (Norway), Sp) *2023-present: Anne Bjertnæs (Conservative Party (Norway), H)

Attractions

* The world's largest arena excavated in rock, called Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall, Gjøvik Olympic Hall (), is located in Gjøvik. It was one of the sites of the 1994 Winter Olympics, Lillehammer Winter Olympics ice hockey Ice hockey at the 1994 Winter Olympics, games in 1994. * Gjøvik farm * Gjøvik glassworks * Eiktunet cultural-history museum * The world's oldest paddle steamer still on a regular schedule, the PS

* Biri Travbane

Notable people

Public Service & public thinking

* Anders Lysgaard (1756–1827), a farmer and representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly * Hans Schikkelstad (1789–1843), a farmer and politician who founded O. Mustad & Søn * Balthazar Mathias Keilhau (1797–1858), a Norwegian geologist and mountain pioneer * Hans Mustad (1837–1918), a Norwegian businessperson who shaped the company O. Mustad & Son * Johan Castberg (1862–1926), a jurist and politician in Gjøvik from 1890-1900 *

(1865–1938), a missionary to India memorialized by monument at Gjøvik church * Ole Evinrude (1877–1934), a Norwegian-American who invented the first practical outboard motor * Niels Ødegaard (1892–1976), an educator, newspaper editor, and politician * Harold Harby (1894–1978), a city council member in Los Angeles, California * Arne Austeen DFC (1911–1945), a Norwegian flying ace who was killed in WWII * Ragnhild A. Lothe (born 1958), a microbiologist and cancer researcher * Hans Olav Lahlum (born 1973), an historian, crime author, chess player, and politician

The Arts

* Finn Lange (1895–1976), a Norwegian actor * Georg Adelly (1919–1997), a Swedish film actor * Torbjørn Sunde (born 1954), a jazz trombonist and former speed-skater * Kjell Ola Dahl (born 1958), an author of Nordic noir crime novels * Per A. Borglund (born 1961), a Norwegian newspaper and magazine editor * Per Elvestuen (born 1962), a Norwegian illustrator * Mai Britt Normann (born 1966), a Norwegian singer-songwriter * Eirik Hegdal (bornr 1973), a jazz saxophonist, composer, and leader of Trondheim Jazz Orchestra * Ali Pirzad-Amoli (born 1988), a pop singer-songwriter and rapper who goes by the stage name ''A-Lee'' * Anna of the North, Anna Lotterud (born 1989), a singer-songwriter who goes by the stage name ''Anna of the North'' * Nora Foss al-Jabri (born 1996), a singer and participant in the Norwegian 2012 Eurovision Song Contest

Sport

* Guttorm Berge (1929–2004), an Alpine skier, bronze medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics * Roger Aandalen (born 1965), a Norwegian boccia player and paralympic medallist * Bente Nordby (born 1974), a former football goalkeeper with 172 caps with Norway women's national football team, Norway women * Tord Linnerud (born 1974), a rallycross driver * Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk (born 1978), a retired team handball player and Olympic medallist * Gro Hammerseng (born 1980), a Team handball, handball player and captain of the Norway women's national handball team, Norwegian national team * Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (born 1990), a cross-country skier and medallist at the 2014 Winter Olympics * Maren Lundby (born 1994), a successful ski jumper and gold medallist at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Twin towns – sister cities

Gjøvik is sister city, twinned with: * Gävle Municipality, Gävle, Sweden * Næstved Municipality, Næstved, Denmark * Rauma, Finland, Rauma, Finland * Stoughton, Wisconsin, Stoughton, United States

Media gallery

Gjovik rådhus 2019 - 1.jpg, Gjøvik City Hall Gjoevik gaard park.jpg, Park at the Gjøvik farm Skibladner boathouse Gjøvik.jpg, Skibladner boathouse, Gjøvik

References

External links

*
Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
Tourist information

NTNU Gjøvik
- University {{DEFAULTSORT:Gjovik Gjøvik, Municipalities of Innlandet 1838 establishments in Norway