Hurum was 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' ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. As of 1 January 2020 Hurum has merged with the municipalities of

Røyken Røyken is a district and village (''bygd'') and a former municipality in Buskerud in Viken County, Norway. In 2020 Røyken was merged with the municipalities of Hurum and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality (informally called "Greater As ...

and

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

to form the new

Asker Municipality Asker Municipality is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway, that was established in 2020 by the merger of Asker in Akershus and Røyken and Hurum in Buskerud county. Asker proper (also called ''Askerbygda'') constitutes the northern fourth of ...

located in the newly formed

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 Göta canal *IF Viken, ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village Sætre. The municipality of Hurum was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

). The small village of

Holmsbu Holmsbu is a small village located in Akershus, Norway. Holmsbu is situated in the municipality of Asker (municipality), Asker on the west side of the peninsula of Hurumlandet on Drammensfjord. The village had 309 residents as of 1 January 2014 ...

was granted town status in 1847, but it did not become a municipality of its own. It lost its town status on 1 January 1964. Hurum was once suggested as the location for the new national

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

of Norway. The plan was, however, abandoned, due to fears of too much fog in Hurum, and the main airport is now situated at

Gardermoen Oslo Airport () , alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is an international airport serving Oslo, the capital and most populous city of Norway. The airport is the second largest in Scandinavia and the Nordi ...

in Akershus.

Etymology

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was ''Húðrimar''. The meaning of the first element ''(Húð)'' is unknown and the last element is the

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

form of ''rimi'' which means "

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...

is from modern times. They were granted on 2 February 1979. The arms show two blue wavy lines on a silver background. This was chosen because the municipality is on a peninsula between two

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

and

Drammensfjord Drammensfjord () is a fjord in along the border of Akershus and Buskerud counties in Norway that connects to Ytre Oslofjord on the west side. It stretches about to the north and northeast. The Drammenselva river discharges into the head of the f ...

. At the same time the arms are based on the arms of the Huitfeldt family, who played a major role in the local history. The family used a single bend as arms.

History

Hurum was the site of the

Hurum air disaster The Hurum air disaster was an Aero Holland plane crash in Hurum southwest of Oslo, Norway when a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Douglas DC-3 which was carrying Jewish children from Tunisia who were to transit through Norway while immigrating to Israel c ...

on 20 November 1949. Hurum kirkested 300720088212 rk 84662

Geography

The municipality borders

to the north. To the west the coastline is located close to the eastern coast of

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

with

Svelvik is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Drammen Municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The town is located along the west shore of the Drammensfjorden, about to the southeast of the Drammen (town), town of Drammen and about north ...

. It is connected to the eastern side of the Oslofjord via

Oslofjordtunnel The Oslofjord Tunnel () is a subsea road tunnel which traverses the Oslofjord, connecting Hurum and Frogn in Norway. Carrying three lanes, the long tunnel reaches a depth of below mean sea level. The tunnel has a maximum gradient of seven pe ...

, one of the longest

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry l ...

s of its kind in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

. The tunnel is long and connects Hurumhalvøya to

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

county. Hurum is located on the southern part of Hurumhalvøya, which is the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

between the Oslofjord and Drammensfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Sætre, which together with Tofte are one of the two most populated villages in Hurum.

Churches in Hurum

* Filtvet Church * Holmsbu Church *Kongsdelene Church * Hurum Church

Hurum Church

Hurum Church (''Hurum kirke'') is the parish church for Hurum. This is a medieval era church dating from ca. 1150. The edifice is constructed of stone and has 150 seats. The original church was ravaged by fire the night after Christmas Day 1686. The following year the church received a new roof and turret. In 1849 the church was extensively rebuilt. The interior has undergone a number of changes in the course of time. The cemetery is surrounded by stone wall and has a chapel from 1938. Naval hero and native son,

Ivar Huitfeldt Iver Huitfeldt (5 December 1665 – 4 October 1710) was a Danish-Norwegian naval officer who was killed in action, when he commanded the ship '' Dannebroge'' during the Great Northern War. Biography Iver Huitfeldt was born in the Norwegian town ...

(1665-1710) was buried in the church yard. The pulpit was received as a gift from his wife, Kirsten Røyem Huitfeldt (1671–1750).

Merging and dissolution

On 9 May 2016, a referendum on the status of the municipality was held, with a majority of voters voting to merge Hurum with

and

to create a new and larger Asker. Subsequently, on 21 June the same year, a majority of municipal councillors voted in favor of applying for the merger, which was subsequently accepted by the local councils of both Røyken and Asker. It was determined that the municipalities would officially merge on 1 January 2020. During the

2019 Norwegian local elections Local elections were held in Norway on 9 September 2019. Voters elected representatives to municipal and county councils, which are responsible for education, public transport, health, and elderly care, and for the levy of certain taxes. The loc ...

, voters in the three municipalities voted on who they wanted to govern the new municipality rather than their three original municipalities, the newly elected councillors took their seats on the same day as the municipalities merged.

Notable people

* Gustav Peter Blom (1785 in Hurum – 1869) civil servant, historian and rep. at the

Norwegian Constitutional Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

at Eidsvoll in 1814 *

Andreas Tofte Andreas Tofte (28 March 1795 – 27 September 1852) was a Norwegian people, Norwegian businessperson, elected official and philanthropist. He served as the first Mayor of Oslo, Norway. Biography He was born on the Tofte, Norway, Tofte farm ...

(1795 in Hurum – 1852) businessman, first

Mayor of Oslo The Mayor of Oslo (Bokmål: ''Oslos ordfører''; Nynorsk: ''Oslos ordførar'') is the chief executive of Oslo. The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within O ...

in 1837 *

Thomas Fredrik Olsen Thomas Fredrik Olsen (1897–1969) was a Norwegian ship-owner. Son of Fredrik Olsen and born in Hvitsten, he worked in the family company Fred. Olsen & Co. from 1920. He held a board position in a range of companies, including Det Norske Luftfa ...

(1857 in Filtvet – 1933) ship company owner of Fred. Olsen & Co. *

Odd Børresen Odd Børresen (August 19, 1923 – January 22, 2010) was a Norwegians, Norwegian linguist, preacher, and missionary in the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he was involved with schools and education. Life Børresen was born in ...

(1923 in Sætre – 2010) a linguist, preacher, and missionary in the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Reiulf Steen Reiulf Steen (16 August 1933 – 5 June 2014) was a Norwegian politician with the Norwegian Labour Party. He was active in the Labour Party from 1958 to 1990, serving as deputy party chairman from 1965 to 1975 and chairman from 1975 to 1981. St ...

(1933 in Hurum – 2014) a Norwegian author, ambassador and politician *

Morten Harket Morten Harket (; born 14 September 1959) is a Norwegian singer who is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop band A-ha. A-ha has released 11 studio albums as of 2024, and topped the charts internationally after their breakthrough hit "Take On Me" i ...

(born 1959) the voice of the Norwegian band

a-ha A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...

, lives in Sætre

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

{{Authority control Asker