Kragerø () 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' ...

in Telemark

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 ...

. It is located in the traditional districts of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. 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 Kragerø. Villages in Kragerø include Helle, Vadfoss, Kil, and Portør. The municipality is the 262nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Kragerø is the 111th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 10,413. 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 decreased by 2.7% over the previous 10-year period. In the days of the

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

s, Kragerø was one of Norway's largest port cities. The

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', published an article on Kragerø stating that "When Norwegians want to get away from it all they head for Kragero.

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

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 ...

s and islands await them at the place where

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

found peace and relaxation." The population of Kragerø quadruples during its summer months due to high tourism. Edvard Munch fell in love with Kragerø in his time, and called it "The Pearl of the Coastal Towns" () In 2002, ''The Independent'' published an article on the region's coastline saying that "It may not have many sandy beaches, but the coast of Norway offers sophistication and stunning scenery."

General information

The town of Kragerø was established as a municipality 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 ...

law). Since it had been a town since 1666, the small town was granted self-governing rights under this new law. It was fully surrounded by the Sannikedal Municipality. On 1 January 1861, an area of Sannikedal (population: 857) that was adjacent to the growing town of Kragerø was annexed and transferred from Sannikedal to Kragerø. On 1 January 1891, an area of Skåtøy (population: 809) that was adjacent to the growing town of Kragerø was annexed and transferred from Skåtøy to Kragerø. 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 1960, the town of Kragerø (population: 4,638) was merged with the neighboring Skåtøy Municipality (population: 3,208) and Sannidal Municipality (population: 2,604).

Name

The municipality (originally the town of Kragerø) is named after the island of Kragerø () since the town was built on the island and mainland near it. The first element is which means "

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

". The last element is which means "

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

". The Norwegian spelling would have a ''k'' instead of the ''g'', but ''Kragerø'' uses the Danish form of the name, established in the 17th century.

Coat of arms

Kragerø received town privileges as a kjøpstad in 1666. Upon being granted this status, the town was given an obligation to provide a galley with five canons to the King for use in the Navy. From 1666 until 1842, Kragerø was dependent on the nearby town of Skien and had to pay taxes to Skien. Because of this, Kragerø used a seal which was identical to that of Skien depicting two skis, a cross, and flower decorations. After 1842, Kragerø began using a galley as its seal. The

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 on 28 January 1938 for the town of Kragerø and they were re-granted on 13 May 1960 after a municipal merger creating the present Kragerø Municipality. 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 ''" Sable, a galley argent"'' (). This means the arms have a black field (background) and the charge is a

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

. The galley 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 ...

of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms were designed by Einar Foss after a sketch made by Olaf Lia. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has five parishes () within the municipality of Kragerø. It is part of the Bamble 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 Agder og Telemark.

Geography

Kragerø is the southernmost municipality in Telemark. To the southwest, it borders the municipality of Risør (in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county); to the west is Gjerstad (also in Agder county); to the northwest is Drangedal; and to the northeast is Bamble. Kragerø is popular among Norwegians (as well as foreigners) as a vacation destination during the summer, when the population swells considerably. The municipality includes 495

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s, and skerries along with 4,000 leisure houses. There are also 190

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

lakes in the municipality. The main offshore islands include Tåtøy, Kragerø, Skåtøy, Langøy, Bærøy, Gumøy, Stråholmen, and Jomfruland. The Fossingfjord and Kilsfjord both are found in Kragerø. The large lake Toke is partially located in the northern part of Kragerø.

Government

Kragerø Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services, welfare and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Kragerø is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The mayors () of Kragerø: * 1838–1842: Daniel Bremer Juell * 1843–1843: Hans Kamstrup * 1844–1844: Albert Biørn * 1845–1846: Tellef Dahll Schweigaard * 1847–1847: Folkman Freck * 1848–1848: Hans Biørn Wenneberg * 1849–1849: Hans Schaanning * 1850–1850: L. Larsen * 1851–1851: Hans Schaanning * 1852–1852: L. Larsen * 1853–1853: Thomas Doran * 1854–1854: Lars Bastian Ridder Stabell * 1855–1855: Thomes Thomesen * 1856–1856: Hans Biørn Wenneberg * 1857–1858: Christian Rømer * 1859–1859: Peter Bredsdorff * 1860–1860: Hans Doran * 1861–1862: Halvor Andreas Bentsen * 1863–1863: Christian Homann * 1864–1864: Thomes Thomesen * 1865–1866: Lauritz Bentzon Thrap * 1867–1867: Halvor Andreas Bentsen * 1868–1868: Thomas Møller Wiborg * 1869–1869: Christian Homann * 1870–1870: Halvor Andreas Bentsen * 1871–1871: Christian Homann * 1872–1872: Peter Bredsdorff * 1873–1874: Johan Dahll * 1875–1875: Christian Rømer * 1876–1876: Halvor Andreas Bentsen * 1877–1878: Anton Larsen-Naur ( H) * 1879–1880: Fredrik J. Mürer * 1881–1884: Anders Daae * 1885–1885: Anton Larsen-Naur ( H) * 1886–1886: Nils August Synnestvedt * 1887–1887: Christian Gierløff ( H) * 1888–1888: Jacob Aalborg * 1889–1890: Anton Larsen-Naur ( H) * 1891–1891: Nils Christian Stockfleth Aall * 1892–1894: Søren Anton Wenneberg * 1895–1900: Carl Bundi ( V) * 1901–1905: Ambortius Lindvig ( V) * 1906–1907: Nicolay Wiborg ( SmP) * 1908–1910: Godske Nielsen ( H) * 1911–1913: Hartvig Johnsen ( AvH) * 1914–1915: Knud Emanuel Olsen * 1916–1916: Nicolay Wiborg ( FV) * 1917–1919: Rolf Svendsen ( AvH) * 1920–1920: Hartvig Johnsen ( AvH) * 1921–1921: Christen Eriksen Berg ( V) * 1922–1922: Einar Juell ( H) * 1923–1925: Anders Jørgensen ( AvH) * 1926–1932: Anders Eide ( H) * 1933–1934: Thorvald Naper ( H) * 1935–1937: Tor Kivle ( Ap) * 1938–1940: Daniel Bull ( H) * 1941–1941: Henry Karlsen ( NS) * 1941–1943: A.E. Abrahamsen ( NS) * 1943–1944: L.P. Thoresen ( NS) * 1944–1945: Olav Kvaalen ( NS) * 1945–1945: Daniel Bull ( H) * 1946–1946: Petter Bentsen ( Ap) * 1946–1957: Thorbjørn Nilsen ( Ap) * 1957–1959: Reidar Soløy ( Ap) * 1960–1963: Arne Midgaard ( Ap) * 1964–1975: Thorleif Knutsen ( Ap) * 1976–1981: Einar Barland ( KrF) * 1982–1983: Per Espeli ( H) * 1984–1999: Magnar Kalseth ( Ap) * 1999–2003: Kari Fosso ( H) * 2003–2007: Erling Laland ( Ap) * 2007–2015: Kåre Preben Hegland ( H) * 2015–2019: Jone Blikra ( Ap) * 2019–2023: Grunde Wegar Knudsen ( Sp) * 2023-present: Charlotte Therkelsen ( R)

Notable people

* Anton Martin Schweigaard (1808–1870), a

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and economic reformer * Henriette Homann (1819–1892), a photographer and painter. * Nels Anderson (born 1828), a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

* Johan Christian Heuch (1838–1904), a Bishop of the Diocese of Agder * Theodor Kittelsen (1857–1914), a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

who also illustrated fairy tales, legends, and trolls * Hans Daae (1865–1926), a physician, military officer and sports official * Johan Søhr (1867–1949), a jurist and police officer * Thomas Krag (1868–1913), a novelist, playwright and writer of short stories * Samson Eitrem (1872–1966), a philologist, expert in ancient literature, religion and magic * Edvard Amundsen (1873–1928), a Lutheran missionary in China and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and an explorer * Inge Debes (1882–1945), a jurist, editor, and politician * Ronald Fangen (1895–1946), a novelist, playwright, psalmist, journalist, and literary critic * Eugen Skjønberg (1889–1971), an actor * Kirsten Heiberg (1907–1976), a Norwegian/German actress and singer * Else Heiberg (1910–1972), an actress * Ole Myrvoll (1911–1988), a professor of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, liberal politician, and Minister of Finance * Carsten Hopstock (1924–2014), an art historian who was the curator of Norwegian Museum of Cultural History * Alf Cranner (1936–2020), a folk singer, lyricist and painter who lived in Kragerø from the 1960s * Robert Mood (born 1958), a Major General and Head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS)

Sport

* Olaf Ørvig (1889–1939), a sailor and team gold medalist at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

* Knut Lundstrøm (born 1951), an athlete and winter paralympian * Geir Borgan Paulsen (born 1957), an IFBB Pro bodybuilder * Preben Fjære Brynemo (born 1977), a Nordic combined skier who competed at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Kragerø: * Mariehamn,

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Ka ...

, Region Sjælland,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region. The municipality has ...

, Western Finland,

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

, Gotland County,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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 ...

*
Kragerø Municipality

Kragerø city

Gigapan from Kragerø

From Kragerø: The Incredible Influence of Theodor Kittelsen on Black Metal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kragero Municipalities of Telemark 1838 establishments in Norway