Holmestrand
Holmestrand kommune | |||
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Municipality | |||
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 Holmestrand within Vestfold | |||
| Coordinates: 59°29′43″N 10°14′55″E / 59.49528°N 10.24861°E / 59.49528; 10.24861Coordinates: 59°29′43″N 10°14′55″E / 59.49528°N 10.24861°E / 59.49528; 10.24861 | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Vestfold | ||
| Administrative centre | Holmestrand | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Alf Johan Svele (H) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 86 km2 (33 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 84 km2 (32 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | #394 in Norway | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 10,065 | ||
| • Rank | #104 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 113/km2 (290/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | 3.1% | ||
| Demonym(s) | Holmestranding[1] | ||
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-0715 | ||
| Official language form | Bokmål | ||
| Website | www.holmestrand.kommune.no | ||
Data from Statistics Norway | |||
Holmestrand (help·info) is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The neighboring rural municipality of Botne was merged into the municipality of Holmestrand on 1 January 1964. Sande municipality will be merged into Holmestrand on January 1, 2020. The municipality of Hof was merged into Holmestrand on January 1, 2018.[2]
The town lies by the Oslofjord and is built beside the water. It was granted municipal status in 1752, but had been a harbour for exporting of timber/lumber since around 1550. The municipality has developed inland in recent years, after the inclusion of Botne. It borders Sande and the Oslo Fjord in the east, Re in the south, and it has a short border to Larvik in the south-west. It is bordered by Buskerud County in the west and north.
Holmestrand is home to Vestfold County’s largest lake, Eikeren. It is also Vestfjellet, which is the highest peak in the county.[3]
Contents
1 Name
2 Coat-of-arms
3 Ethnic and foreign minority
4 Geography
5 Transportation
6 Notable residents
7 International relations
7.1 Twin towns — Sister cities
8 References
9 External links
Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Holmastrand. The first element is the genitive case of holmi which means "(rocky) hill" and the last element is strand which means "shore", "beach", or "strand".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is relatively modern, granted on 14 November 1898. The arms show a silver eagle holding a gold anchor in its left claw and a gold Rod of Asclepius in its right claw all on a red background. The eagle in the arms is derived from the arms of the merchant Johan Heinrich Tordenskiold, who, in 1819, donated all his fortune to build a school in Holmestrand. The eagle also gave its name to the main ship of the merchant, which is shown on the breast-shield, the White Eagle. The anchor symbolises the importance of Holmestrand as a harbour town. The snake on the Rod of Asclepius is the symbol of medicine and symbolises the former health spa in Holmestrand that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries.[4][5]
Ethnic and foreign minority
| Ancestry | Number |
|---|---|
 Poland | 226 |
 Lithuania | 109 |
 Philippines | 59 |
 Sweden | 53 |
 Denmark | 52 |
 Iraq | 51 |
 Thailand | 51 |
 Germany | 48 |
 Eritrea | 43 |
 Iceland | 37 |
Holmestrand Church dates from 1674
Fjord på Holmestrand by Johan Christian Dahl (1843)
Geography
Its islands include Langøya.[7]
Transportation
The European route E18 through Vestfold goes to the west around downtown Holmestrand and secondary roads connect the city to this highway.
The railway line Vestfoldbanen runs through the centre of Holmestrand, and the city is served by the station Holmestrand Station.
Notable residents
Harriet Backer (1845–1932), painter
Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847–1907), composer
Nils Kjær (1870–1924), author
Aleksander Vinter, electronic music producer
Dag Lovaas Speedway Rider
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Holmestrand:[8]
Arsuk, Sermersooq, Greenland
Åland Islands, Finland
Eiði, Eysturoy, Faroe Islands
Herning, Region Midtjylland, Denmark
Husby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Kangasala, Western Finland, Finland
Siglufjörður, Eyjafjörður, Iceland
Vänersborg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
References
^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/hof-og-holmestrand-soker-om-sammenslaing/id2468438/
^ https://snl.no/Holmestrand
^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2009-01-13.
^ "Holmestrand byvåpen" (in Norwegian). Holmestrand kommune. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
^ "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
^ Lokalpolitikerne visste ingenting om regjeringens Langøya-utredning
^ "Vennskapsbyer" (in Norwegian). Holmestrand kommune. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holmestrand. |
 | Look up Holmestrand in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Vestfold travel guide from Wikivoyage
Holmestrand travel guide from Wikivoyage
Vestfold travel guide from WikivoyageMunicipalities of Vestfold | ||
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