Kristiansand

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
coat of arms map
Kristiansand commune coat of arms
Kristiansand (Norway)
Kristiansand
Kristiansand
Basic data
Commune number : 4204
Province  (county) : Agder
Administrative headquarters: Kristiansand
Coordinates : 58 ° 9 ′  N , 8 ° 0 ′  E Coordinates: 58 ° 9 ′  N , 8 ° 0 ′  E
Surface: 644.16 km²
Residents: 111,633  (Feb 27, 2020)
Population density : 173 inhabitants per km²
Language form : neutral
Postal code : 4604-4698
Website:
traffic
Railway connection: Sørlandsbanen
politics
Mayor : Jan Oddvar Skisland  ( Ap ) (2020)
Location in the province of Agder
Location of the municipality in the province of Agder
.

Kristiansand [ kristiansan ] (formerly Kristiansand / Kristiansand) is a city in Norway Fylke Agder with 111,633 inhabitants (as of February 27, 2020). Your municipality extends far beyond the built-up urban area and encloses the Kristiansandsfjord and its branch, the Topdalsfjord.

Kristiansand is the capital of Sørlandet ("Südland"). To avoid confusion with the town of Kristiansund in Fylke Møre og Romsdal , an S is often added to the name in Norwegian (Kristiansand S).

history

Christiansholm
Christian IV statue

Excavations show that settlements took place here as early as the Stone Age. Because of its strategically important location on the Skagerrak , it was built in 1555 under King Christian III. first fortifications.

Christianssand was officially founded in 1641 by the Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV , whose aim was to create a new trading center and a military base on the southern Norwegian coast. The city was built on a flat, sandy headland at the mouth of the Otra in the Kristiansand Bay of the Skagerrak. The plan for this was designed by the Dane Hans Jakobsson Schørt based on Central European models of the absolutist-mercantilist city ideal. The city was laid out like a chess board with 54 square fields. The city center, about one km² in size, has the name Kvadraturen because of its square arrangement of streets . The centerpiece of the facility was the large market square in the middle of the square, which has been greatly reduced in size today.

Kristiansand became a garrison town in 1666 and a bishopric in 1682.

Cathedral church

Just a few years after the city was founded, the first church and the first Latin school were built near the market square. In 1650 the first post office was opened on the postal route between Christiania and Stavanger . The first newspaper, Christianssandske Ugeblade, was founded around 1780, and the city's cultural boom began in the same period.

Fires in 1734, 1859, 1880 and 1892 destroyed large parts of the town, which mainly consisted of wooden houses. The characteristic white wooden houses, which were spared from the fire in 1892, are located in the northeast of the city center of Kvadraturen , in the Posebyen district , which is supposed to mean "pocket town". In the old town, many of the historic buildings were destroyed by the great fire of 1892, so that wooden houses were forbidden during reconstruction. As a result of the historicism prevailing at this time , churches and public buildings in the Gothic and Romantic styles, as well as town houses, were often rebuilt in the style of antiquity or Renaissance . The old town with its variety of architectural forms of expression therefore today offers a cityscape that is atypical for Norway. This district is also called Murbyen (brick town).

In 1896 a railway connection was created with the Setesdalsbahn .

The fortress structures that were built on the islands protecting the harbor lost their importance as early as the 19th century, as did the fortresses Fredriksholm and Christiansø (originally called Flekkerhus) about seven kilometers away. The city regained its strategic importance during the Second World War . On April 9, 1940, Kristiansand was one of the first Norwegian cities to be captured by the German Wehrmacht as part of Operation Weser Exercise . During the German occupation, the Todt organization had a fortification built by Soviet prisoners of war on the island of Møvik off Kristiansand, which now houses a cannon museum.

On January 1, 1965, the surrounding municipalities Oddernes, Randesund and Tveit were incorporated into Kristiansand. After controversial discussions among the citizens, the new mayor elected in 2011 suggested giving the town back the old name Christianssand, because this name stood for the town's tradition. On January 1, 2020, the municipalities of Songdalen and Søgne were incorporated into the municipality of Kristiansand.

local community Residents
January 1, 2019 		Area
in km²
Kristiansand 92,282 277
Songdalen 6.706 217
Søgne 11,403 148
Kristiansand (new) 110.391 642

City arms

The main element in the city's coat of arms is the Norwegian lion in front of a pine tree, which symbolizes the local forest. The lion is also part of the Norwegian coat of arms. The royal crown indicates that the city was founded by the king. Under the crown are the letters RFP. The abbreviations mean Regna Firma Pietas (fear of God strengthens the kingdom). That was the motto of Christian IV. The coat of arms is framed by the text Cavsa Triumphat Tandem Bona (In the end the good cause triumphs). That is the city's motto.

Cityscapes

Image of the city center

  • Row of houses

  • Kilden Theater and Concert Hall

  • Kristiansand Town Hall

  • Promenade

  • Bystranda - beach in the center of the city

  • Siberian tigers in Kristiansand Dyrepark

Economy / industry

Kristiansand Fish Market

As early as the 19th century, repairing sailing ships that had been damaged by storms was an important industry in Kristiansand. There was a "mechanical workshop". Since the city has an excellent, easily accessible natural harbor , this was visited by the ships sailing by during storms. In addition, the steamers from Christiania (Oslo) to Bergen, Hull, London, Hamburg, Rotterdam and the steamers from Trondheim to Hamburg, Copenhagen and Stettin docked here. The docks were mainly geared towards the export of wood from the Agder provinces to the Netherlands.

The Christianssand Brewery, which has been in operation since 1859, is one of the city's most traditional companies. With the expansion of hydropower in the "Südland", new industrial companies settled in at the beginning of the 20th century. This is where the roots of some of Kristiansand's major companies today lie. These include Kristiansands Nikkelraffineringsverk , founded in 1910 , which was taken over by the Canadian mining group Falconbridge in 1929 and sold to Xstrata, an international mining group in 2006. The plant, now known as Xstrata Nikkelwerk AS , has an annual capacity of 92,000 tons of nickel, 38,000 tons of copper cathodes, 5,200 tons of cobalt and other valuable metals.

Engineers and workers such as For example, National Oilwell Varco (formerly Hydralift) and Aker Kværner MH (formerly Maritime Hydraulics) have made them market leaders in the world market for offshore oil and gas production . Elkem AS, founded in 1904 by Sam Eyde in the southern part of Vågsbygd , developed into a world-famous producer in the field of electrochemistry, including the production of anode compounds for electric blast furnaces. Today the focus of the company, which has been part of the Chinese Bluestar Group since 2011, is on the production of ferrosilicon and super-pure silicon for the solar cell industry.

Another important branch of the economy is the fishing industry.

The converter station of the HVDC Cross-Skagerrak is located near Kristiansand .

politics

Kristiansand is part of a more conservative and religious region, which is sometimes referred to as the "Norwegian Bible Belt ". For example, the election results of the Christian Democratic party Kristelige Folkeparti in Kristiansand are mostly well above the national average.

Political party Results of the location selection 2017 in%
Norway Kristiansand
Workers' part 27.4 23.1
Høyre 25.0 30.2
Fremskrittspartiet 15.2 13.3
Senterpartiet 10.3 2.9
Sosialistisk Venstreparti 6.0 5.7
Venstre 4.4 4.7
Christian folk party 4.2 11.6
Miljøpartiet De Grønne 3.2 3.8
Rødt 2.4 1.8

The last local elections in Kristiansand took place in 2015, when Harald Furre of the conservative Høyre party was elected as the new mayor. Here, too, the more conservative parties achieved a larger share of the vote than the national average.

Seats on Kristiansand City Council
Political party 2007 2011 2015 2019
Workers' part 11 14th 15th 13
Høyre 11 14th 13 13
Democrats i Norge 2 2 2 10
Kristelig Folkeparti 10 9 8th 8th
Miljøpartiet De Grønne 1 1 3 6th
Fremskrittspartiet 9 6th 4th 4th
Sosialistisk Venstreparti 2 1 2 4th
Senterpartiet 1 0 1 3
Rødt 1 1 1 2
Venstre 2 3 3 2
Pensjonistpartiet 3 2 1 1
Others 0 0 0 6th

Culture

  • Kilden Theater and Concert Hall
    • Agder Teater
    • Kristiansand Symfoniorkester
  • Night Gallery (experimental open air video art)
  • Quart Festival for bands & soloists from Germany and abroad (once a year in July)
  • Sørlandets Art Museum

tourism

In summer Kristiansand is one of Norway's most popular holiday resorts. The city is approached by ferries and cruise ships. The combination of sun, beaches and leisure activities such as Odderøya Live, Palmesus and the Kristiansand Dyrepark , an animal and amusement park, make Kristiansand an attractive tourist town.

College / Education

The University in Agder (Universitet i Agder), which was created in 2007 from the merger of 6 previous universities, is one of the largest universities in Norway with 9,100 students, including 7,000 in Kristiansand and 2,100 in Grimstad , and 920 employees. 140 courses are offered in 6 faculties. The university has a very strong international focus; there are numerous partnerships with universities and colleges around the world. The following disciplines are represented:

  • Faculty of Health and Sports
  • Faculty of Arts
  • Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
  • Faculty of Mathematics and Science
  • Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Teacher Education
  • Humanistic Faculty

traffic

The Varodd bridges for E18 / Rv 91 over the Topdalsfjord near Kristiansand

Kristiansand is an important transport hub in southern Norway.

Trunk roads

The European road E 18 (Rijksvej Rv 91) from Oslo, which is not continuously expanded to four lanes, ends in Kristiansand. At Kristiansand, the E 18 crosses the Topdalsfjord on two bridges. The south-western bridge structure is the Varoddbrua (Varodd Bridge / two lanes out of town), built in 1956 , which, with a total length of 618 m and a span of 337 meters, is one of the world's 100 largest bridges with a large span. The north-eastern bridge is a new construction from 1994 with a length of 663 m and the largest span of 260 m (two lanes into town).

The city is also the starting point of the E 39 European route to Stavanger (235 km northwest).

The Rijksvej 9 to Edland (240 km north) and the Rv 41 to Brunkeberg (190 km north-east) also belong to the traffic junction.

railroad

Kristiansand terminus

Rail connections exist with the Sørlandsbahn to Oslo and Stavanger .

Long-distance bus connections

Opposite the main train station is the central bus station with daily bus connections to many cities in Norway. Among other things, the companies Sørlandsekspressen, Lavprisekspressen and Competitors offer several trips to Oslo with several stops along the route, including Porsgrunn and Larvik.

Ferry connections

Kristiansand ferry terminal

One of the most important ferry connections in southern Norway connects Kristiansand with Hirtshals in Denmark . The Color Line shipping company has been using the SuperSpeed ​​1 ferry on this route since 2008 , which replaces the Christian IV and the Silvia Ana high-speed ferry .

The shipping company Fjord Line also operates between Hirtshals and Kristiansand, but only in the summer months (April to September). The catamaran ferry Fjord Cat is the fastest ferry connection to Norway with only 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Air traffic

National and international flight connections are handled via Kristiansand Airport in Kjevik.

climate

Kristiansand
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
114
 
3
-2
 
 
78
 
2
-2
 
 
102
 
4th
0
 
 
57
 
7th
2
 
 
68
 
12
7th
 
 
67
 
16
11
 
 
83
 
18th
13
 
 
118
 
18th
13
 
 
134
 
15th
10
 
 
160
 
11
7th
 
 
153
 
7th
3
 
 
126
 
4th
0
Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm
Source:
Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Kristiansand
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 2.6 2.2 4.0 7.4 12.2 16.2 18.2 18.1 14.8 11.1 6.9 4.1 O 9.9
Min. Temperature (° C) - 1.5 - 2.0 - 0.3 2.4 6.9 10.8 12.8 12.9 10.3 7.0 2.9 0 O 5.2
Precipitation ( mm ) 114 78 102 57 68 67 83 118 134 160 153 126 Σ 1,260
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
2.6
- 1.5
2.2
- 2.0
4.0
- 0.3
7.4
2.4
12.2
6.9
16.2
10.8
18.2
12.8
18.1
12.9
14.8
10.3
11.1
7.0
6.9
2.9
4.1
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		114
78
102
57
68
67
83
118
134
160
153
126
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source:

Kristiansand has an oceanic climate. A significant amount of precipitation falls during the year, including the driest month of April, but most of it in October and about 1260 mm in total. The annual average temperature is 7.5 ° C. The coldest month is February, the warmest July. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Cfb.

Town twinning

Kristiansand lists ten twin cities :

city country since
Gdynia PolandPoland Poland 1991
Kerava FinlandFinland Finland
Hjørring DenmarkDenmark Denmark
Letchworth Garden City EnglandEngland England
Muenster GermanyGermany Germany 1967
Orleans FranceFrance France 1973
Rajshahi BangladeshBangladesh Bangladesh 1979
Reykjanesbær IcelandIceland Iceland
Trollhättan SwedenSweden Sweden
Walvis Bay NamibiaNamibia Namibia 2006

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Other personalities

  • Thilo Schoder (1888–1979), architect from Gera , emigrated to Kristiansand in 1932, where he worked until his death in 1979.
  • Kirsten Flagstad , Norwegian opera singer, has lived in her husband's hometown, who worked in the local timber industry, since her marriage in 1930, mainly during the summer months.
  • Karl Ove Knausgård , Norwegian writer, lived in Kristiansand for a few years when he was young.

Newspapers

Sports

Marina
The “Skippergada” in Kristiansand

Kristiansand hosted the 2011 European Beach Volleyball Championships.

literature

Web links

Commons : Kristiansand  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Kristiansand  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå - Befolkning
  2. ↑ Navn på nye kommuner. February 19, 2019, accessed October 1, 2019 (Norwegian).
  3. ↑ Eva Marie Bulai: - KrF har et Blitt bibelbelte-parti. September 15, 2017, accessed on March 6, 2019 (nb-NO).
  4. ↑ Kristiansand commune - Harald Furre valgt til ordfører. Retrieved March 6, 2019 (Norwegian).
  5. ↑ a b Kristiansand commune. In: valgresultat.no. September 17, 2015, accessed March 6, 2019 (Norwegian).
  6. ^ Tall for hele Norge. In: valgresultat.no. October 13, 2015, accessed March 6, 2019 (Norwegian).
  7. ↑ a b Kristiansand commune. In: valgresultat.no. September 28, 2011, accessed March 5, 2019 (Norwegian).
  8. ^ Kristiansand Commune. valgresultat.no, accessed September 10, 2019 (Norwegian).
  9. ↑ climate-data.org - Climate and weather in Kristiansand
  10. ^ Kristiansand commune - Næringsliv i Kristiansand. Retrieved December 4, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Vennskapsbyer - Kristiansand kommune . Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ Gdynia - Wszystko o Gdyni - Gdynia miedzynarodowa . Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  13. ^ City of Münster: International - sister city Kristiansand partnership . Retrieved December 12, 2014.