Larvik
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| Basic data | |||
| Commune number : | 3805 | ||
| Province (county) : | Vestfold and Telemark | ||
| Administrative headquarters: | Larvik | ||
| Coordinates : | 59 ° 3 ' N , 10 ° 3' E | ||
| Surface: | 812.89 km² | ||
| Residents: | 47,204 (Feb 27, 2020) | ||
| Population density : | 58 inhabitants per km² | ||
| Language form : | Bokmål | ||
| Postal code : | 3250 | ||
| Structure: | Stavern , Nevlunghavn, Helgeroa, Kjose, Farris, Kvelde, Hvarnes, Verningen, Hedrum, Brunlanes, Kjerringvik, Tjølling, Lardal, Svarstad | ||
| Website: | |||
| traffic | |||
| Railway connection: | Vestfoldbanen | ||
| politics | |||
| Mayor : | Erik Bringeda ( H ) (2019) | ||
| Located in the province of Vestfold og Telemark | |||
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Larvik is a town and one of the largest municipalities in the Norwegian Vestfold countryside in the province of Vestfold og Telemark . The municipality borders Sandefjord to the east and Porsgrunn and Siljan to the west . Larvik is a port and industrial city and is located 105 km southwest of Oslo . The municipality also includes the localities of Stavern , Nevlunghavn, Helgeroa, Kvelde, Tjølling, Svarstad and Lardal.
Lardal was incorporated on January 1, 2018 .
Larvik is located in a region of volcanic origin and is the namesake for the rock larvikite , a rare natural stone that is quarried in the vicinity of the city. Larvik is part of the Gea Norvegica Geopark , which is part of a network of European Geoparks and the UNESCO- supported Global Network of National Geoparks . One of the largest Norwegian rivers, the Numedalslågen , flows into the Skagerrak southeast of the city . A mineral spring near the city is the origin of the Farris mineral water, which is known in Norway. Larvik has a moderate coastal climate with mild winter and warm summer weather.
history
Archaeological investigations revealed that there was a settlement as early as the Stone Age around 10,000 years ago. Eight defensive mounds have been identified in Larvik from the time of the Great Migration : four of them are in the Hedrum district , three in the Brunlanes district and one in the Tjølling district . In the Viking Age , one of the oldest settlements in Norway, Kaupang , was located in the immediate vicinity of Larvik , but it was abandoned around the year 800 due to silting up of the harbor. Larvik was first mentioned in 1512 as Laghervik , which probably meant Larvikfjord. As a town in the County of Brunla , it is called Laurvig in 1603 .
On September 29, 1671 the office (so the fiefs were called at that time) Brunla was raised to a hereditary county called " Laurvik " and transferred to the illegitimate half-brother of the king Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve . The county included Larvik and the Sandefjord municipalities including Tjøme and large parts of Kodal . It was to become the most valuable county in the entire Danish-Norwegian empire. Larvik received its own market rights in 1671, after the city had previously been subordinate to Tønsberg . However, it remained integrated into the county and without special privileges like other trading locations, but experienced its first boom through the rapidly growing timber trade.
The city of Larvik experienced its greatest heyday during the so-called "Grafenzeit", when Larvik was a county with which Danish nobles were enfeoffed. The liege counts were:
- 1671–1704 Count Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve (1683–1704)
- 1704–1754 Count Ferdinand Anton Danneskiold-Laurvig (1688–1754)
- 1754–1762 Count Frederik Ludvig Danneskiold-Laurvig (1717–1762)
- 1762–1783 Count Christian Conrad Danneskiold-Laurvig (1723–1783)
- 1783–1785 inheritance dispute
- 1785–1791 Count Christian Ahlefeldt-Laurvig (1732–1791)
- 1791–1805 Count Frederik Ahlefeldt-Laurvig (1760–1832)
The names "Gyldenløve" were reserved for the illegitimate sons of the Danish-Norwegian kings who were not entitled to inheritance and “Danneskiold” were reserved for the descendants of the illegitimate sons of the Danish-Norwegian kings who were not entitled to inherit.
The fort in the district of Stavern was an important location for Admiral Tordenskiold's fleet during the Northern War 1709–1720 . In 1750 a naval base was laid out in Stavern by the Danish-Norwegian King Fredrik V and the Fredriksvernverft founded, which was moved to Horten in 1828 .
An ironworks was built in the 19th century . She soon had to contend with cheaper competition from Sweden. But in the 1840s the ironworks got access to the American market and was able to assert itself with bar goods despite higher prices due to better quality. The plant reached its highest production rate around 1850. The collapse followed in 1865 when iron ore was smelted with coal in England and Sweden . The entrepreneur switched to wood processing and built a steam-powered sawmill in 1865, and another steam saw was added in 1871. Around 1870 the ship designer Colin Archer founded a shipyard in Larvik, where, among other things, the Fram was built, with which Amundsen and Nansen carried out their research trips.
traffic
Larvik has a daily ferry connection with the M / S SuperSpeed 2 of the Color Line to Hirtshals (until 2005 to Frederikshavn ) in Denmark .
Larvik has been connected to the Vestfoldbane from Drammen to Skien since 1881 .
Attractions
- The seafaring museum shows the close connection between the city and seafaring from the earliest beginnings to the shipbuilding of Colin Archer and the expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl .
- Herregården (manor), important Norwegian baroque building, the former residence of the Danish governor and Count Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve.
- Fredriksvern Verft, park in the district of Stavern with 17 listed buildings from the 18th century.
- Presteåsen building stone
Sports
The city's sporting flagship is the women's handball club Larvik HK , which has been Norwegian champion 14 times since 1994 and won the EHF Champions League in 2011 .
Town twinning
sons and daughters of the town
- Colin Archer (1832-1921), ship designer
- Oscar Wisting (1871–1936), polar explorer
- Arthur Omre (1887–1967), writer and translator
- Erling Tambs (1888–1967), writer and sailor
- Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002), scientist and ethnologist
- Frank Sachnowitz (1925–1943), victim of the Holocaust
- Arne Nordheim (1931–2010), composer
- Terje Moe Gustavsen (1954–2019), politician
- Ingvar Ambjørnsen (* 1956), writer, spent his childhood in Larvik
- Hallvar Thoresen (* 1957), football player and coach
- Hilde Merete Aasheim (* 1958), entrepreneur
- Anne Holt (* 1958), crime writer
- Terje Gewelt (* 1960), jazz and fusion bassist
- Lasse Gjertsen (* 1984), animation artist
