Levanger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| County | Nord-Trøndelag | |
| District | Innherad | |
| Municipality | NO-1719 | |
| Administrative centre | Levanger | |
| Mayor (2005) | Odd-Eiliv Thraning (Ap) | |
| Official language form | Neutral | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage |
Ranked 172 645 km² 610 km² 0.20 % |
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| Population - Total (2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density |
Ranked 55 17,875 0.39 % 4.0 % 29/km² |
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| Coordinates | ||
| www.levanger.kommune.no |
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Levanger is a municipality and town in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway.
Levanger is a member of Cittaslow, the Italian initiative for slow towns.
The world's largest paper-producing company, Norske Skog, built its first ever factory in Skogn in the vicinity of Levanger. This factory started production in 1966, is working today, and it provides 530 jobs at the plant, and an additional 1,900 jobs in transportation and forestry.
Most of the city's commercial area is concentrated around the main street, called Kirkegata (The Church Street). This street runs throughout the city centre, and ends at the city borders with roads connecting to the E6 at both ends.
A ferry regularly runs between the town and the island of Ytterøy in the Trondheimsfjord.
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[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1960), and was originally the crest of just the city. It shows a horse, reminding of the market place traditions.
Description: Gules; A horse, statant, or.
[edit] History
The area now known as the municipality of Levanger was in the middle ages part of the county of Skeyna, except the parish of Åsen, belonging to the county of Strinda. The county of Skeyna was ruled by a long list of earls, who resided at the manor Geite on a hill nearby the present city. The county was divided into six parishes, Ekne, Alstadhaug, Levanger, Frol, Ytterøy and Leksvik. Alstadhaug served as Capital church of the county, and also housed the Fylking. Levanger was the central port and marketplace of Skeyna.
Little is known about the earls of Skeyna, because only a very few fragments exist that tells of their existence. The reformation and Danish occupation of Norway in 1537 caused a great disintegration of the Norwegian nobility, and so the last earl of Skeyna, Thorfind Geitejarl, was executed at Steinvikholm castle 18th of September 1537. The new Danish regime decided to unite the county of Skeyna with the four other Innherad counties, into the county of Steinvikholm.
Later the Levanger area was going to be parts of both Trondhjems amt county, Nordre Trondhjems amt and finally Nord-Trøndelag county. In 1837, the municipalities of Åsen, Skogn and Ytterøy was established, and, together with The City of Levanger and The Levanger-Borough of Levanger, made the area now being the municipality of Levanger.
The City of Levanger was founded by king Carl III 18th of may 1836. The city was founded in the small, existing village of Levanger in Skogn that had expanded from the traditional winter-fair, known as the "marsimartnan" or The St. Marcus Market of Levanger that probably dates back to the 13th century.
In October 1836, as the city lines were set it was proposed by commissionaire Mons Lie that "The city shall bear the name of Carlslevanger, so the name of this ancient soil can be united with that of the new city's glorious founder".
Though the sovereign refused his suggestion, the city protocols said "Carlslevanger Stad" instead of "Kjøpstaden Levanger" until 1838. The inhabitants of Levanger were not prepared at becoming a city, and so it took a long time before the city was constituted. In these early days the city was ruled by the Foged (Royal rural administrator).
At that time there were already established a trade organization,"Levangerpatrisiatet" from 1695, based on the market. But only citizens of Trondheim could be members, until Levanger became a city in its own right. In 1839 the first guild of the city was established, and in the following years several new trade - and craftsmen settled in the city.
In 1841 the first official elections were held, and Hans Nicolai Grønn was elected the first mayor of the city. Two years later the city got its first water pipe system, its first two primitive street lamps and a city hall.
The fire-security report of 1844 clearly confirmed the great risk of disastrous fire in the city's narrow lanes; all houses were wooden houses. Therefore the mayor hired major Johannes Sejersted to make a general report and draw up a new regulation plan, showing levanger as a more "continental" town.
And already in 1846 , two years later the city was nearly totally ruined by a great fire. Sejersteds regulation plan was used when the city was rebuilt. Levanger has been damaged by two great fires after that time; in 1877 and 1897, but each time the city has been rebuilt as a wooden city, and still today most houses are wooden houses.
Throughout the 19th century the famous market's economical importance faded out, and the ancient arrangement was reduced to a tradition without much content. That was the end of Levanger as an important port of foreign trade (Sweden-Norway)
However, in the early 20th century The City of Levanger was pleased by new establishments such as county hospital and college of education.
The German occupation in 1940 was the beginning of a 40-year long "interregnum" of the traditional "Marsimartnan".
In 1961 the City of Levanger was decided to be determined and, from 1st January 1962 become part of the Greater Municipality of Levanger and Boroughs, and the mayor was replaced by a municipal speaker. The municipality of Ytterøy was merged with Levanger two years later.
Over thirty years later, in 1997 , as a result of the resurrection of the "Marsimartnan" in 1989 , The City of Levanger was re-established, though the city still is part of The Municipality of The City of Levanger and belonging territories, usually shortened to Levanger kommune (Municipality).
In 2002 Levanger joined the Cittaslow movement.
[edit] Sites
The Museum of The City of Levanger Sea street 25. Hveding Auto Museum Sea street 24. The Pavillion, sited on the place of the original town hall. Used for the opening of the Market. The rudera of the St. Brettivae monastery church of Munkeby, Frol. Alstadhaug parish church, Skogn (Medieval stone-church). Brusve Museum, Levanger.
[edit] External links
| Municipalities of Nord-Trøndelag |  |
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Flatanger | Fosnes | Frosta | Grong | Høylandet | Inderøy | Leka | Leksvik | Levanger | Lierne | Meråker | Mosvik | Namdalseid | Namsos | Namsskogan | Nærøy | Overhalla | Røyrvik | Snåsa | Steinkjer | Stjørdal | Verdal | Verran | Vikna |
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