Holmestrand

Holmestrandⓘ is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark 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 merged into Holmestrand on January 1, 2020. The municipality of Hof was merged into Holmestrand on January 1, 2018.[3]

Holmestrand kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms of Holmestrand kommune
Coat of arms
Official logo of Holmestrand kommune
Vestfold og Telemark within
Norway
Nickname(s): 
Porten av Vestfold, Port of Vestfold
Holmestrand within Vestfold og Telemark
Holmestrand within Vestfold og Telemark
Coordinates: 59°29′43″N 10°14′55″E
CountryNorway
CountyVestfold og Telemark
DistrictVestfold
Administrative centreHolmestrand
Government
 • Mayor (2020)Elin Gran Weggesrud (Labour)
Area
 • Total432.36 km2 (166.94 sq mi)
 • Land411.82 km2 (159.00 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total24 699
 • Density59.98/km2 (155.3/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +3.1%
DemonymHolmestranding[1]
Official language
[2]
 • Norwegian formNeutral
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-3802
WebsiteOfficial website
Data from Statistics Norway

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. It borders the Oslo Fjord in the east, Tønsberg in the south, and it shares a short border with Larvik in the south-west. It is bordered by Viken 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.[4]

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.[5][6]

Ethnic and foreign minority
Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Holmestrand by country of origin in 2017[7]
Ancestry Number
 Poland226
 Lithuania109
 Philippines59
 Sweden53
 Denmark52
 Iraq51
 Thailand51
 Germany48
 Eritrea43
 Iceland37
Holmestrand Church dates from 1674

Geography

Its islands include Langøya.[8]

Further information: Buaren

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
Hans Hein Nysom, painting from 1860
Agathe Backer Grøndahl, 1870

International relations
Fjord på Holmestrand by Johan Christian Dahl (1843)
Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Holmestrand:[10]

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. "Hof og Holmestrand søker om sammenslåing". 19 December 2015.
  4. "Holmestrand". 2 July 2021.
  5. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  6. "Holmestrand byvåpen" (in Norwegian). Holmestrand kommune. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  7. "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents". ssb.no. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  8. Lokalpolitikerne visste ingenting om regjeringens Langøya-utredning
  9. IMDb Database retrieved 05 February 2021
  10. "Vennskapsbyer" (in Norwegian). Holmestrand kommune. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
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