Horten
Horten is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. Other population centers in Horten Municipality include the town of Åsgårdstrand and the villages of Nykirke, Skoppum, and Borre. The municipality is located on a peninsula along the Ytre Oslofjord.
The municipality is the 340th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Horten is the 42nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 27,682. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period.
Borre National Park contains the largest known burial site in Scandinavia. It also has the largest collection of king's graves in Scandinavia.
The local newspaper in Horten is named Gjengangeren, and covers mostly local news. The Bastøy Prison is located on the island of Bastøy which is located in the Ytre Oslofjord and is part of the municipality of Horten.
General information
The small port town of Horten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1858 after it was separated from Borre Municipality. Initially, it had a population of 4,636. On 1 August 1921, an area of Borre Municipality was transferred into the town of Horten. On 1 July 1951, another area of Borre Municipality was transferred into the town of Horten.During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the town of Åsgårdstrand and the Stang area of Sem Municipality were both merged with Borre Municipality. On 1 January 1986, an area of Borre Municipality was transferred into the town of Horten. On 1 January 1988, the neighboring Borre Municipality was merged with Horten Municipality. Prior to the merger, Horten Municipality was the same as the town of Horten, but afterwards, the municipality was much larger than the town. The name of the new municipality was somewhat controversial and the government chose Borre over Horten for the new name. On 1 June 2002, the name of the municipality was changed to Horten, following a referendum held in conjunction with the 2001 parliamentary election. The referendum was a close call with 6,557 votes for the name Horten and 6,218 votes for Borre.
Name
The municipality is named after the old Horten farm since the town was built on the old farm site. The name has an uncertain meaning. The name may come from a local dialect word hort which means the "outer, knotty bark on older trees" which likely derives from the Old Norse word hǫrtr which means "something uneven" or "wrinkled". Another option could be that it is derived from the Old Norse word hǫlkn or helkn which means "rocky ground", "shelter", or "place of refuge". yet another option is that it could be the definite form of hort which can mean "bulge". Several hills and mountains in Norway have the name Horten or Horta and here it could be referring to the Brårudåsen hill lying in the middle of the town.From 1 January 1988 until 1 June 2002, this municipality was named Borre. See Borre Municipality#Name.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 19 November 1907, just after Horten was designated as a kjøpstad, giving it town privileges. The blazon is "Per bend azure a fortress and boat on water and argent a rose". This means the arms are divided with a diagonal line. The field below the line shows a naval fort with a boat on the water. Above the line, there is a red rose and the field has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms use the old "English"-style of shield with a mural crown sits on top signifying that the municipality contains a city. The design shows the importance of the Karljohansvern naval base and the gardens of the city. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch. The municipal flag is white with the coat of arms in the centre.Churches
The Church of Norway has four parishes within the municipality of Horten. It is part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti in the Diocese of Tunsberg.| Parish | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
| Borre | Borre Church | Borre | c. 1100 |
| Borre | Skoppum Church | Skoppum | 1989 |
| Horten | Horten Church | Horten | 1855 |
| Horten | Løvøy Chapel | Løvøya | c. 1200 |
| Horten | Sentrum Church | Horten | 1972 |
| Nykirke | Nykirke Church | Nykirke | c. 1100 |
| Åsgårdstrand | Åsgårdstrand Church | Åsgårdstrand | 1969 |
Geography
Horten Municipality is located on the western shore of the Ytre Oslofjord in Vestfold County. It borders Tønsberg Municipality to the south and west and Holmestrand Municipality to the north. Other nearby towns include Tønsberg to the south and the much smaller Holmestrand to the north. About half of the municipality's total area is made up of forests, while slightly less than a third is agricultural land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten, along the coast. The smaller town of Åsgårdstrand is located in the southern part of the municipality, along the coast. The inland villages of Skoppum, Borre, and Nykirke are all located in the rural areas of the municipality.Nature preserves
Nature preserves include Vealøs, Adalstjern, Frebergsvik, and Falkensten. Additional nature preserves are found by the lake Borrevannet and the islands of Løvøya and Bastøy. There is a preserve in Åsgårdstrand as well. Falkenstendammen is a wildlife preserve, home to various nationally threatened species. Reverompa Plant Reserve was established in 2006 due to presence of the nationally endangered crested cow-wheat. Tordenskjoldeika is a protected 700-year-old oak tree by the harbor. Borre National Park is located along the coast, but this is primarily a historic park.Government
Horten Municipality is responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestfold District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.Municipal council
The municipal council of Horten is made up of 41 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.Mayors
The mayors of Horten:- 1858–1859: Honoratus Halling
- 1859–1865: Christian Torber Hegge Geelmuyden
- 1866–1867: Paul Lemvig Thrane
- 1868–1868: Johan Koren
- 1869–1869: Jacob Lerche Johansen
- 1870–1873: Christopher Gundersen
- 1874–1875: Einar Torkel Christian Tambeskjelver Rosenquist
- 1876–1876: Christian Torber Hegge Geelmuyden
- 1876–1876: Henrik Jakob Müller
- 1877–1877: Einar Torkel Christian Tambeskjelver Rosenquist
- 1878–1878: Christian Wilhelm Wisbech
- 1879–1879: Einar Torkel Christian Tambeskjelver Rosenquist
- 1880–1881: Christian Wilhelm Wisbech
- 1882–1889: Christian Magnus Falsen
- 1890–1892: Jonas Severin Rasmussen
- 1892–1893: Gabriel Cappelen Mørch
- 1894–1898: Oskar Storm
- 1899–1901: John Utheim
- 1902–1904: Aasmund Frisak
- 1905–1906: Hagbart Henriksen
- 1907–1910: Otto Georg Enger
- 1910–1913: Harald Pedersen
- 1914–1915: Karl Johan Knudsen
- 1916–1916: Otto Georg Enger
- 1917–1918: Karl Johan Knudsen
- 1919–1940: Hans Johan Sollie
- 1940–1941: Herman Haug
- 1942–1944: Erling Winje
- 1944–1945: Vagn Knudsen
- 1945–1945: Hans Johan Sollie
- 1945–1967: Paul Bentsen
- 1968–1975: Ragnar Heitun
- 1976–1977: Finn Harder Johannesen
- 1978–1979: Johannes Synnes
- 1980–1983: Ragnar Heitun
- 1984–1985: Jørgen Hårek Kosmo
- 1985–1987: Ove Bjørkavåg
- 1988–1999: Jon Edvard Brække
- 1999–2011: Nils Henning Hontvedt
- 2011–2015: Børre Tommy Jacobsen
- 2015–2015: Finn-Øyvind Langfjell
- 2015–2023: Are Karlsen
- 2023–2027: Christina Maria Bratli
Economy
Culture
has been a vacation and bathing destination since 1920. It had already become an artists' colony by then, attracting painters such as Edvard Munch and Fritz Thaulow. Edvard Munch spent a total of seven summers at his vacation home in Åsgårdstrand, known as Munchs Lille Hus. The house is now a museum, located on Munch's Street.Borre mounds
Borrehaugene was the first national park to be founded in Norway. Borre National Park is situated between the towns of Horten and Åsgårdstrand. The park provides important historical knowledge, and can be seen as evidence that there was a center of power here in the Viking Age. The excavations also uncovered an unusually good selection of craft work, much of which is on display in Oslo at the Viking Ship Museum. This style has become known as "Borre style" and is, today, known for its animal and knot ornaments, which were often used for decorating harnesses. The finds also confirm that there was a Viking ship buried at Borrehaugene.Borre mound cemetery at Borre National Park contains graves of kings dating back to the Migration Period. The park covers and has the largest collection of kings' graves in Scandinavia. These burial mounds may represent North Europe's most extensive collection of graves of the old Scandinavian Yngling dynasty. From 1989 to 1991, new excavations were undertaken both in and around the national park.