Tønsberg Municipality

Tønsberg is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg which was established in the 9th century. Other larger population centres in the municipality include Barkåker, Bergsåsen, Brekkeåsen, Eik, Fon, Gretteåsen, Husøy, Husvik, Linnestad, Ramnes, Rånerudåsen, Revetal, Sem, Svinevoll, Teie, and Vear.
The municipality is the 254th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tønsberg is the 17th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 58,561. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 16.6% over the previous 10-year period.
Tønsberg Municipality is home to Tønsberg Fortress on Castle Mountain, which includes ruins from Castrum Tunsbergis, Norway's largest castle in the 13th century. Tønsberg is also home of Oseberg Mound, where the 9th-century Oseberg Ship was excavated. The large city of Tønsberg was founded in the 9th century, one of the oldest cities in Norway, and it is also the 9th largest city in Norway.
In Tønsberg there's a lot of different places to check out, like Meny Eiktoppen and Barkåker.

WWW tonsberg.kommune.no FB Tonsbergkommune IG tonsberg_kommune

General information

The town of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1877, the growing town of Tønsberg was enlarged by taking an area from Sem Municipality and another area from Nøtterøy Municipality. On 1 January 1980, an unpopulated area of Nøtterøy Municipality was transferred to the town of Tønsberg. On 1 January 1988, the town of Tønsberg was merged with Sem Municipality to form a new, much larger Tønsberg Municipality.
On 1 January 2017, the village of Vear was transferred from Stokke Municipality to the neighboring Tønsberg Municipality. On 1 January 2020, Tønsberg Municipality merged with the neighboring Re Municipality to form a much larger municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old town of Tønsberg since the first Tønsberg Church was built there centuries ago. The first element is the genitive case of which means "fenced area", "garden", or "field around a dwelling". The last element is which means "mountain" or "rock". The name originally referred to the fortifications on Slottsfjellet. The old spelling of the name has been retained in the name of the local diocese, Tunsberg bispedømme.

Coat of arms

For a long time, the city and municipality did not have a formal coat of arms, but instead an old medieval seal dating back to 1349 was used in its place. The blue and white circular seal shows the Tønsberg Fortress surrounded by a ring wall on a mountain with the sea in front. There is also a longship in the water in front of the fortress. Around the seal are the Latin words SIGILLVM BVRGENSIVM D'TVNESBER which means "This is the seal of Tunsberg".
In preparation for the merger of Re and Tønsberg Municipalities, a new coat of arms was adopted in 2018 for use starting on 1 January 2020. The blazon is "Per pale argent a longship stem azure and azure a seedling argent". This means the arms are divided with a vertical line. The field to the right of the line has a tincture of azure. To the right of the line, 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. There are two charges on the arms. The charge on the left side is a longship stem, symbolizing the one on the Oseberg Ship and the great Viking Age history in the area. This stem has a tincture of azure. The charge on the right side is a seedling, symbolizing local agriculture. This seedling or sprout has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used.

Churches

The Church of Norway has nine parishes within the municipality of Tønsberg. It is part of the Tønsberg domprosti in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Parish	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Tønsberg domkirke	Tønsberg Cathedral	Tønsberg	1858
Tønsberg domkirke	Solvang Church	Tønsberg	1969
Fon	Fon Church	Fon	c. 1100
Ramnes	Ramnes Church	Ramnes	c. 1100
Sem	Sem Church	Jarlsberg farm	c. 1100
Sem	Vear Church	Vear	1993
Slagen	Slagen Church	Slagen, east of Eik	1901
Søndre Slagen	Husøy Church	Husøy	1933
Søndre Slagen	Søndre Slagen Church	Tønsberg	1972
Søndre Slagen	Vallø Church	Vallø	1782
Undrumsdal	Undrumsdal Church	Undrumsdal	1882
Vivestad	Vivestad Church	Vivestad	1914
Våle	Våle Church	Bergsåsen	c. 1100

History

The city of Tønsberg has existed for centuries. On 1 January 1838, the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect, making all cities and rural parishes across Norway into civil municipalities with self-governing councils. The city of Tønsberg was surrounded by Sem Municipality for many years until 1988 when Sem Municipality and the city of Tønsberg were merged, creating a new Tønsberg Municipality with a much larger size and population than the city was before the merger. The city continued on as the administrative centre of the new municipality. In 2017, the village of Vear was transferred into Tønsberg Municipality from Stokke Municipality. In 2020, the neighboring Re Municipality was merged with Tønsberg Municipality, more than doubling its size again. The new Tønsberg Municipality included much more rural area than urban area, with most of the urban settlements in and around the city of Tønsberg in the far southern part of the newly merged municipality.

Economy

Since the municipality was enlarged, Tønsberg is now the largest agricultural municipality, with an agricultural area of about . Cereal cultivation dominates, but vegetable production is significant. Tønsberg is the municipality in Vestfold that has the highest number of cattle. In forestry, of trees were harvested in 2018, about 80% of which was spruce.
The city of Tønsberg has long traditions in shipping, industry, and trade. Today, the municipal business-base is predominantly small and medium-sized companies. The most important industries are the food industry, including a large slaughterhouse and a large dairy, as well as a flatbread factory. The workshop industry is also significant, particularly the metal goods industry. Esso's refinery at Slagentangen was closed in 2021. There is also a large silverware factory and the country's only bell foundry at Nauen in Sem. The most important industrial areas are located along the Canal and the adjacent areas of Byfjorden, both on the mainland and the Nøtterøy side. Important industrial areas are also found along the Oslofjord from Husøy and northwards to Vallø and Slagentangen. There is also a lot of summer tourism along the coast.

Government

Tønsberg 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 Tønsberg is made up of 43 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 Tønsberg:

1838–1839: Jacob Jacobsen
1840-1840: Peter Ambrosius Bruun
1841-1841: Jacob Jacobsen
1842-1842: Thomas Hvistendahl
1843-1843: Nicolai Bruun
1844-1844: Hans Falkenberg Hovbrender
1845-1845: Georg Daniel Barth Abel
1846-1846: Fredrik Severin Lorentzen
1847-1847: Samuel Foyn
1848-1848: Hans Hansen
1849-1849: Wilhelm Christian Lied
1850-1850: Henrich Holst
1851-1851: Johan Henrik Dietrichs
1852-1852: Brede Thurmann
1853-1853: Lauritz Bodin
1854-1854: Ole Christophersen Berrum
1855-1855: Christian Fredrik Røsch
1856–1866: Nils Magnus Bugge
1867–1877: Riulf Erlandsen
1878-1878: Jens Bernhard Rode
1879–1883: Johannes Winding Harbitz
1884-1884: Georg Johan Knap
1885–1887: Johannes Winding Harbitz
1888-1888: Georg Johan Knap
1889–1893: Johannes Winding Harbitz
1894-1894: Wilhelm Wilhelmsen
1895–1904: Anders Larsen
1905-1905: Christopher Knudsen
1905–1907: Peder Thoresen
1908–1910: Anders Larsen
1911–1913: John Søyland
1914–1916: Peder Thoresen
1917–1919: Anders Rørholt
1920–1922: Johan Henrik Christiansen
1923–1928: Odd Nerdrum
1929–1933: Haagen Cappelen
1933–1934: Sylfest Muldal
1935–1936: Arne Aas
1936–1937: Trygve Sverdrup
1937-1937: Gunnar Eliassen
1938–1940: Leif Helberg
1941–1942: Eivind Bjerk
1945-1945: Knut D. Christiansen
1945-1945: Leif Helberg
1946–1952: Georg Martinsen
1953-1953: Emil Stang Lund
1954–1955: Georg Martinsen
1956–1963: Thorvald B. Olsen
1963–1975: Kolbjørn Hogsnes
1976–1993: Erik Carlsen
1993–1995: Jørn Olav Hagen
1995–2001: Hans Kristian Hogsnes
2001–2003: Harald Haug Andersen
2003–2009: Per Arne Olsen
2009–2019: Petter Berg
2019–2023: Anne Rygh Pedersen
2023–present: Frank Pedersen

Geography

Tønsberg is a municipality in Vestfold County, on the western shore of the Oslofjord. Tønsberg lies north of Færder Municipality, west and south of Horten Municipality, and east of Sandefjord Municipality. Most of the municipality lies on the mainland plus a small area on the north end of the island of Nøtterøy. Just south of Tønsberg are the islands of Nøtterøy and Tjøme, which are tourist destinations.
The bedrock in the municipality consists entirely of igneous rocks. The landscape is characterized by slightly hilly, elongated and wooded hills with crevasse valleys running north–south and with heights in the western part of the municipality reaching as high as the tall Snippane, just west of Vivestad. Streams and rivers follow the north–south running valleys. The Storelva river, which flows centrally through the municipality from north to south, and the Merkedamselva river in the west unite and become the river Aulielva which then flows into the Tønsbergfjorden.