Lillestrøm
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| Lillestrøm | |
|---|---|
| — Unincorporated city — | |
 Lillestrøm
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| Coordinates: 59°57′N 11°05′E / 59.95°N 11.083°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Akershus |
| District | Romerike |
| Municipality | Skedsmo |
| City status | June 13, 1998 |
| Elevation | 109 m (358 ft) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 2000-2004 |
Lillestrøm (help·info) is a city in the municipality of Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway. The municipal administration is located in Lillestrøm.
Facilities in Lillestrøm include hotels, Norway trade fairs, a brand new cinema, a mall, Lillestrøm torv, restaurants, a high speed commuter train that reaches both Oslo and Gardermoen airport (the Gardermoen Line), a community cultural house (kulturhus), and a community outdoor swimming pool complex. At Kjeller, just outside of the city, there is a military airport (1912) and several research institutes.
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[edit] History
The meaning of the name is "the little/lille (part of) Strøm" - and Strøm is the name of an old and large farm (Norse Straumr). The name is identical with the word straumr meaning "stream (in a river)".
Lillestrøm's history dates back to the times river powered sawmills came into use for the production of building materials. Later Lillestrøm got its own steam sawmill which laid the base for the development of the area which became the town. The area was, by and large, a moss covered swamp-like area, at the time considered almost uninhabitable. However, the almost non-existent property values were judged to be a fair exchange and so the workers started living and settling in the area around the sawmill, and Lillestrøm was born.[citation needed]
On January 1, 1908, Lillestrøm became a municipality of its own, having been split from Skedsmo. At that time Lillestrøm municipality had a population of 4,351. On 1 January 1962 the two municipalities were reunited under the name Skedsmo. Before the merger Lillestrøm municipality had a population of 10,840.[1]
As of 1997, Lillestrøm is a city in its own right. Since then, Lillestrøm holds an annual 4 day city fair, which is entirely free of charge. It includes music by high profile Norwegian artists on several outdoor stages, food, retail business exhibitions and thrill rides en masse. Everything is held in Lillestrøm's main street and the connecting streets, which is reserved for pedestrians for the occasion.
In 2002, Norway Trade Fairs moved from Skøyen to Lillestrøm.[2]
[edit] Transport
Lillestrøm train station was built in 1854, in the grounds of, and named after, the farm Lille Strøm in the neighbour municipaplity of Rælingen, as part of the first Norwegian railway between Oslo and Eidsvoll. In 1862, with the opening of Kongsvingerbanen, the railway station was moved across the river to Skedsmo - but the name remained.
Kjeller has an airport, called Kjeller Airport.
[edit] Education
Two of the primary/lower secondary schools here are Volla Barneskole and Vigernes Barneskole. There are two upper secondary schools in Lillestrøm. One of them is Lillestrøm upper secondary school which offers the International Baccalaureate Programme. Another one would be Skedsmo upper secondary school, located a 10-minute walk from the train station.
[edit] Government
The head office of Accident Investigation Board Norway is located in Lillestrøm,[3] and is led by Grete Myhre.
[edit] Sport
The local football team, Lillestrøm SK, plays in the Norwegian Premier League. Their home ground is Åråsen stadion.
The nearby Lillestrøm stadion is used for training, and was an ice hockey venue at the 1952 Winter Olympics. There are also two indoor arenas, one multi-purpose (Skedsmohallen) and one for football (LSK-Hallen), and in 2007 a track and field stadium Romerike Friidrettsstadion was built as a cooperation between the municipalities Skedsmo, Rælingen and Lørenskog.[4]
The local track and field club is named Minerva. Athletes such as Hanne Haugland and Håkon Särnblom have represented the club.
Rugby is represented by newly formed Rugby League club Lillestrøm Lions RLK.
[edit] People from Lillestrøm
[edit] References
- ^ Dag Jukvam / Statistics Norway (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdfl.
- ^ Norway Trade Fairs
- ^ "Contact us." Accident Investigation Board Norway. Retrieved on January 13, 2011. "Visiting address: Sophie Radichsvei 17 N-2003 Lillestrøm."
- ^ "Jubel for bane uten ball" (in Norwegian). Romerikes Blad. 2 September 2007. http://www.rb.no/lokal_sport/article2964955.ece. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
[edit] External links
- Norwegian Defense Research Establishment
- Airport train, "Flytoget"
- Lillestrøm torv (Norwegian)
- Lillstrøm Sportsclub, LSK (Norwegian)
- Lillestrøm cultural centre (Norwegian)
- VisitLillestrom.no (Norwegian)
