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Lillehammer

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This article is about the Norwegian town. For the TV series, see Lilyhammer.
Lillehammer Municipality
Lillehammer kommune
Municipality
Lillehammer
Lillehammer
Coat of arms of Lillehammer Municipality
Coat of arms
Oppland within Norway
Oppland within Norway
Lillehammer within Oppland
Lillehammer within Oppland
CountryNorway
CountyOppland
DistrictGudbrandsdal
Administrative centreLillehammer
Government
 • Mayor (2012)Espen Johnsen
Area
 • Total477 km2 (184 sq mi)
 • Land450 km2 (170 sq mi)
 • Rank#211 in Norway
Population
 (2016)
 • Total27,476
 • Rank#33 in Norway
 • Density56/km2 (150/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Increase +5%
DemonymLillehamring[1]
Official language
[2]
 • Norwegian formBokmål
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-0501[3]
WebsiteOfficial website
Data from Statistics Norway

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Lillehammer (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈlɪl̥əhɔmɔr]) is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was 26,639. The city centre is a late 19th-century concentration of wooden houses, which enjoys a picturesque location overlooking the northern part of lake Mjøsa and the river Lågen, surrounded by mountains. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics and 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.[4] Before Oslo's withdrawal from consideration, it was included as part of a bid to host events in the 2022 Winter Olympics if Oslo were to win the rights to hold the Games.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old Hamar (Norse Hamarr) farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word hamarr (rocky hill). To distinguish it from the nearby town and bishopric, both called Hamar, it began to be called "little Hamar": Lilþlæ Hamar and Litlihamarr, and finally Lillehammer. It is also mentioned in the Old Norse sagas as Litlikaupangr ("Little Trading Place").[5][6]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms was granted in 1898 and shows a birkebeiner, carrying a spear and a shield, who is skiing down a mountainside. It symbolizes the historical importance of when the Birkebeiners carried the to-be-King Haakon from Lillehammer to Rena on skis.[7]

History

Lillehammer Church

The area has been settled since the Norwegian Iron Age; it is also mentioned as a site for council in 1390. Lillehammer had a lively market by the 1800s and obtained rights as a merchant city on 7 August 1827, at which point there were 50 registered residents within its boundaries.[citation needed]

The town of Lillehammer was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838.

Further information: formannskapsdistrikt

The rural municipality of Fåberg was merged into the municipality of Lillehammer on 1 January 1964.[citation needed]

Lillehammer was the site of the Lillehammer affair in 1973, wherein operatives of the Israeli Mossad shot and killed a Moroccan waiter they mistakenly thought was Ali Hassan Salameh, who was involved in the Munich Massacre.

Lillehammer is known as a typical venue for winter sporting events; it was host city of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, and was part of a joint bid with applicant host city Oslo to host events part of the 2022 Winter Olympics until Oslo withdrew its bid on 1 October 2014.

Education

A number of schools are located in Lillehammer including the Hammartun Lower Secondary School. Lillehammer High School, Mesna High School and Vargstad High School are the three public high schools in Lillehammer, in addition to the private Norges Toppidrettsgymnas. Lillehammer University College is situated just north of the town itself.

Lillehammer is also the home of the Nansen Academy - the Norwegian Humanistic Academy. The Nansen Academy is an educational institution for adult students with varied political, religious, and cultural backgrounds. The Academy was founded on the core principles of humanism and aims at strengthening the knowledge of these principles.

The 14th World Scout Jamboree was held from July 29 to August 7, 1975 and was hosted by Norway at Lillehammer.

Geography

Lillehammer is situated in the lower part of Gudbrandsdal, at the northern head of lake Mjøsa, and is located to the south of the municipality of Øyer, to the southeast of Gausdal, northeast of Nordre Land, and to the north of Gjøvik, all in Oppland county. To the southeast, it is bordered by Ringsaker municipality in Hedmark county. To the northwest is the mountain Spåtind.

Lillehammer is situated in an inland valley with reliable snow cover in winter
Lillehammer is situated in an inland valley with reliable snow cover in winter

Climate

By Norwegian standards, Lillehammer has an inland climate, with the Scandinavian mountain chain to the west and north limiting oceanic influences. The record high of 34 °C was recorded in June 1970. The record low of -31 °C was recorded in December 1978 and Januar 1979, and the same low was recorded in January 1987. Recent decades have seen warming. There have been no overnight air frost in August since 1978, and the coldest recorded temperature after 2000 is -26.2 °C in January 2010. The current weather station Lillehammer-Sætherengen became operational in 1982; extremes are also from two earlier weather stations in Lillehammer.

Climate data for Lillehammer (240 m; average temperatures 2004 - 2015; extremes 1957 - 2015)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 10.4
(50.7) 		12.5
(54.5) 		16
(61) 		23.4
(74.1) 		27.9
(82.2) 		34
(93) 		31.1
(88.0) 		33
(91) 		26.4
(79.5) 		19.5
(67.1) 		16.2
(61.2) 		11.3
(52.3) 		34
(93)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −3.5
(25.7) 		−2.6
(27.3) 		3.3
(37.9) 		9.7
(49.5) 		14.8
(58.6) 		19.5
(67.1) 		21.6
(70.9) 		19.6
(67.3) 		15.1
(59.2) 		7.3
(45.1) 		1
(34) 		−2.3
(27.9) 		8.6
(47.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) −5.5
(22.1) 		−5.6
(21.9) 		−0.9
(30.4) 		4.8
(40.6) 		9.6
(49.3) 		14
(57) 		16.7
(62.1) 		15.3
(59.5) 		10.7
(51.3) 		4.6
(40.3) 		−1
(30) 		−4.5
(23.9) 		4.9
(40.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.6
(18.3) 		−8.5
(16.7) 		−5.1
(22.8) 		0.1
(32.2) 		4.4
(39.9) 		8.6
(47.5) 		11.7
(53.1) 		10.9
(51.6) 		6.3
(43.3) 		1.9
(35.4) 		−3
(27) 		−6.7
(19.9) 		1.1
(34.0)
Record low °C (°F) −31
(−24) 		−29.5
(−21.1) 		−23.5
(−10.3) 		−14
(7) 		−5.4
(22.3) 		−2.2
(28.0) 		0.5
(32.9) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		−5.8
(21.6) 		−14.5
(5.9) 		−22.5
(−8.5) 		−31
(−24) 		−31
(−24)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 39
(1.5) 		31
(1.2) 		36
(1.4) 		32
(1.3) 		50
(2.0) 		66
(2.6) 		76
(3.0) 		77
(3.0) 		74
(2.9) 		75
(3.0) 		59
(2.3) 		45
(1.8) 		660
(26)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 28 68 126 168 212 242 237 195 136 83 44 18 1,557
Source 1: [8]
Source 2: [9]

Economy

The basis for the city's commerce is its position as the northernmost point of the lake Mjøsa and as the gateway for the Gudbrandsdal region, through which the historical highway to Trondheim passes. The Mesna river has provided the basis for several small industries through the years, but Lillehammer is now all but industry-less.

Transport

One of the major Norwegian rail lines, the Dovrebanen, runs from Hamar to the north through Lillehammer on its way up the Gudbrandsdal, to terminate in Trondheim.

European route E6 passes through Lillehammer.

Attractions

Storgata shopping area

In addition to the Olympic site, Lillehammer offers a number of other tourist attractions:

The official tourist information for the Lillehammer-region provides more information about activities and attractions in the region

Sport

Olympic ski jump

Sports clubs

Notable residents

  • Atle Antonsen, a Norwegian comic and actor, was born in Lillehammer.[citation needed]
  • Sigrid Undset lived in Lillehammer at her home "Bjerkebæk" from 1919 through 1940. She brought her children with her for a short rest, planning on returning to Oslo but chose to remain in Lillehammer. She wrote her most famous works there: the three-volume Kristin Lavransdatter, the six-volume Sverkholt tales, and the four-volume Olav Audunssønn. In 1940, because she had expressed strong anti-Nazi sentiments since the early 1930s, she fled Lillehammer before the invading German army reached the town. She returned to Lillehammer after the war and died there in 1949. She is buried at the cemetery in Mesnali, a nearby village.[citation needed]

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Lillehammer:[10]

Lillehammer has also friendly connections with

See also

References

  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  4. ^ Lillehammer awarded 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games
  5. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (in Norwegian) (4 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 219.
  6. ^ "Lillehammers historie" (in Norwegian). Lillehammer kommune. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Historiske Linjer" (in Norwegian). National Archives of Norway. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  8. ^ "Eklima / met.no, sun hours from Kise 40 km south of Lillehammer". Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Infoclimat.fr". Infoclimat.fr.observations-meteo. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Lillehammers vennskapsbyer" (Microsoft Word) (in Norwegian). Lillehammer kommune. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Radviliskis". Radviliskis. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
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