Steinkjer
Steinkjer Municipality
Steinkjer kommune | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Flag | |
 Nord-Trøndelag within Norway | |
 Steinkjer within Nord-Trøndelag | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Nord-Trøndelag |
| District | Innherad |
| Administrative centre | Steinkjer |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2007) | Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,564 km2 (604 sq mi) |
| • Land | 1,423 km2 (549 sq mi) |
| • Rank | #45 in Norway |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 20,672 |
| • Rank | #43 in Norway |
| • Density | 14/km2 (40/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) |  −1.3% |
| Demonym | Steinkjerbygg[1] |
| Official language | |
| • Norwegian form | Neutral |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1702[3] |
| Website | Official website |
is a town is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Steinkjer.
The town of Steinkjer was separated from Stod as a municipality of its own on 23 October 1858. The municipalities of Beitstad, Egge, Kvam, Ogndal, Sparbu, and Stod were merged together with Steinkjer on 1 January 1964. The geographical centre of Norway has been calculated to be in Steinkjer municipality.
History
The Steinkjer area has been populated since the Stone Age, as shown by the Bølareinen rock carving, which depicts an almost life-sized reindeer and a bear. There are other rock carvings in the area as well, as in Bardal, the oldest up to 6,000 years old.
The Steinkjer area was one of the strongest powerbases in early Viking age. Mære was one of the best known Norse religious places with sacrifices and seasonal gatherings (Norwegian: Hov) before Christianity came to Norway.
Steinkjer has survived two major disasters in modern history. The first was a town-wide fire in the year 1900, which burned down much of the southern parts of the town. The second disaster happened on 21 April 1940, when the town was struck by Heinkel He 111 bombers during World War II, being bombed by the Luftwaffe.
This attack destroyed a large part of Steinkjer, and many priceless historical buildings were lost, such as Steinkjer Cross-church. A large part of Steinkjer's history was ruined by this attack.
The town was however quickly rebuilt after 1945 with much aid from the United States. Much of the architecture of modern Steinkjer originates from the 1950s and 1960s with functionalism architecture inspired style, not as esthetically as the previous Art Nouveau style found in cities like Trondheim and Ålesund. Some historical buildings of Steinkjer survived the bombing, like the train station and town college. These buildings are based upon a neo-classic architectural style, known as Jugendstil. A good example is the railroad station (Jernbanestasjonen) and the administration building for HiNT, Nord-Trøndelag University College (Norwegian: Høgskolen i Nord-Trøndelag).
Toponymy
The town is named after the old Steinkjer farm (Old Norse: Steinker), since it is built on its ground. The first element is steinn (m) which means "stone" or "rock". The last element is ker (n) which means a "barrier made for catching fish".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 8 March 1957. The arms show a star with six points. The original meaning of the star was that six main roads crossed in Steinkjer. After the municipal reorganization, the arms were re-granted, but the meaning has slightly changed. Steinkjer now formed the centre of the municipality and the points are directed to the six other villages in the municipality: Beitstad, Egge, Kvam, Ogndal, Sparbu, and Stod.[4]
Geography
Steinkjer is the urban centre of the municipality, Steinkjer kommune, and the administrative centre of the county of Nord-Trøndelag. Steinkjer is located at the head of Beitstadfjorden, the northern branch of the Trondheimsfjord system. To the west, the muncipiality borders the more mountainous Verran municipality. To the east is Sweden, 60 km from Steinkjer. To the north are the Snåsa and Namdalseid municipalities, and to the south are the Inderøy and Verdal municipalities.
Situated 60 km inland from the coast, Steinkjer is actually still connected to the ocean (Atlantic) through the narrow strait of Skarnsundet, some 25 km south of Steinkjer. The longest cable-stayed bridge in Norway, Skarnsundsbrua, crosses Skarsundet (total length of 1,010 metres). Large ships pass through Skarnsundet and this allows tourists to visit this town by ship. Each year ferries from Hurtigruten make trips to the cruise port of Steinkjer, more than 130 km of travel through the fjord system. The landscape is dotted with wavy hills and dense spruce forests, as well as agricultural fields in the lowland areas.
Steinkjer lies by road 120 km north of Trondheim following European route E6. The area south and east of Trondheimsfjorden between (and including) Trondheim and Steinkjer has a population of about 270,000.
The town is situated on the Nordlandsbanen railway line from Trondheim, and is served by Steinkjer Station.
Birdlife
Steinkjer, with its varied habitats, provides the local birdlife with some of the best localities within the region. One of these is Lake Lømsen with its breeding population of Slavonian Grebe. The surrounding woodlands and farmlands hold a host of the commoner Scandinavian species, some, like Fieldfare and Redwing, can be found in good numbers.
Natural resources
Steinkjer is one of Norway’s larger urban municipalities measured by total area. Approximately half the population live near the town center, while the rest live in rural areas. However, much of the town is today in the process of urbanization, with the building of several apartment blocks in or within the immediate vicinity of the town. Currently, about 500 apartments are being finished.
Steinkjer is one of the northernmost areas with rich agriculture, allowing large production of grain. It is obvious from the landscape that Steinkjer is a typical agricultural municipality. In addition, there are large forest resources in the immediate area. The tallest buildings in Steinkjer are two 40-metre tall grain silos, visible several kilometres south of Steinkjer and today mark the skyline, especially when viewed from the south. Kirknesvaag Sag & Høvleri is a large wood mill and industry park producing wood planks and treehouse module components. Almost half of the inner town area consists of the large industrial park for wood products. Most of the ship traffic is related to transportation of the vast forest resources present in Nord-Trøndelag such as timber and cellulose. An important tree species is Norway Spruce.
Forests and other habitats
The municipality of Steinkjer includes lowland forests, alpine forests as well as areas above the treeline. A part of Blåfjella-Skjækerfjella National Park is located in the municipality. Byahalla,[5] the most northerly deciduous temperate forest (hemiboreal) location in the world, with species such as Wych Elm, Hazel, Hepatica, Hedge Woundwort and Garlic Mustard, is located in Steinkjer, probably due to the sheltered south facing location and the good soil resulting from marine deposits. Some moist locations with spruce forests are classified as boreal rainforests and are part of the Scandinavian coastal conifer forests. The shallow river estuaries in the inner part of Trondheimsfjord have some of the richest bird life in Norway; thousands of migratory birds feed here.[6] Part of Snåsavatnet, the 6th largest lake in Norway, is located in the municipality, and the river from the lake meets the fjord in Steinkjer town.
Climate
Further north from Steinkjer, geographical distances between cities grow. The climate of Steinkjer marks a border with the more harsh conditions typical of inland areas further north. The January average in Steinkjer is -5°C,[7] and the July 24-hr average is 14°C. Steinkjer has a sheltered location and is the most northern town with a summer season long enough to allow reliable cultivation of wheat. Steinkjer is therefore recognized as a "border town" between the more densely populated southern parts of Norway and the less populated northern part. Steinkjer has observed temperatures above 32°C but also winter temperatures below -25°C. Temperatures have tended to be warmer in recent years.
| Climate data for Steinkjer (10 last years) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Source: [8] | |||||||||||||
Culture
Steinkjer also has a rich culture and hosts one of the most prominent music cultures in central Norway. Steinkjer is also labeled "Steinkjer Punkrock town" by some of its citizens. The music festival Steinkjerfestivalen was established in 2006.[9] Steinkjermartnan, held each year in August, is a happening where trading booths are staged in the town centre's streets and a traditional trade festival with concerts are held.
Steinkjer has the standard cultural facilities like a cinema, town library, culture house (in which many cultural events and concerts are held) and a modern swimming pool, Dampsaga Bad. The swimming pool has a 25 metres training pool plus heating pools, sauna, two learning pools for kids, and a large swim tube.
Education
Steinkjer houses the administration and Faculty of Society, Commerce and Nature of Nord-Trøndelag University College. Important studies include the School of Forestry (Norwegian: Skogskolen). Historically, Steinkjer has produced a higher than average amount of university students. Only 25% of the students return to Steinkjer. Steinkjer is therefore a muncipiality that produces many people with higher education students. In Norwegian, municipalities such as Steinkjer that produce many people with higher education who leave the municipality are known as oppvekstkommuner ([lit. upbringing municipalities] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)).
Notable residents
- Anders Bardal, Ski jumper
- Asbjørn Følling, first scientific description of Phenylketonuria (Følling's disease)
- Silje Nergård, musician
- Otto Sverdrup, explorer
- Andreas Engberg, poet
- Kristoffer Uppdal, poet/writer
- Jakob Weidemann, artist
- Arthur Tessem, artist
References
- ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
- ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
- ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (2023-01-26). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
- ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 13 November 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dateformat=ignored (help) - ^ Miljøstatus - Nord-Trøndelag
- ^ Inner Trondheimsfjord wetland system
- ^ Met.no: Normaler for Steinkjer
- ^ "Steinkjer average conditions - base period 10 last years". Storm Weather Center. Retrieved 03 December 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|dateformat=ignored (help) - ^ Steinkjerfestivalen 2009
External links
- Dampsaga Culture House - houses public library, concert hall and cinema of Steinkjer Template:No icon
- Steinkjer2007.no Template:No icon
- Steinkjer.net - recent news about commerce and business in Steinkjer Template:No icon
- Webcameras showing Steinkjer Template:No icon
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