Tønsberg (Norway) - Moving-Picture Present - Photo

Tønsberg

Ruins of St. Olav's Church

The urban substance of Tønsberg was established equally a municipality on 1 Jan 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Sem was merged into the municipality of Tønsberg on 1 Jan 1988.

The population of the entire urban area, regardless of municipality borders, as well as next the guidelines laid past times Statistics Norway, was 46,862 on 1 Jan 2008, making Tønsberg the 10th nearly populous urban expanse inward Norway. Tønsberg is mostly regarded equally the oldest town inward Norway.

Oseberghaugen, the Oseberg burial mound from early on Viking era

General information

Name

The Old Norse shape of the hollo was Túnsberg. The starting fourth dimension chemical cistron is the genitive illustration of tún (n), important fenced expanse or garden. The terminal chemical cistron is berg (n), important mountain. The hollo originally referred to the fortifications on Slottsfjellet. The old spelling has been retained inward the hollo of the diocese, Tunsberg bispedømme.

Øvre Langgate street (Tønsberg)

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is an old urban substance seal from equally far dorsum equally 1349. The seal shows Tønsberg Fortress surrounded past times a telephone wall on a mount alongside the body of body of water inward front. There is also a longship inward the H2O inward front end of the fortress. Around the seal are the words (in Latin): This is the seal of Tunsberg.

History

The starting fourth dimension time the town was mentioned past times a contemporary author was inward the twelvemonth 1130. According to Snorri Sturluson, Tønsberg was founded before the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which, according to Snorri, took house inward 871. What twelvemonth the battle took house is disputed, however, as well as nearly electrical current historians believe the battle took house closer to 900. However, if the battle did inward fact accept house inward 871, this would brand Tønsberg the oldest introduce Scandinavian city. It was based upon this that the city's chiliad years jubilee was celebrated inward 1871, as well as 1100 years jubilee inward 1971. The archaeological excavations conducted inward 1987-88 underneath the monastery ruins revealed several Viking graves which direct keep served to confirm the before historic menstruation of the master copy settlement.

The manful mortal monarch or his ombudsman resided inward the old Royal Court at Sæheimr, today the Jarlsberg Estate (Jarlsberg Hovedgård), as well as on the farm Haugar, (from the Old Norse give-and-take haugr important loma or burial mound), which tin terminate last assumed to direct keep been Tønsberg's birthplace. Haugar became the topographic point for Haugathing, the Thing for Vestfold as well as Norway's mo nearly of import house for the statement of kings. The site had in all likelihood been named subsequently ii Viking Era mounds, which tradition links to ii sons of King Harald I, Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, who was manful mortal monarch inward Vestfold, as well as his half-brother, Sigrød Haraldsson, manful mortal monarch of Trondheim. Both are presumed to direct keep fallen inward battle at Haugar against their half-brother Eric Bloodaxe as well as to direct keep been buried on the same spot.

Slottsfjellet (English: Castle Mountain), northward of the urban substance centre, made for a close impregnable natural fortress. During the civil nation of war era of the twelfth century, it was fortified past times the Baglers. The Birkebeiners besieged it for twenty weeks inward the wintertime of 1201 before the Baglers surrendered. In the 13th century, King Haakon Haakonson fix a castle inward Tønsberg, Tønsberg Fortress. The town was destroyed past times burn inward 1536, but Tønsberg remained ane of the nearly of import harbour towns inward Norway.

During the High German describe of piece of employment of Kingdom of Norway inward World War II, the Berg concentration military camp was constructed close Tønsberg. In 1948, Tønsberg became the cathedral urban substance of the Diocese of Tunsberg (Tunsberg bispedømme), created when the counties of Buskerud as well as Vestfold were separated from the Diocese of Oslo.

Tourist sites

Perhaps the nearly of import landmark inward the town is Slottsfjellet, the tower standing on the hill. It was erected inward 1888 equally a memorial to Tønsberg Fortress (Tunsberg festning), the old fortress, of which simply fragmentary ruins stay today. Several streets inward the town are named subsequently old kings of Norway.

Other notable tourist sites include:

l   Haugar Art Museum (Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum) - located inward the one-time Seamen's School inward the middle of Tønsberg, the brick edifice was built 1918-21. The museum was established inward 1993 equally a foundation created past times Vestfold county as well as municipality of Tønsberg. The museum is a segmentation inward Vestfold County Museum Authority. Haugar Vestfold Art Museum is located inward the parkland betwixt the site of the ancient assembly of Haugating as well as the ii Viking era mounds.

l   Foynegården - the city's best-preserved merchant's yard. Foynegården is the site of a patrician houses from the 1700s where Svend Foyn was born inward 1809.

l   Ruins of St. Olav's Church (Olavskirken) - Former monastery founded inward the twelvemonth 1191, located close the electrical current Tønsberg Library.

l   Sem Church (Sem kirke) - Vestfold's oldest rock church building built before 1100 inward the Romanesque style, located close the Jarlsberg Estate

l   Tønsberg Cathedral (Tønsberg domkirke) – Brick church building from 1858 alongside pulpit from 1621 as well as an altarpiece from 1764.

is a urban substance as well as municipality inward Vestfold county, southern Norway, located approximately 25 km (15.53 mi) north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the urban substance of Tønsberg.