Horten, County of Vestfold og Telemark, Norway

🇳🇴 Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand and the villages of Borre, Skoppum, and Nykirke.

The municipality is located on a peninsula along the Ytre Oslofjord.

The 71-square-kilometre (27 sq mi) municipality is the 340th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Horten is the 42th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 27,682. The municipality's population density is 400.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,037/sq mi) and its population has increased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period.

Borre National Park contains the largest known burial site in Scandinavia. It also has the largest collection of king's graves in Scandinavia.

The local newspaper in Horten is named Gjengangeren, and covers mostly local news. The Bastøy Prison is located on the island of Bastøy which is located in the Ytre Oslofjord and is part of the municipality of Horten.

General information The small port town of Horten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1858 after it was separated from Borre Municipality (because it had been designated a ladested which meant it had to be a separate urban municipality and no longer part of the larger rural municipality). Initially, it had a population of 4,636. On 1 August 1921, an area of Borre Municipality (population: 287) was transferred into the town of Horten. On 1 July 1951, another area of Borre Municipality was transferred into the town of Horten.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the town of Åsgårdstrand (population: 488) and the Stang area of Sem Municipality (population: 126) were both merged with Borre Municipality (population: 6,037). On 1 January 1986, an area of Borre Municipality (population: 22) was transferred into the town of Horten. On 1 January 1988, the neighboring Borre Municipality was merged with Horten Municipality. Prior to the merger, Horten Municipality was the same as the town of Horten, but afterwards, the municipality was much larger than the town. The name of the new municipality was somewhat controversial and the government chose Borre over Horten for the new name. On 1 June 2002, the name of the municipality was changed (back) to Horten, following a referendum held in conjunction with the 2001 parliamentary election. The referendum was a close call with 6,557 votes for the name Horten and 6,218 votes for Borre.

Name The municipality (originally the town) is named after the old Horten farm (spelled "Hortan" in 1552) since the town was built on the old farm site. The name has an uncertain meaning. The name may come from a local dialect word hort which means the "outer, knotty bark on older trees" which likely derives from the Old Norse word hǫrtr which means "something uneven" or "wrinkled". The another option could be that it is derived from the Old Norse word hǫlkn or helkn which means "rocky ground", "shelter", or "place of refuge". Another option is that it could be the definite form of hort which can mean "bulge" (Old Norse: hǫrti). Several hills and mountains in Norway have the name Horten or Horta and here it could be referring to the Brårudåsen hill lying in the middle of the town.

From 1 January 1988 until 1 June 2002, this municipality was named Borre.

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 19 November 1907, just after Horten was designated as a kjøpstad, giving it town privileges. The blazon is "Per bend azure a fortress and boat on water and argent a rose". This means the arms are divided with a diagonal line. The field (background) below the line shows a naval fort with a boat on the water. Above the line, there is a red rose and 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. The arms use the old "English"-style of shield with a mural crown sits on top signifying that the municipality contains a city. The design shows the importance of the Karljohansvern naval base and the gardens of the city. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch. The municipal flag is white with the coat of arms in the centre.

Churches The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Horten. It is part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Geography Horten Municipality is located on the western shore of the Ytre Oslofjord in Vestfold County. It borders Tønsberg Municipality to the south and west and Holmestrand Municipality to the north. Other nearby towns include Tønsberg to the south and the much smaller Holmestrand to the north. About half of the municipality's total area is made up of forests, while slightly less than a third is agricultural land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten, along the coast. The smaller town of Åsgårdstrand is located in the southern part of the municipality, along the coast. The inland villages of Skoppum, Borre, and Nykirke are all located in the rural areas of the municipality.

Nature preserves Nature preserves include Vealøs, Adalstjern, Frebergsvik, and Falkensten. Additional nature preserves are found by the lake Borrevannet and the islands of Løvøya and Bastøy. There is a preserve in Åsgårdstrand as well. Falkenstendammen is a wildlife preserve, home to various nationally threatened species. Reverompa Plant Reserve was established in 2006 due to presence of the nationally endangered crested cow-wheat. Tordenskjoldeika is a protected 700-year-old oak tree by the harbor. Borre National Park is located along the coast, but this is primarily a historic park.

Government Horten Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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.

Economy Horten's employment sector is made up of industry (21.7% as of 2014), health and social services (18.1%), education (12.1%), and commerce and auto-repair (12.7%). The Royal Norwegian Navy was traditionally an important industry, but the city experienced an economic change when the Navy moved its main base to Bergen during the mid-20th century and Horten Verft went bankrupt in 1987. Currently, one of the most important industries is electrical engineering, represented by companies such as Kongsberg Maritime, Kongsberg Norcontrol, Simrad Horten, GE Vingmed Ultrasound, and others.

Culture Åsgårdstrand has been a vacation and bathing destination since 1920. It had already become an artists' colony by then, attracting painters such as Edvard Munch and Fritz Thaulow. Edvard Munch spent a total of seven summers at his vacation home in Åsgårdstrand, known as Munchs Lille Hus ("Munch's Little House"). The house is now a museum, located on Munch's Street (Munchsgate 25).

Borre mounds Borrehaugene (from Borre, the name of a local village and "haugene" from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound) was the first national park to be founded in Norway. Borre National Park is situated between the towns of Horten and Åsgårdstrand. The park provides important historical knowledge, and can be seen as evidence that there was a centre of power here in the Viking Age. The excavations also uncovered an unusually good selection of craft work, much of which is on display in Oslo at the Viking Ship Museum. This style has become known as "Borre style" and is, today, known for its animal and knot ornaments, which were often used for decorating harnesses. The finds also confirm that there was a Viking ship buried at Borrehaugene.

Borre mound cemetery at Borre National Park contains graves of kings dating back to the Migration Period. The park covers 45 acres (180,000 m²) and has the largest collection of kings' graves in Scandinavia. These burial mounds may represent North Europe's most extensive collection of graves of the old Scandinavian Yngling dynasty. From 1989 to 1991, new excavations were undertaken both in and around the national park.

Transport Being located out on a peninsula, most major transportation arteries go to the west of the town of Horten and secondary roads connect the town to these routes. The Moss–Horten Ferry (also known as the Bastø Ferry) crosses the Oslofjord, connecting to the town of Moss in Østfold county. The ferry departs 1–4 times per hour, and the journey takes about 30 minutes. The ferry transports annually about 1.8 million vehicles and 3.5 million passengers.

The railway line Vestfoldbanen passes through the Horten municipality, but not through the main city center. The main train station in Horten is in the village of Skoppum. Skoppum Station is located south-west of the town centre, although many commuters prefer to use Holmestrand Station due to better road access. Skoppum is 1 hour and 10 minutes by train from Oslo Central Station. By car, Horten is reached by following European route E18 south, and is approximately 100 km (62 mi) from Oslo. The nearest airport is Sandefjord Airport Torp which is located about 30 minutes by train south of Skoppum.

Sport Horten has several football clubs. The most successful and well known is FK Ørn-Horten, which currently plays in the Norwegian 2nd Division. Another Horten team, Falk, plays in the Norwegian Third Division, while Borre IF and Holtankammeratene plays further down in the leagues.

Education The University of South-Eastern Norway has a campus in Horten, commonly referred to as Bakkenteigen, which offers a wide range of subjects from sociology, history and language thru mathematics, nature science and maritime studies. Bakkenteigen has over 4,000 students and aims to be a resource for research and development in the region.

Attractions • Borre National Park, the first national park in Norway. It is home to Northern Europe's largest collection of royal grave mounds, and it is the largest grave mound site in Northern Europe. • Royal Norwegian Navy Museum (Marinemuseet), the oldest existing museum of its kind in the world, founded in 1853. At the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum you can find many ships, including HNoMS Rap, the world's first torpedo boat from 1873. • Preus Fotomuseum, the Norwegian Museum of Photography, is a unique museum located in the same building as the naval museum. • Karljohansvern, the former naval base in Horten. Activity there in the recent years have been decreasing and parts of the area have now been opened to the public, including some nice beaches. Both the museum of photography and the navy museum are located close to the naval base. • Royal Norwegian Navy Band, a military band ranked among the best in Europe has its home base in Karljohansvern in Horten. • Horten Bilmuseum, the classic car museum, houses a variety of classic cars ranging from 1900 to the 1970s. One of Norway's largest model railways is also on display in the museum. It is open every day during summer, Sundays only from the middle of August to the middle of June. • Borre Golfbane, a golf course has hosted two Challenge Tour events (1994 and 1998) and was in 2005 extended to 27 holes of full length (par 72 + par 36). The first Challenge Tour event in 1994 was the first professional golf tournament on Norwegian soil. The 18-hole course runs along lake Borrevannet and some of the holes have views over the lake. • Borrevannet, a lake that is home to a national bird sanctuary where 255 different bird species have been observed (2003 numbers). 110 species have been confirmed using the lake as their nesting place. • L'Esprit d'Edvard Munch, the northernmost vineyard of the world, operating in Horten. • Åsgårdstrand, a town in the southern part of the municipality, is a sight of its own. It is a small, white-painted ocean town that is best known for its great painters (like the aforementioned Edvard Munch) and its beaches.