Tønsberg, County of Vestfold og Telemark, Norway

🇳🇴 Tønsberg, historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around 102 km south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg. The city is the most populous metropolis in the district of Vestfold. Tønsberg also serves as the seat for the County Governor of Vestfold og Telemark.

Tønsberg is generally regarded as the oldest city in Norway, founded by Vikings in the 9th century. Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The rural municipality of Sem was merged into the municipality of Tønsberg on 1 January 1988. The neighboring municipality of Re was merged into Tønsberg on 1 January 2020.

It is home to Tønsberg Fortress on Castle Mountain, which includes ruins from Castrum Tunsbergis, Norway's largest castle in the 13th century. An outdoor music festival is held at Tønsberg Fortress every July. Tønsberg is also home of Oseberg Mound, where the 9th-century Oseberg Ship was excavated.

History Tønsberg is the oldest city in Norway, founded by Harald Fairhair in the 9th century. It was also an ancient capital of Norway. The first time the town was mentioned by a contemporary writer was in 1130. According to Snorri Sturluson, Tønsberg was founded before the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which, according to Snorri, took place in 871. The year of the battle is disputed and most current historians believe it was closer to 900. If it took place in 871, this makes Tønsberg one of the oldest present Scandinavian cities. It was based upon this that the city's 1000 years jubilee was celebrated in 1871, and 1100 years jubilee in 1971. The archaeological excavations conducted in 1987–88 underneath the monastery ruins revealed several Viking graves which have served to confirm the earlier age of the original settlement.

The king or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at Sæheimr, today the Jarlsberg Manor (Jarlsberg Hovedgård), and on the farm Haugar, (from the Old Norse word haugr meaning hill or burial mound), which can be assumed to have been Tønsberg's birthplace. Haugar became the seat for the Haugating, the Thing for Vestfold and Norway's second most important place for the proclamation of kings. The site had probably been named after two Viking Era mounds, which tradition links to two sons of King Harald I, Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, who was king in Vestfold og Telemark, and his half-brother, Sigrød Haraldsson, king of Trondheim. Both are presumed to have fallen in battle at Haugar against their half-brother Eric Bloodaxe and to have been buried on the same spot.

Slottsfjellet (Castle Mountain), north of the city centre, made for a near impregnable natural fortress. During the civil war era of the 12th century, it was fortified by the Baglers. The Birkebeiners besieged it for 20 weeks in the winter of 1201 before the Baglers surrendered. In the 13th century, King Haakon Haakonson set up a castle in Tønsberg, Tønsberg Fortress. The town was destroyed by fire in 1536, but Tønsberg remained one of the most important harbour towns in Norway. James VI of Scotland stopped in Tønsberg on his way to meet Anne of Denmark in Oslo, and David Lindsay gave a sermon on 16 November 1589. The event was recorded by a painted inscription in the church, which survives in the museum.

Whaling epoch The centre of the world's modern whaling industry was concentrated in Tønsberg and neighboring Sandefjord. Tønsberg along with neighboring Sandefjord and Larvik were dominant whaling towns in Norway. While whalers from Sandefjord established the first whaling station in the Faroe Islands, whalers from Tønsberg initiated whaling in Iceland and the Hebrides.

During the 1850s, Tønsberg turned into a base of operation and source of expertise for whalers in the Arctic- and Antarctic Oceans. Tønsberg has been called “the cradle of modern whaling. In the 1892 publication “Handbook for Travellers in Norway” by John Murray, Tønsberg is described as “the centre of the Norwegian whaling and sealing industries in the Arctic Ocean.”

The first whaling ventures to Antarctica was led by engineer Henrik Henriksen of Tønsberg. Henrik Johan Bull was another noted whaler from the district, known for his expeditions to Antarctica. Bull traveled from Australia to Tønsberg in order to learn from local whaler Svend Foyn, who is recognised as the pioneer of the modern whaling industry.

One of the city's most prominent residents, Svend Foyn, was a pioneer who embarked on an 1847 expedition to the Arctic, which led to a catch of 6,000 seals. Soon Tønsberg Harbor was home to a large fleet of sealing vessels, and the sealing industry grew further after the 1849 repeal of Britain's Navigation Acts. The hunters turned the seals to near extinction in the Arctic Ocean, and therefore turned to Bottle-nosed whales during the 1870s. Norway maintained a monopoly on European whaling until 1883, first and foremost due to Svend Foyn's patent rights to whaling techniques and inventions. Over-hunting in the Arctic eventually drove the whalers to Antarctica. By the beginning of the 20th century, Tønsberg had lost its preeminence in the whaling industry to the neighboring city of Sandefjord. Sandefjord, which lies just south of Tønsberg, later became known as the world's whaling capital.

History: World War II During the German occupation of Norway in World War II, the Berg concentration camp was constructed near Tønsberg. In 1948, Tønsberg became the cathedral city of the Diocese of Tunsberg (Tunsberg bispedømme), created when the counties of Buskerud and Vestfold og Telemark were separated from the Diocese of Oslo.

Geography Tønsberg is a city and municipality in Vestfold County, on the western shore of the Oslofjord. Tønsberg lies north of Færder, south of Horten, and north-east of Sandefjord. It is the ninth-largest city in Norway (by population). The city centre lies just north from Nøtterøy Island. Besides Tønsberg proper, the municipality is also home to the villages of Barkåker and Sem. The village of Åsgårdstrand is partly in Tønsberg, although most of the village is in Horten municipality.

Tønsberg Station is 5–10 minutes walking from the main square in the city centre, known as Torvet. From the main square is a few hundred meters along Rådhusgaten to the waterfront Tønsberg Wharf ("Tønsberg Brygge"), where most cafes, bars and restaurants are located. Just south of Tønsberg are the islands of Nøtterøy and Tjøme, which are tourist destinations.

The highest point in Tønsberg is Undrumsåsen at 145 meters (476 ft.). The villages of Vear and Hognes/Bjelland were merged into Tønsberg on January 1, 2017. The neighboring municipality of Re will be merged into Tønsberg on or before January 1, 2020.

Nature reserves Tønsberg is home to five nature reserves: • Akersvannet (wetland), shared with Sandefjord • Bliksekilen (wetland) • Gullkronene (deciduous forest) • Ilene (wetland) • Presterødkilen (wetland).

It is also a plant preserve at Karlsvika where the goal is the preservation of the threatened species fineleaf waterdropwort (Oenanthe aquatica), a rare species in Norway.

Sport FK Tønsberg is the premier football team in Tønsberg, currently playing in the 2. divisjon as of 2017. Tønsberg Vikings is the local hockey team. The club played in the GET-ligaen until 2014.

Tønsberg hosted a round of the UIM F2 World Championship from 2014 - 2018.

Tourist sites Perhaps the most important landmark in the town is Slottsfjellet, the tower standing on the hill. It was erected in 1888 as a memorial to Tønsberg Fortress (Tunsberg festning), the old fortress, of which just fragmentary ruins remain today. Below the mountain there is a museum dedicated to "Slottsfjellet" and Tønsberg. There are several exhibitions here about whaling and the fortress, Tønsberg Fortress. Several streets in the town are named after old kings of Norway.

Other notable tourist sites include: • Haugar Art Museum (Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum) – located in the former Seamen's School in the middle of Tønsberg, the brick building was built 1918–21. The museum was established in 1993 as a foundation created by Vestfold county and municipality of Tønsberg. The museum is a division of Vestfold Museum (Vestfoldmuseene). Haugar Vestfold Art Museum is located in the parkland between the site of the ancient assembly of Haugating and the two Viking era mounds. • 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 in 1809. • Ruins of St. Olav's Church (Olavskirken) – Former monastery founded in 1191, located near the current Tønsberg Library. • Ruins of St Michael's Church (Mikaelskirken) are still visible on top of Castle Mountain by Tønsberg Fortress. The church was mentioned among the royal chapels. It is believed to have been destroyed in 1503 when Swedish soldiers razed fortifications. • Sem Church (Sem kirke) – Vestfold's oldest stone church built before 1100 in the Romanesque style, located near the Jarlsberg Estate • Tønsberg Cathedral (Tønsberg domkirke) – Brick church from 1858 with pulpit from 1621 and an altarpiece from 1764. • Slottsfjell festival, one of the biggest happenings in Tønsberg through the year. People all over the country come to Tønsberg to participate, this festival is one of Tønsberg newly landmarks.

Oseberg Mound Tønsberg is the site of Oseberg Mound, a Viking era burial mound. The Oseberg Ship was found in the Oseberg burial mound in 1904. This Viking era longship is now in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Archaeological excavations in 1904 uncovered history's largest and richest example of craftsmanship from the Viking Age. In addition to the Oseberg Ship, Oseberghaugen contained the Oseberg carriage, five intricately carved bed-posts shaped like animal heads, four sledges, beds, chests, weaving-frames, household utensils and much more. Scientific examinations in 1992 now date the burial to 834 AD, and indicate a probability that it was Queen Alvhild, the first wife of King Gudrød, who was buried here.

When unearthed, the ship was buried in blue clay and covered with stones beneath the 6-meter high Oseberg Mound.

Economy Tønsberg is mostly a shopping town and an administrative centre. It is also noted especially for its silverware.

Transport The city is served by the railway line Vestfoldbanen, which runs in a loop through the city before reaching Tønsberg Station.