Arendal, Agder County, Southern Norway Region, Norway

Municipal history | History | Government | Geography | Economy | Townscape | Lighthouses | Strømsbo gård | Music festivals | Transport | Healthcare

🇳🇴 Arendal is a municipality in Agder county in south-eastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Arendal (which is also the seat of Agder county). Some of the notable villages in Arendal include Rykene, Eydehavn, Færvik, Strengereid, Kongshavn, Kilsund, Brattekleiv, Torsbudalen, Longum, Saltrød, Staubø, Vrengen, and Kolbjørnsvik. The offices of UNEP/GRID-Arendal are also located in the city of Arendal.

Arendal is the 22nd most populous municipality in Norway.

Municipal history The town of Arendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1875, a small area was transferred from the town to the neighboring municipality of Østre Moland and another small area was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Øyestad.

On 1 January 1902, the rural municipality of Barbu was merged into the town of Arendal. In 1944, a small area of Moland with a population of 21 inhabitants was transferred to Arendal as well. On 1 January 1992, the town was vastly expanded. The neighboring rural municipalities of Hisøy, Moland, Tromøy, and Øyestad were all merged with the town of Arendal.

History The village of Arendal was established in the middle of the 16th century, and was then called Arendall. Initially, it had no formal town status.

When the town of Christianssand was founded by King Christian IV in 1641, he granted the citizens a monopoly on all trade in Nedenæs and Lister og Mandal counties (including the area of Arendal). This grant, intended to subsidize Christianssand and its fortifications, placed existing towns in a difficult position. Both towns and the peasants in the rural countryside protested the hardships this caused. As a result, Arendal received royal permission in 1622 to continue as a loading-place for timber until a means could be found to transfer its trade to Christianssand.

The town of Arendal was given market city privileges in 1723. However the peasants in the surrounding district, who by law were to sell their goods only at Arendal, were smuggling their goods out on cutters and selling them in Denmark, in the Baltic, and in Great Britain.

This continued until 1735, when Arendal was granted a full town charter. This charter, combined with Danish imposition of a monopoly on grain imports, caused great poverty and starvation among the peasants in the surrounding districts, leading to several famous rebellions.

As a result of the rebellions, the age of privileges for towns like Christianssand and Arendal came to an apparent end in 1768 by royal proclamation. But the problems did not end then; a farmer, Christian Jensen Lofthuus, in nearby Vestre Moland led a rebellion in 1786 which resulted in the government actually remedying some of the most repressive trade policies, but Lofthus died in prison. The charges against Lofthus were that he dealt in grain and other commodities to the detriment to Arendal's privileges.

Shipping, shipbuilding, and timber trade as well as mining and ironworks were important branches of industry in Nedenæs county for many centuries, especially in the Arendal region. Frequent contacts with the world abroad put their mark on the local culture and traditions. In 1880, it was the country's biggest port in terms of tonnage handled. At the end of the 19th century, Arendal was recognised as a major shipping centre with many wealthy shipowners. However, this came to an end following the 1886 Arendal crash, in which Axel Nicolai Herlofson had defrauded many bank customers in the city, leading to bankruptcies and extreme unemployment. At one point in the middle of the 18th century, Arendal was one of Norway's biggest mining towns. The main production consisted of iron ore and magnetite.

Around the turn of the twentieth century, when thousands of Norwegians sought to take advantage of the more stable economic climate of the United States by emigrating, many of those from Arendal took their economic traditions with them. In New York City and the surrounding areas, a great deal of Americans who claim Norwegian ancestry can trace their roots to Arendal, as a great deal of Norwegian sailors, trimmers, shipbuilders, and carpenters from Arendal settled in areas of New York such as Brooklyn, Port Richmond (Staten Island), and several industrial centres in northern New Jersey such as Jersey City, Bayonne, Perth Amboy, and Elizabeth. In 1939, Arendal had the 4th largest Norwegian tanker fleet; only Oslo, Bergen, and Stavanger were larger.

During the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, Arendal was captured by the German torpedo boat Greif.

Today, the town has small boat manufacturing, mechanical industry, electronics industry, as well as one of the world's largest silicon carbide refining plants.

The municipality had a prison (Arendal Prison), however Agder Prison opened in 2020; Arendal Prison was sold the next year.

Government All municipalities in Norway are 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 Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Geography The municipality is bordered to the south-west by Grimstad, to the north-west by Froland, to the north-east by Tvedestrand, and to the south-east by the Skaggerak. The lake Rore is located on the Grimstad border along with the river Nidelva.

Arendal is the geologic type locality of the mineral Babingtonite, which was first described from specimens discovered here in 1824.

The coastal municipality includes several populated islands such as Hisøya, Tromøya, Merdø, Flostaøya, and Tverrdalsøya as well as many unpopulated or sparsely populated islands such as Ærøya. The island of Merdø was a major export port in the 17th and 18th centuries and now has a museum, a kiosk, and several beaches. There is regular boat service from Arendal to the island every day during the summer season.

Economy In 2018 the service sector had 82% of the jobs in the municipality. As of 2020, part of the site for Eyde Energipark, an industrial park, has been leveled: 100 maal or 100,000 sq.m. has been leveled for the first phase of construction of a battery factory (for car batteries and ship batteries), scheduled for 2023.

Townscape In the middle of the town centre of Arendal is an area with wooden houses dating back to the 17th century. This area is called Tyholmen, and is what is left of buildings from before the 19th century. The inner harbour of Arendal is called "Pollen", where the fish market, pubs, and restaurants are located. Trinity Church dominates the skyline of this area.

Arendal has grown from a traditional sleepy summer-town (with culture activities just in the summer) to a more "all year" city. The building of the new library and the combined city hall/concert house has greatly improved culture life.

Lighthouses The Store Torungen Lighthouse is located on the island of Store Torungen outside Arendal. It was constructed in 1844 and electrified in 1914. It is 34.3 metres (113 ft) high and contains a 2nd order lens. It is reachable by a 55-minute boat trip from the town centre. The lighthouse is still in use.

The Lille Torungen Lighthouse is situated on the small island of Lille Torungen outside Arendal. The lighthouse is 28.9 metres (95 ft) high. Lille Torungen and Store Torungen were constructed as twin lighthouses, and both are located in the Arendal shipping lane.

The Sandvigodden Lighthouse is also located in Arendal.

Strømsbo gård Strømsbo gård is a manor house on a historic farm located west of the centre of Arendal. The manor dates from the 1760s. From 1804 the manor and farm were owned by members of the Herlofson family. Peter Herlofson took over the farm and gave the building its present form. In 1883, Axel Herlofsen (1845–1910) built the Strømsbo steam sawmill at the head of Strømsbubukt. Nicolai Benjamin Herlofson (1876–1945), former mayor of Arendal, was born and raised at Strømsbo.

Music festivals • Canal Street is Arendals yearly jazz and blues festival during the summer. It has been arranged since 1996, at that time by the name of Arendal Jazz and Blues Festival. The popularity of the arrangement has been steadily increasing. • From 2007 until 2014, the Hove Festival was located on the island of Tromøy just outside Arendal town. It was the largest festival scene in Norway the debut year, and it has an audience capacity of up to 25,000.

Transport The European route E18 highway is a major transportation route through Arendal heading to Oslo in the north-east and Kristiansand to the southwest. Other main roads in Arendal include the Norwegian County Road 407, Norwegian County Road 408, and Norwegian County Road 410. The local railway line Arendalsbanen runs to Nelaug where it connects with the main Sørlandsbanen railway line, which runs between the cities of Oslo and Stavanger.

The Setesdal Bilruter (on behalf of public transit authority AKT) provides bus connections throughout the Arendal area, the Setesdal region including Froland, as well as to the neighboring towns of Grimstad, Lillesand and Kristiansand, and a handful of their suburbs and outlying villages. A few more destinations can be reached with other bus operators (namely Agder Buss, Nettbuss, Konkurrenten.no, and Lavprisekspressen), including places such as Risør, Tvedestrand, Oslo, and Stavanger. There is also a bus connection to Kristiansand Airport operated by Agder Flyekspress and Nettbuss express (the latter on behalf of Flybussen.no). Ferries run between the city centre and the islands of Hisøya and Tromøya. Arendal does also have an airport, Arendal Airport, Gullknapp, although it does not have any commercial airlines regularly stopping here.

Healthcare The municipality organises general practitioner services, such as the primary doctor scheme, accident and emergency departments, physiotherapy, public health centres and school medical services, home nursing care, midwifery services and nursing homes or living arrangements for around-the-clock nursing and care. Sørlandet Hospital has a visiting location in Arendal and offers specialist health services in somatics, psychiatry and addiction treatment.

Europe/Oslo/Agder 
<b>Europe/Oslo/Agder</b>
Image: Adobe Stock Reidar Johannessen #233734127

Arendal was ranked #1260 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Arendal has a population of over 44,999 people. Arendal also forms the centre of the wider Agder County which has a population of over 307,233 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Arendal see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Arendal has links with:

🇮🇸 Árborg, Iceland 🇸🇪 Kalmar, Sweden 🇹🇿 Mwanza, Tanzania 🇱🇻 Rēzekne, Latvia 🇫🇮 Savonlinna, Finland 🇩🇰 Silkeborg, Denmark 🇱🇻 Viļāni, Latvia
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | Nomad

Antipodal to Arendal is: -171.23,-58.461

Locations Near: Arendal 8.77036,58.4608

🇳🇴 Kristiansand 7.995,58.144 d: 57.4  

🇳🇴 Porsgrunn 9.651,59.137 d: 90.7  

🇳🇴 Skien 9.609,59.209 d: 96.2  

🇩🇰 Hjørring 9.995,57.455 d: 133.2  

🇳🇴 Sandefjord 10.217,59.117 d: 110.7  

🇩🇰 Aalborg 9.926,57.012 d: 175.1  

🇳🇴 Tønsberg 10.424,59.298 d: 133  

🇳🇴 Drammen 10.205,59.744 d: 164.5  

🇩🇰 Viborg 9.414,56.451 d: 226.8  

🇩🇰 Holstebro 8.6,56.35 d: 234.9  

Antipodal to: Arendal -171.23,-58.461

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 15852.4  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 15102.1  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 15052.5  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15131.8  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11195.1  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 11105.7  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 11091.8  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 11087.4  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 11087.1  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 11060.6  

Bing Map

Option 1