| Ålesund | |
| Former Name: | Aalesund |
| Idnumber: | 1508 |
| County: | Møre og Romsdal |
| District: | Sunnmøre |
| Capital: | Ålesund |
| Established: | 1 January 1838 |
| Preceded: | none |
| Demonyms: | Ålesundar Ålesunder |
| Language: | Neutral[1] |
| Coatofarms: | Ålesund komm.svg |
| Webpage: | www.alesund.kommune.no |
| Mayor: | Håkon Lykkebø Strand |
| Mayor Party: | Frp |
| Mayor As Of: | 2023 |
| Area Rank: | 184 |
| Area Total Km2: | 632.51 |
| Area Land Km2: | 607.41 |
| Area Water Km2: | 25.10 |
| Area Water Percent: | 4 |
| Population As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Rank: | 13 |
| Population Total: | 67250 |
| Population Density Km2: | 111.2 |
| Population Increase: | 9.1 |
| Coordinates: | 62.4778°N 6.1903°W |
| Utm Zone: | 32V |
| Utm Northing: | 6930569 |
| Utm Easting: | 0355180 |
| Geo Cat: | adm2nd |
Ålesund (in Norwegian pronounced as /ˈôːɫəsʉn/), sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality, as well as the principal shipping town of the Sunnmøre district. The town is a sea port and is noted for its concentration of Art Nouveau architecture. Although sometimes internationally spelled by its older name Aalesund, this spelling is obsolete in Norwegian. However, the local football club Aalesunds FK still carries that spelling, having been founded before the official change.
The 633km2 municipality is the 184th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Ålesund is the 13th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 67,250. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 9.1% over the previous 10-year period.[2] [3]
In 1793, the port of Aalesund was granted limited ladested rights. Later, in 1824, it was granted full ladested rights. In 1835, Ålesund had 482 inhabitants.[4] On 1 January 1838, the new formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect, granting limited local self-government to all parishes in Norway. Therefore, on that date, the small ladested of Aalesund became a small municipality with its own council. It was surrounded by the large rural municipality of Borgund. In 1848, it was upgraded to the status of a, a more important market town.
On 1 January 1875, part of Borgund Municipality (population: 902) was transferred to the town of Ålesund. In 1922, another part of Borgund Municipality (population: 1,148) was transferred to the town of Ålesund. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1968, most of the neighbouring municipality of Borgund (population: 20,132) was merged with the town of Ålesund. This merger vastly increased the land area of the municipality and more than doubled the population of Ålesund, for a new total population of 38,589. On 1 January 1977, the island of Sula and some small surrounding islets (population: 6,302) were separated from Ålesund to form the new Sula Municipality.[5]
On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Ålesund was greatly enlarged when Haram Municipality, Skodje Municipality, Sandøy Municipality, and Ørskog Municipality were merged with Ålesund to form one large municipality of Ålesund.[6]
On 1 January 2024, the northern part of the municipality that used to be part of the old Haram Municipality before 2020 was separated from Ålesund to become a separate municipality once again.[7]
A part of the town was originally known as Kaupangen Borgund. The Old Norse word means "marketplace" or "town", thus the market town for Borgund. The Old Norse form of the current name was Álasund. The first element of that (probably) is the plural genitive case of which means "eel". The last element is which means "strait" or "sound".[8] On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aalesund with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Ålesund, using the letter Å instead.[9] [10]
The coat of arms was granted on 1 April 1898. The arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a fishing boat on the water with three cod fish beneath the boat. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. A mural crown is depicted above the escutcheon. The arms symbolize the importance of fishing for Ålesund. The type of ship was typical for the fishing vessels in the 18th and 19th century and is taken from a drawing made in 1762. The waves and three fish were added to the drawing in the arms. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[11] [12]
The arms are shown in the Kaffe Hag album with the boat sailing right instead of sailing left.
The Church of Norway has eight parishes (Norwegian: sokn) within the municipality of Ålesund. It is part of the Nordre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The seat of the deanery is at Ålesund Church.
| Borgund | Borgund Church | Borgund | 1130 | |
| Ellingsøy | Ellingsøy Church | Ellingsøya | 1998 | |
| Sandøy | Sandøy Church | Sandøya | 1812 | |
| Harøy Church | Harøya | 1934 | ||
| Skodje | Skodje Church | Skodje | 1860 | |
| Spjelkavik | Spjelkavik Church | Spjelkavik | 1987 | |
| Volsdalen | Volsdalen Church | Nørvøya (in Ålesund city) | 1974 | |
| Ålesund | Ålesund Church | Aspøya (in Ålesund city) | 1909 | |
| Skarbøvik Church | Heissa | 1995 | ||
| Ørskog | Ørskog Church | Sjøholt | 1873 |
According to local legend, Ålesund was founded by Gangerolf (outside of Norway better known as Rollo), in the 9th century.[13] the 10th-century founder of the dynasty of the dukes of Normandy, hailed from the community of Giske, north-west of Ålesund. At least three statues of Rollo exist: in the town park in Ålesund, in the city of Rouen, France, and in Fargo, North Dakota, United States.
By 1835, Ålesund had grown to a population of 482, and in 1848 it was given the status of a town. By 1900, the population had increased to 11,777.[14]
In the night of 23 January 1904, the town was the scene of the Ålesund Fire, one of the most terrible of the many conflagrations to which Norwegian towns, once built largely of wood, have been subjected. Practically the entire town was destroyed during the night, a gale aiding the flames, and the population had to leave the town in the middle of the night with only a few minutes' notice. Only one person died in the fire, the 76-year-old Ane Heen, but more than 10,000 people were left without shelter.[15] Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had often been on vacation to Sunnmøre. After the fire, he sent four warships with materials to build temporary shelters and barracks. After a period of planning, the town was rebuilt in stone, brick, and mortar in Jugendstil, the architectural style of the time. The structures were designed by approximately 20 master builders and 30 Norwegian architects, most of them educated in Trondheim and Charlottenburg, Berlin, drawing inspiration from all over Europe. To honor Wilhelm, one of the most frequented streets of the town is named after him.
The town has an unusually consistent architecture, most of the buildings having been built from stone in Art Nouveau style, between 1904 and 1907. Jugendstilsenteret is a national interpretation centre, visitors can learn more about the town fire, the rebuilding of the town and the Art Nouveau style. Ålesund is a partner in the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, safeguards and development of the Art nouveau.
The term "Little London" was often applied to the community during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany due to the Norwegian resistance work that took place here. Among other things, the city was central to the flights to Scotland and England.
See also: Geography of Norway. The municipality of Ålesund occupies seven of the large outer islands in the county of Møre og Romsdal: Hessa, Aspøya, Nørvøya, Oksenøya, Ellingsøya, Humla, and Tørla. The town centre is located on the islands Aspøya and Nørvøya, while Hessa and Oksenøya contain residential areas. There are also many other smaller surrounding islands.
The second largest island, Ellingsøya, used to be accessible only by boat or by road via Skodje Municipality, but the undersea Ellingsøy Tunnel was built in 1987 to make traveling between the island and the town centre more convenient. The tunnel is long, and was upgraded in 2009.
Situated north northeast of the city of Bergen, Ålesund is adjacent to the Hjørund and Geiranger fjords, the latter being on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.[16]
The municipality covers an area of . The population (2017) is 47,199, making the population density of . The population of the agglomeration, which includes parts of the neighbouring Sula Municipality, is 48,460.[17] The municipality also contains three smaller separate urban areas on the island of Ellingsøya: Hoffland, Årset, and Myklebost with a total population of 1,279. Other villages include Løvika and Spjelkavik, both on Oksenøya.
Ålesund has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb), also known as a marine west coast climate. The driest season is April- July. The wettest season is September – January, and the wettest month is December. The mean annual temperature of is extremely warm for the latitude of 62°N. This is in a large part due to the mild autumns and winters, which can sometimes experience strong winds. The record low is from January 2010, and the record high is from July 2018. The warmest temperature ever recorded in the municipality is at a weather station a little east (inland) of the city itself. Atlantic lows can sometimes cause warm winter highs in Ålesund due to foehn effect from winds being forced over the mountains in Sunnmørsalpene.
Ålesund 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.[18] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.
The municipal council (Norwegian: Kommunestyre) of Ålesund is made up of 47 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayors (Norwegian Nynorsk; Nynorsk, Norwegian: ordførar) of Ålesund:[19] [20]
The town of Ålesund has the most important fishing harbour in Norway. The town's fishing fleet is one of the most modern in Europe. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ålesund was one of the chief stations of the herring fishery business.
In relation to the relatively large fishing fleet belonging to Ålesund and nearby harbours, a large shipbuilding and ship equipment industry has evolved. There are no longer any yards building ships in Ålesund proper; its last shipyard – Liaaen Shipyard - evolved into ship repairs and since the late 1990s has mainly been serving the offshore industry through the company Liaaen Technology[22] that merged and rebranded to Strata Møre in 2007. In the neighbouring communities, however, shipyards continue to operate successfully: Vard, Ulstein Verft,[23] Kleven Maritime,[24] and Havyard Group.[25]
When oil was found in the North Sea in the 1970s, the local fishing fleet ship owners seized the opportunity and rebuilt fishing vessels to serve the infant oil exploration and production industry. Soon they were able to build purpose-designed vessels at local shipyards to serve the North Sea oil adventure even better. Today this has become a cornerstone industry in and around Ålesund through leading offshore supply ship owning companies Farstad,[26] Bourbon,[27] Olympic,[28] Havila,[29] and Rem.[30] Serving the ship building industry a large number of equipment manufacturers has evolved: Rolls-Royce,[31] Odim,[32] Sperre,[33] Optimar,[34] Ship Equip,[35] Jets, and many more.
Ålesund and its surroundings also have a large furniture industry. Some well-known household items are manufactured here. To the east of Ålesund lies the Sykkylven Municipality where the Ekornes factory, producing furniture such as the StressLess chair, is located. Håhjem, another village near Ålesund, contains the headquarters of the Stokke company.
Ålesund is also one of the harbours at which the Hurtigruten arrives two times per day. As the cultural center of the region and with close proximity to the fjords, Ålesund is a tourist attraction.[36] The Atlanterhavsparken aquarium is another tourist attraction.[37]
From Øye at the head of Hjørundfjorden, a road strikes south to the Nordfjorden, and from Maråk on Geirangerfjorden another strikes inland to Otta. The Rauma Line starts at Åndalsnes, east of Ålesund, going to Dombås, then southwards on the Dovre Line to Lillehammer and Oslo. Ålesund is a port of call for passenger and freight vessels travelling between Bergen, Kingston upon Hull, Newcastle, Hamburg, and Trondheim, including the Hurtigruta (Norwegian Coastal Express) cruise ships, which arrive in Ålesund twice a day.
The town's airport, Ålesund Airport, Vigra, has several daily flights to/from Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Copenhagen. It used to have several weekly flights to/from Riga (Riga International Airport) (AirBaltic) and London (London Gatwick Airport) but these routes have since ceased. In November 2012 KLM announced it would fly to Ålesund five days a week from Amsterdam starting in April 2013.[38]
Lately, there have been suggestions of a high-speed rail link to Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim, as well as metro-style local services to meet the needs of the expanding population of the town.
The Norwegian Centre of Art Nouveau Architecture, Jugendstilsenteret, is situated in Ålesund. It is a museum and interpretive center, with exhibitions telling the story of the town fire and Art Nouveu/Jugendstil in Norway and Europe.
Sunnmøre museum,[39] founded in 1931, is an outdoor folk museum devoted to the Norwegian coastal culture and way of life. Located on an area of 120ha, it has more than 55 old and distinct houses from the past 300 years moved to the site, replicas of old Viking ships, and the Medieval Age Museum with artifacts from excavations of the old trading centre.
The local newspaper is Sunnmørsposten, founded in 1882 and published six days a week. The newspaper Arbeidernes blad was briefly published in Ålesund in 1898.[40] [41] Ålesund is the site of the annual Norwegian Food Festival.
Ålesund is home to a branch campus of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), after the Ålesund University College merged with NTNU on 1 January 2016. [42] This campus has approximately 1,800 students and 150 employees. The Ålesund School of Art (Norwegian: Ålesund Kunstskole) is a school for visual arts located in Ålesund. The Norwegian School of Management had a campus in Ålesund, but it closed on 1 August 2008.[43]
Ålesund videregående skole, also known as Latinskolen, formerly Aalesund Lærd- og Realskole, is the oldest secondary school in Ålesund, having been established in 1863.[44] Of the six upper secondary schools in Ålesund, Fagerlia videregående skole is the largest with room for approximately 1,000 students. Ålesund also has an international school for children aged 5–15.[45]
The local football team, Aalesunds FK (Aalesunds Fotballklubb), was founded in 1914. The team played in the Norwegian top flight for the first time in the 2003 season. The club won its first Norwegian Cup in 2009 and won again in 2011. They played their home matches at Kråmyra Stadium until the 2005 season, when they relocated to the new Color Line Stadium, located approximately outside the town centre. AaFK's supporter club is called "Stormen" and has about 2,000 members.
See main article: category.
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway. Ålesund is twinned with:[47]
Akureyri, Iceland (1949)
Borgo a Mozzano, Italy (1979)
Lahti, Finland (1947)
Tacoma, United States (1986)
Västerås, Sweden (1947)