Everything about Trondhjem totally explained
is a city and municipality in the county of
Sør-Trøndelag,
Norway.
The city of Trondheim was established as a municipality
January 1,
1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of
Byneset,
Leinstrand,
Strinda and
Tiller were merged with Trondheim on
January 1,
1964.
Although the region had been inhabited for thousands of years, the city of Trondheim was founded in 997. It was frequently used as the seat of the
king, and was capital of Norway until 1217. In the Middle Ages, Trondheim was the site of several battles, including the battle between
King Sverre and
Erling Skakke, in 1179. The city has experienced several major fires – the most devastating in 1651 and 1681. The 1651 fire destroyed 90% of the buildings in Trondheim, and the 1681 fire led to a total reconstruction of the city.
Trondheim is a Norwegian center of education, technical and medical research with the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and
SINTEF located in the city. NTNU has about 25,000 students. With 165, 191 inhabitants (as of 01.01.2008), Trondheim is Norway's third largest municipality, as well as the centre of the
fourth largest urban area, with a population of approximately 152,800. As of 2008, the
Trondheim Region, a statistical
metropolitan area, has a population of 255,320.
History
» For the ecclesiastical history, see Archiepiscopate of Nidaros
People have been living in the region for thousands of years as evidenced by the
rock carvings in central Norway, the
Nøstvet and Lihult cultures and the
Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the
Kings of Norway were hailed at Øretinget in Trondheim, the place for the assembly of all free men by the mouth of the river
Nidelva.
Harald Fairhair (865–933) was hailed as the king here, as was his son, Haakon I – called 'the Good'.
Trondheim was named
Kaupangen (
English:
the market place or
trading place) by
Viking King
Olav Tryggvason in 997. Fairly soon, it came to be called
Nidaros. In the beginning it was frequently used as the seat of the King, and was the capital of Norway until 1217.
Leif Ericson lived in Trondheim around 1000 as a military retainer (
Old Norse: "hird"-man) of King Olav. A statue of Leif, donated by the Leif Ericsson Society in
Seattle, is located at the seaside, close to the old Customs Building, the cruise ship facilities and the new swimming Hall. The statue is a replica, the original being located at a Seattle
marina.
Trondheim is located at the mouth of the river
Nidelva, due to its excellent harbour and sheltered condition. The river used to be deep enough for most boats in the Middle Ages. An avalanche of mud and stones made it less navigable and partly ruined the harbour in the mid-17
th century. The battle of
Kalvskinnet took place in Trondheim in 1179: King
Sverre Sigurdsson and his
Birkebeiner warriors were victorious against
Erling Skakke (a rival to the throne).
Trondheim was the seat of the (Catholic)
Archbishopric for Norway from 1152. Due to the introduction of Lutheran
Protestantism in 1537, the last Archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, had to flee from the city to the
Netherlands, where he died in present-day
Lier, Belgium.
The city has experienced several major fires. Since it was a city of log buildings, out of wood, most fires caused severe damage. Great fires ravaged the city in 1598, 1651, 1681, 1708, 1717 (two fires that year), 1742, 1788, 1841 and 1842. It must be noted that these were only the worst cases. The 1651 fire destroyed 90% of all buildings within the city limits. The fire in 1681 (the "Horneman Fire") led to an almost total reconstruction of the city, overseen by General
Johan Caspar von Cicignon, originally from
Luxembourg. Broad avenues like
Munkegaten were created, with no regard for property rights, in order to stop the next fire. At the time, the city had a population of roughly 8000 inhabitants. After the
Treaty of Roskilde 26 February, 1658, Trondheim, and the rest of
Trøndelag, became Swedish territory for a brief period, but the area was reconquered after 10 months. The conflict was finally settled by the
Treaty of Copenhagen, 27 May, 1660.
During
World War II, Trondheim was occupied by
Nazi Germany from April 9, 1940, the first day of the
invasion of Norway, until the end of the war in Europe,
May 8, 1945. The home of the most notorious Norwegian Gestapo agents,
Henry Rinnan, it was also subject to harsh treatment by the occupying powers, including imposition of
martial law in October of 1942.
Toponymy
The city was originally given the name
Kaupangen (English:
Marketplace) by Olav Tryggvason. It was for a long time called
Nidaros (English:
Mouth of the river Nid) or
Niðaróss, in the
Old Norse spelling. In the late
Middle Ages the name was
changed to
Trondheim (Old Norse spelling:
Þróndheimr). In the
Dano-Norwegian period, during the years as a provincial town in the united kingdoms of
Denmark-Norway, the city name was spelled
Trondhjem. The words
heim(r) and
hjem all mean home, the word Trond is a tribal name, for example
Home of the Trønders.
Following the example set by the
renaming of the capital
Kristiania into
Oslo,
Nidaros was reintroduced as the official name of the city for a brief period from January 1, 1930 until March 6, 1931. The name was restored in order to reaffirm the city's link with its glorious past, despite the fact that a 1928
referendum on the name of the city had given this result: 17,163 votes in favour of
Trondhjem and 1,508 votes in favour of Nidaros. Public outrage later in the same year, even taking the form of
riots, forced the
Storting to settle for the medieval city name
Trondheim. The name of the diocese was, however, changed from
Trondhjem stift to
Nidaros bispedømme (English:
Diocese of Nidaros) in 1918.
Historically,
Trondheimen indicates the area around the
Trondheimsfjord. The spelling
Trondhjem was officially rejected, but many still prefer that spelling of the city's name. Today, most inhabitants still refer to their city in their local
dialect,
Trøndersk as "Tronn-yam", where "tronn" rhymes with "gone".
The traditional German version of the city's name was
Drontheim. During the
Nazi German occupation, 1940–45, the Germans made it into a major base for submarines (
DORA 1) and also contemplated a scheme to build a new city of 300,000 inhabitants,
Neu-Drontheim (New Trondheim), centered 15 km (10 mi) southeast of Trondheim, near the wetlands of Øysand in the outskirts of
Melhus municipality. The new city — northern capital of a Germanized
Scandinavia — was meant to be the future German main naval base of the North Atlantic region, and would be the largest of all German naval bases. Today, there are few physical remains of this giant construction project.
Geography and climate
Trondheim is situated where the river
Nidelva meets
Trondheimsfjorden. The municipality's top elevation is the
Storheia hill, 565 metres (≈1850 ft) above sea level. At summer
solstice, the sun rises at 03:00 and sets at 23:40, but stays just below the horizon – there's no darkness from
May 20 to
July 20. At winter solstice, the sun rises at 10:00, stays very low above the horizon, and sets at 14:30.
Trondheim has a predominantly
maritime climate, but is mostly sheltered from the more windy conditions on the coast. The warmest temperature ever recorded is 35 °C on July 22, 1901, and the coldest is -26.1 °C in February 1899. Trondheim experiences moderate snowfall from November to March, but mixed with mild weather and rainfall. There are on average 14 days each winter with at least 25 cm snow cover on the ground and 22 days with daily minimum temperature -10 °C or colder. There are often substantially more snow in suburban areas at somewhat higher elevation, such as
Byåsen and
Heimdal, with good skiing conditions in
Bymarka. Spring often sees much sunshine, but nights can be chilly or cold. The daily high temperature can exceed 20 °C from early May to late September, but not reliably so; on average are 34 days each summer warmer than 20 °C. October is the most typical autumn month with cool temperatures and fall foliage, while November is considerably darker and colder. Average annual precipitation is 892 mm fairly evenly spread out over the year, although September and October typically sees twice as much precipitation as March, April and May. Temperatures have tended to be warmer in recent years. The
Trøndelag area has seen average temperatures increase by almost 2 °C the last 25 years (2007).
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Avg high °C | 0.1 |
1.0 |
4.1 |
7.8 |
14.1 |
17.3 |
18.4 |
17.8 |
13.6 |
9.1 |
3.7 |
1.5
|
| Avg low temperature °C | -6.5 |
-5.7 |
-3.0 |
0.3 |
5.0 |
8.8 |
10.3 |
9.8 |
6.6 |
3.3 |
-2.0 |
-4.8
|
Source: World Weather Information Service All data is for Trondheim – Værnes (12 m amsl), base period is 1961–1990. |
Fauna
Several wetland habitats can be found within the city limits. The
Gaulosen is one of these. Here you'll find a newly built observation tower and information on the birdlife that can be found.
Despite Trondheim being Norway's third largest city, wild animals can be seen.
Otters and
beavers thrive in Nidelva and Bymarka.
Badgers and
foxes are not uncommon sights.
Moose and
deer are common in the hills surrounding the city, and might wander into the city, especially in May when the one year olds are chased away by their mothers, or in late winter when food grows scarce in the snow-covered higher regions. Since
2002 a
wolverine has stayed in Bymarka.
Cityscape
Most of the downtown area is scattered with small specialty stores and shops, however the main downtown shopping area is concentrated around the pedestrian street
Nordre gate (
English:
Northern street) and the
Olav Tryggvason gate.
In the mid- to late 1990s, the area surrounding the old drydock and ship construction buildings of the defunct
Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted shipbuilding company at the
Nedre Elvehavn (Lower River Docks) were renovated and old industrial buildings were torn down to give place for semi high-rise condominiums. A shopping mall was also built, known as Solsiden (The Sunny Side). This is a popular residential and shopping area, especially for young people.
DORA 1 is a German submarine base that housed the
13th Flotilla during the World War II occupation of Norway. Today the bunker houses various archives, among them the city archives, the university and state archives. More recently, DORA has been used as a concert venue.
Kristiansten Fortress, built 1681–84, is located on a hill east in Trondheim. It repelled the invading
Swedes in 1718, but was decommissioned in 1816 by Crown Prince Regent
Charles John.
A statue of
Olav Tryggvason, the founder of Trondheim, is located in the city's central plaza, mounted on top of an obelisk. The statue base is also a
sun dial, but it's calibrated to UTC+1 so that the reading is inaccurate by one hour in the summer.
The islet
Munkholmen is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site. The islet has served as a place of
execution, a
monastery, a
fortress,
prison, and a World War II
anti-aircraft gun station.
Stiftsgården is the royal residence in Trondheim, originally constructed in 1774 by Cecilie Christine Schøller. At 140 rooms constituting 4000 m² (43000 ft²), it's possibly the largest wooden building in Northern Europe, and has been used by royals and their guests since 1800.
Singsaker studenterhjem is the largest inhabited wooden building in
Scandinavia as it houses 110 students throughout the school year. In the summer the student home is turned into a summer hotel,
Singsaker Sommerhotell.
Nidaros Cathedral
The
Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace are located side by side in the middle of the city centre. The cathedral, built from 1070 on, is the most important
Gothic monument in Norway and was Northern Europe's most important Christian
pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages, with pilgrimage routes from
Oslo in southern Norway and from the
Jämtland and
Värmland regions of
Sweden. Today, it's the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world, and the second largest in
Scandinavia.
During the Middle Ages, and again after independence was restored in 1814, the Nidaros Cathedral was the
coronation church of the Norwegian kings.
King Haakon VII was the last monarch to be crowned there, in 1906. Starting with
King Olav V in 1957, coronation was replaced by
consecration. In 1991, the present
King Harald V and
Queen Sonja were consecrated in the cathedral. On May 24, 2002, their daughter
Princess Märtha Louise married writer
Ari Behn in the cathedral.
The
pilgrimage route to
Nidaros Cathedral, the site of Saint Olav's tomb, has recently been re-instated. In
Norwegian, the route is known as
Sankt Olavs vei (
St. Olav's Way in English). The main route, which is approximately 640 km long, starts in
Oslo and heads North, along the lake
Mjøsa, up the valley
Gudbrandsdalen, over the mountain range
Dovrefjell and down the valley
Oppdal to end at
Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. There is a Pilgrim's Office in Oslo which gives advice to pilgrims, and a Pilgrim Centre in Trondheim, under the
aegis of the cathedral, which awards certificates to successful
pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.
Museums
Trondheim Museum of Arts has Norway's third largest public art collection, mainly Norwegian art from the last 150 years.
Sverresborg, also named
Zion after
King David's castle in
Jerusalem, was a fortification built by
Sverre Sigurdsson. It is now an open air
museum, consisting of more than 60 buildings. The castle was originally built in 1182-1183, but didn't last for long as it was burned down in 1188. However, the
Sverresaga indicates it had been restored by 1197.
Trondheim Science Museum (Norwegian:
Vitensenteret i Trondheim) is a scientific hands-on experience center. The
Museum of Natural History and Archaeology is part of the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology. There are also a variety of small
history,
science and
natural history museums, such as the
Trondheim Maritime Museum, the
Armoury, adjacent to the Archbishops's Palace, the music and musical instrument museum
Ringve National Museum,
Ringve Botanical Garden, the
National Museum of Justice, the
Trondheim Tramway Museum, the
National Museum of Decorative Arts, and the
Jewish Museum (Trondheim), co-located with the city's
synagogue, which is among the northernmost in the world.
Political structure
On January 1, 2005, the city was reorganized from five boroughs into four, with each of these having separate social services offices. The current boroughs are
Midtbyen (42,467 inhabitants),
Østbyen (39,171 inhabitants),
Lerkendal (44,273 inhabitants) and Heimdal (30,099) inhabitants. Population statistics are as of January 1, 2005.
Prior to 2005, Trondheim was divided into the boroughs
Sentrum,
Strinda,
Nardo,
Byåsen and
Heimdal.
Education and research
» See also the list of primary schools in Trondheim.
There are 11 high schools in the city.
Trondheim katedralskole ("Trondheim Cathedral School") was founded in 1152 and is the oldest
gymnasium-level school of Norway, while
Brundalen videregående skole is the largest in Sør-Trøndelag with its 1100 students and 275 employees.
Trondheim is home to the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (
Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, NTNU) with its 20,000 students, as well as
Sør-Trøndelag University College (
Høgskolen i Sør-Trøndelag, HiST) with 7,000 registered students. Both NTNU and HiST receive thousands of students from all over the country, which means that the actual population of the city is somewhat higher than the official number.
The regional hospital,
St. Olavs University Hospital, is located in Trondheim. The university hospital, cooperates closely with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. A new hospital is currently being built, with a projected cost of 12 billion
NOK.
SINTEF, the largest independent research organisation in
Scandinavia, has 1800 employees with 1300 of these located in Trondheim. The Air Force Academy of the
Royal Norwegian Air Force is located at Kuhaugen in Trondheim.
Transport
Trondheim has an international airport,
Trondheim Airport, Værnes, situated in
Stjørdal, which is Norway's third largest airport in terms of passenger traffic. In 2006, the airport had 3,167,816 passengers. Scheduled domestic flights are offered by four airlines to 16 destinations, while four operators offer nine international destinations.
Major railway connections are the northbound
Nordlandsbanen (to
Mo i Rana 1942,
Fauske 1958,
Bodø 1962), the eastbound
Meråkerbanen (opened 1882) to
Sweden via Storlien, and two southbound connections to Oslo,
Rørosbanen (opened 1877) and
Dovrebanen (opened 1921).
The Coastal Express ships (
Hurtigruten: Covering the
Bergen–
Kirkenes stretch of the coast) call at Trondheim, as do many
cruise ships during the summer season. Since 1994 there's also a fast commuter boat service to
Kristiansund, the closest coastal city to the south.
Trondheim also boasts the northernmost
tramway line in the world: the
Gråkallbanen, the last remaining bit of the
Trondheim Tramway is an 8.8 km (5.5 mi) single-track route which runs from the city centre, through the
Byåsen district, and up to Lian, in the large recreation area
Bymarka. Trondheim boasts the world's only bicycle lift,
Trampe.
The bus network, operated by
Team Trafikk, runs throughout most of the city and its suburbs. Bus service starts at about 05:00 and the latest service is around midnight. In addition, the Nattbuss (Night Bus) service ensures cheap and effective transport for those enjoying nightlife in the city centre during the weekends.
E6 passes through the city centre of Trondheim in addition to a motorway bypass along the eastern rim of the city.
Culture
The main regional
theatre,
Trøndelag Teater, is situated in Trondheim. The theatre is the oldest theatre in Northern Europe still in use.
Adresseavisen is the largest local newspaper and the oldest active newspaper in Norway, having been established in 1767. The newspaper owns the regional television channel TVAdressa and the radio channel RadioAdressa.
Music
Trondheim has a broad music scene, and is known for its strong communities committed to
rock,
jazz and
classical music, the latter two spearheaded by the
music conservatory at
NTNU and the municipal music school,
Trondheim Kommunale Musikk- og Kulturskole, with the
Trondheim Symphonic Orchestra and the
Trondheim Soloists being the best-known arenas. Classical artists hailing from Trondheim include violinist
Arve Tellefsen,
Elise Båtnes and
Marianne Thorsen.
Pop/rock artists and bands associated with Trondheim include
Åge Aleksandersen,
Margaret Berger,
DumDum Boys,
Gåte,
Keep Of Kalessin,
Lumsk,
Motorpsycho,
Kari Rueslåtten,
The 3rd and the Mortal,
TNT,
Tre Små Kinesere,
The Kids,
Casino Steel (of
The Boys), and child prodigy
Malin Reitan. The most popular punk scene is
UFFA.
Georg Kajanus, creator of the bands
Eclection,
Sailor and
DATA, was born in Trondheim. The music production team
Stargate started out in Trondheim.
Sports and recreation
Trondheim is the home town of
football team
Rosenborg Ballklub (colloquially known as
RBK), a successful team nationally as well as internationally playing in the
UEFA Champions League for the 11th time in 2007. The team's name, and initially most of its players, came from an east-end borough.
The city is also known for its active winter sports scene, with
cross-country skiing tracks in
Bymarka and a
ski jumping arena in
Granåsen, as well as nearby
alpine skiing facilities at
Vassfjellet. Trondheim hosted the
1997 Nordic skiing World Championships, held
World Cup ski sprint races in the city centre in February 2004, and hosted the 2006 National
Biathlon Championships. In March 2007, Trondheim lost the bid to
Tromsø to be the Norwegian candidate in the contest to host the
2018 Winter Olympics.
Trekking and cross-country skiing are popular among Norwegians. In Trondheim, people often go to the hills surrounding the city –
Bymarka in the west and
Estenstadmarka in the east - to engage in these activities. Many kilometers of prepared skiing tracks are available during the winter, as are a few establishments serving food and beverages in the middle of the forested skiing areas.
Mountain
hiking is also popular, and several mountain ranges are within short distance from the city.
Trollheimen is located to the southwest,
Dovrefjell to the south and
Sylane to the east. There is an 9-hole Golf course bordering Bymarka,
Trondheim Golfklubb, and an 18 hole course at nearby Byneset.
Salmon fishing is a popular activity. The record in Nidelva is 31.8 kg.
Gaula, one of the best salmon rivers in Europe, empties into
Gaulosen at
Leinstrand in Trondheim municipality, south of the city center.
Student culture
With students comprising almost a fifth of the population, the city of Trondheim is heavily influenced by student culture. Most noticeable is
Studentersamfundet i Trondhjem, the city's student society. It's characteristic round, red building from 1929 sits at the head of the bridge crossing the river southwards from the city centre.
Student culture in Trondheim is characterized by a long-standing tradition of volunteer work. The student society is for example run by more than 1200 volunteers.
NTNUI, Norway's largest sports club, is among the other volunteer organizations that dominate student culture in Trondheim. Students of Trondheim are also behind two major Norwegian culture festivals,
UKA and
The International Student Festival in Trondheim (ISFiT). NTNU lists over 200 student organizations with registered web pages at its servers alone
In an effort to bring attention to the strong student culture of Trondheim, the organization
StudiebyEN (Student City One) in 2004, launched a "love guarantee" that attracted worldwide attention. The notion of Trondheim as a romantic city appears to have stuck with its image.
Twin cities
Trondheim has several
twin cities. They are:
- Darmstadt, Germany
- Dunfermline, Scotland
- Graz, Austria
- Kópavogur, Iceland
- Östersund, Sweden
- Norrköping, Sweden
- Klaksvík, Faroe Islands
- Odense, Denmark
- Petah Tikva, Israel
- Ramallah, Palestinian territories
- Split, Croatia
- Tampere/Tammerfors, Finland
- Tiraspol, Moldova
- Vallejo, California, USA
- Keren, Eritrea (twinned with the Trondheim borough of Heimdal)
Honorary citizens
Liv Ullmann, twice Oscar-nominated actress, film director and honorary doctor at NTNU. She was born in Tokyo (1938), and grew up in Trondheim.
Arve Tellefsen, solo violinist, born in Trondheim 1936.
Hjalmar Andersen, former speed skater, three times gold medalist in the 1952 Winter Olympics, world champion, European champion and Norwegian champion three concecutive years 1950–1952, and five times world record holder. He grew up in Trondheim.Further Information
Get more info on 'Trondhjem'.
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