Arendal () is a municipality in Agder county in southeastern Norway. Arendal Municipality 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 the municipality include Rykene, Eydehavn, Færvik, Brekka i Moland, Brekka i Tromøya, Flosta, 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.
The municipality is the 273rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Arendal Municipality is the 24th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 5.2% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
Administrative history The town of Arendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1875, a rural area in the western part of Arendal Municipality was removed from the town and moved to neighboring municipalities. The westernmost part (population: 52) became part of Øiestad Municipality and the rest (population: 22) became part of Østre Moland Municipality.
On 1 January 1902, Barbu Municipality (population: ) was dissolved and it was merged into Arendal Municipality, greatly increasing the size of Arendal. In 1944, a small area of Austre Moland Municipality (population: ) was transferred into Arendal Municipality as well.
On 1 January 1992, a major municipal merger vastly expanded Arendal Municipality when the following areas were merged:
all of Arendal Municipality (population: ) all of Hisøy Municipality (population: ) all of Moland Municipality (population: ) all of Tromøy Municipality (population: ) all of Øyestad Municipality (population: )
In 2020, there were many municipal and county mergers across Norway due to the work of the Solberg cabinet. Historically, this municipality was part of the old Aust-Agder county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Agder county (after Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties were merged).
Name The Old Norse form of the name was probably . The first element is the genitive case of which means "eagle". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale", thus meaning the "valley of the eagle".
A link for the name also has been theorized to the Vasconic substrate hypothesis, for similarity to placenames like Val d'Aran and Arundel.
Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 7 November 1924 (based upon an older seal). The blazon is "Per fess, Azure with a three-masted ship argent over barry wavy of seven argent and azure". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is an 18th-century, three-masted sailing ship above seven, thin, wavy stripes. 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. The arms usually have a gold mural crown above the shield. The design was chosen as a symbol for the importance of fisheries and sailing to the local economy. A ship appeared on the oldest known seal of the town, dating back to the 17th century. In the late 19th and early 20th century the arms showed the ship in the upper part and a landscape with the coat of arms of Norway in the base of the shield. The arms were designed by Miss C. Aubert who based it off a draft by Fred Barth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches The Church of Norway has six parishes () within Arendal Municipality. It is part of the Arendal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
Churches in Arendal MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtBarbuBarbu ChurchBarbu1880HisøyHisøy ChurchHis1849MolandAustre Moland ChurchBrekka1673Flosta ChurchFlosta1632Stokken ChurchSaltrød1878TrefoldighetTrinity ChurchArendal1888TromøyFærvik ChurchFærvik1884Tromøy ChurchBrekkaØyestadBjorbekk ChurchBjorbekk1884Engene ChurchNedenes1849Øyestad ChurchRykene
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 (ladested rights), 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 (kjøpstad) 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 recognized 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 centers 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 Arendal 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 Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council () of Arendal Municipality is made up of 39 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors The mayor () of Arendal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
1838–1861: Morten Smith Dedekam 1861–1861: Wilhelm Foss 1862–1862: Johannes Westergaard 1863–1870: Tollef Omholt 1871–1871: Anders D. Geelmuyden 1872–1878: Ole Schrøder (H) 1879–1879: Peter L. Lund 1880–1884: Ole Schrøder (H) 1885–1886: Ove S. Andersen 1887–1895: Thorvald Christian Christensen (H) 1896–1898: Claus Bomhoff Evensen 1899–1901: Johan Henrik Kintzell Frøstrup (H) 1902–1907: Axel Smith (H) 1908–1913: Hans Schrøder 1914–1916: Michael Blom Bakke 1917–1919: Josef Hammer 1920–1924: Ove Andersen (H) 1925–1925: Halvor Løvold (H) 1926–1931: Oscar Lundegaard 1932–1934: Nicolai B. Herlofson 1935–1940: Niels Sødring Barth 1941–1941: Konrad M. Havig 1941–1942: Sigurd Saxlund (NS) 1943–1944: Eystein Knutzon (NS) 1945–1945: Carl Hansen (NS) 1945–1945: Niels Sødring Barth 1946–1947: Ola Solberg (Ap) 1948–1967: Jens T. Thommesen (H) 1968–1971: Stian W. Erichsen (V) 1972–1987: Ørnulf G. Christensen (H) 1988–1991: Ivar Bollmann Pedersen (Ap) 1992–1995: Einar Livolden (Sp) 1996–1999: Sigurd Ledaal (H) 2000–2003: Alf Eivind Ljøstad (KrF) 2003–2011: Torill Rolstad Larsen (Ap) 2011–2015: Einar Halvorsen (H) 2015–present: Robert Cornels Nordli (Ap)
Geography The municipality is bordered to the southwest by Grimstad Municipality, to the northwest by Froland Municipality, to the northeast by Tvedestrand Municipality, and to the southeast by the Skaggerak. The lake Rore is located on the border with Grimstad Municipality along with the river Nidelva. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Høgsteinsheia, located on the border with Froland Municipality (and near the border with Grimstad Municipality).
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 Hisøy, Tromøya, Merdø, Flosterøya, 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.
Climate The municipality of Arendal is split into two climate zones: a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) along the coast and a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb) inland. Precipitation is abundant and spread out year-round, but peaks during autumn. While easterlies occasionally bring heavy, disruptive snowfall during winter, temperatures fluctuating around 0°C means that the snow is susceptible to melting. Summers are generally sunny and mild, with daytime temperatures between 19°C and 24°C.
Torungen Lighthouse is a maritime weather station located into the open sea, and about from the city of Arendal. Because of its maritime location, winters tend to be milder and summers cooler than on the mainland. The all-time low is from January 1942, and the all-time high is from June 1995.
Economy In 2018 the service sector had 82% of the jobs in the municipality.