The municipality is centered around the little maritime town of Grimstad which is surrounded by many small islands (Skjærgård). There is a harbor, a main street, a small market square, Grimstad Church, and a museum dedicated to the early life of Henrik Ibsen, who served as an apprentice to Grimstad's local pharmacist Reimann, from 1844 to 1847, before leaving Grimstad in 1850. Ibsen's intimate knowledge of the local people and surroundings can be seen in his poem Terje Vigen.[4] The majority of the inhabitants live in and around the town, while the rest of the municipality is rural and heavily forested.
The 304-square-kilometre (117 sq mi) municipality is the 264th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Grimstad is the 50th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 24,587. The municipality's population density is 90.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (234/sq mi) and its population has increased by 13.9% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
General information
Map of the merged areas in 1971 that formed present-day GrimstadView of the city centreGrimstad ChurchThe narrow main pedestrian street Storgata in the city center.
The town of Grimstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1878, part of the neighboring municipality of Fjære (population: 948) was transferred to Grimstad. Again, on 1 January 1960, another part of Fjære (pop: 344) was transferred to Grimstad. On 1 January 1971, the rural municipalities of Fjære (pop: 6,189) and Landvik (pop: 2,781) were merged with the town of Grimstad (pop: 2,794) to form a significantly larger municipality of Grimstad with a total population of 11,764 at the time of the merger.[7]
Name
The municipality is named after the historic town of Grimstad (Old Norse: Grómstǫð). The first element is the name of after the old Grøm farm. The farm name is the combination of two items. First, the old local river name Gróa which comes from the word gróa which means "to grow" and the second part is heimr which means "home" or "abode". The last element of the name is stǫð which means "landing place" or "harbour". The town's name was originally spelled Grømstad, when Norway was part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. At some point, the spelling of the name was misunderstood and became spelled as "Grimstad" during the registration of Norwegian cities and small places.[8][9]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted in 1899 and was based upon a seal of the city dating back to 1847. The blazon is "Azure, a brig above three barrulets wavy Or". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a two-masted brig, a type of sailing ship, on top of three wavy lines which symblize the ocean. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms usually have a mural crown above the shield. The design was chosen as a symbol for the importance of fishing and shipping.[8][10][11]
Grimstad lies within the boundaries of the ancient parish of Fjære. It is reportedly first mentioned as a harbor in the 16th century. Eight years after he was deposed, Christian II of Denmark–Norway (1513–1523) attempted to recover his kingdoms. A tempest scattered his fleet off the Norwegian coast, and on 24 October 1531, they took refuge at Grimstad. On 1 July 1532, he surrendered to his rival, King Frederick I of Denmark, in exchange for a promise of safe conduct. King Frederick failed to honor his promise and imprisoned Christian until he died.[12]
An inn is recorded at Grimstad as early as 1607. In 1622, Grimstad became a recognized harbor under the town of Arendal. By 1747, Grimstad was identified as a sailing community and a recognized haunt of smugglers. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British Royal Navy blockaded Grimstad; on 16 March 1811, the British frigate Venusentered Grimstad's harbour to capture four Dano-Norwegian merchantmen sheltering there. Royal Marines from Venus captured the sloop Frau Maria but were eventually forced to abandoned her and row back to Venus.
John Frederik Classen, who owned the Frolands Værk (an ironworks), obtained concessions to export and import through Grimstad and bypass Arendal with its customs dues. Grimstad was awarded market town status in 1816. The Nørholm farm in Grimstad was the home of Knut Hamsun in the early 20th century.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Grimstad is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Grimstad is a coastal municipality in Agder county bordering on the Skagerrak. The municipality is bordered by Arendal in the east, Froland and Birkenes in the north, and Lillesand in the west. The lakes Syndle and Rore are found in the northern part of the municipality. Landviksvannet and Reddalsvannet lakes are found in the southern part of the municipality, near Reddal. The rivers Nidelva and Tovdalselva run through parts of the municipality. The Rivingen Lighthouse and Homborsund Lighthouse both sit on small islands just off the coast.
Panorama of Grimstad harbour.Panorama of Grimstad from Binabben look-out point.
Climate
Grimstad has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb, marine west coast), with autumn and early winter as the wettest season and April - July as the driest season. The all-time high temperature 32.2 °C (90.0 °F) was 11 August 1975; the all-time low is −30.3 °C (−22.5 °F) recorded 8 February 1966. The March record high 23.1 °C (73.6 °F) recorded 27 March 2012 was new national heat record for March. Most of the record lows are old; 8 of 12 record lows from before 1970 (November 2021). In February and March 1970 a snow depth of 172 centimetres (68 in) was recorded at Landvik. In recent times, snow usually melts fast along the coast, but the right weather setup can sometimes give large snowfalls. The weather station in Landvik, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland from the town of Grimstad, has been recording since 1957.
Climate data for Landvik 1991-2020 (6 m, extremes 1957-2020)
The Maritime Museum, the comprehensive City Museum and the Norwegian Horticultural Museum, are all popular among tourists, as are the wealth of exhibitions and concerts that the town hosts. The town is also a popular destination for summer vacationers, and supports a robust shopping milieu during the Christmas season.
During summer, Grimstad plays host to the Norwegian Short Film Festival, which attracts film enthusiasts from far and near. Another popular attraction is the Agder Teater at Fjæreheia, an open-air stage located in a disused stone quarry.[37]
Shopping is also available in Oddensenteret along the harbour. (The view from Oddensenteret is seen in the panorama photo above.)
Dag Otto Lauritzen (born 1956), a road bicycle racer, bronze medallist at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and the first Norwegian to win a stage in the Tour de France in 1987
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