Trondheim

Trondheim is a city and municipality in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Trondheim is the third largest city of the country. Latitude 63º26' N, longitude 10º24' E. The highest elevation is in Storheia, 565 metres above sea level.

Located in the geographical centre of Norway, the city is situated next to a large fjord - Trondheimsfjorden (126 km long). Trøndelag is often referred to as Midt-Norge (the middle part of Norway).

The main regional theatre, Trøndelag Teater is situated in Trondheim. The synagogue of Trondheim is the northernmost in the world.

The local newspaper is Adresseavisen, the oldest active newspaper in Norway (established 1767). Regional television is NRK Trøndelag

Concise history

Trondheim was founded as Kaupangen by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997 A.D, and getting the name Nidaros a short time after that. In the beginning it was the seat of the King, and therefore, for a time, the capital of Norway (until 1217).

Leif Ericson lived in Trondheim around 1000 A.D. as a Praetorian guardsman (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 Nidelven, due to the favorable harbour and sheltered condition. The river used to be deep enough for most boats in the middle ages. An avalanche of mud and stones partly ruined these favorable harbour conditions in the mid-17^th century.

View of the Nidelven river, seen downstream from the Old Town Bridge. Some storehouses shown to the left had cranes, for hoisting goods from boats below.

A major battle, Slaget på Kalvskinnet, took place here in 1179; king Sverre Sigurdsson and the Birkebeiner warriors were victorious against Erling Skakke (a rival to the throne).

Trondheim was the seat of the (Catholic) Archbishopry from 1152. Due to the introduction of Lutheran Protestantism in 1537, the last Archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, had to flee from the city.

The city has experienced several major fires. Since its old parts are mainly build out of wood, this has led to severe damage every time. Infamous 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 are 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 boulevards like Munkegaten were made, with no regard for property rights, in order to stop the next fire. This gave the sleepy provincial town of roughly 8000 inhabitants a certain flair.

After the Peace Treaty of Roskilde 26 February, 1658 Trondheim (together with the rest of Trøndelag) became Swedish territory for a brief period; the area was reconquered after 10 months; the conflict was finally settled by the Peace Treaty of Copenhagen, 27 May 1660.

During World War II, Trondheim was occupied by German forces from April, 1940 (on the first day of the invasion of Norway, Operation Weserübung) until the war's end in Europe, in May, 1945.

The city's names

Originally given the name Kaupangen ("Marketplace") by Olav Tryggvason, Trondheim held for a long time the name Nidaros ("Mouth of the river Nid"), or in the Norse (Old Norwegian) spelling Niðaróss. In late Middle Age the name was changed to Trondheim (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.

In 1930 the name Nidaros was restored in order to reaffirm the city's link with its glorious past. The 1928 referendum on the name of the city gave this result : 17163 votes in favour of Trondhjem and 1508 votes in favour of Nidaros. Nevertheless, Nidaros was again the official name of the city for a brief period 1 January 1930 - 6 March 1931. However, public outrage, even taking the form of riots, later in the same year forced the Storting to settle for the compromise Trondheim, a name that sounded slighly less Danish. Trondheimen historically indicates the area around the Trondheimsfjord. The spelling Trondhjem was officially rejected, but many still prefer the now unofficial spelling of the city name; Trondhjem. Today, most inhabitants still refer to their city in their local dialect as Trondhjæm ("æ" pronounced somewhat like "a" as in "hat").

During the Nazi German occupation, 1940–45, the city's official name was amended to the more "Germanic-sounding" Drontheim. The Nazis also contemplated a scheme to build a new 250,000 people city, Neu-Drontheim, centered 15 km (≈10 mi) southeast of Trondheim, near the village of Øysand in the outskirts of Melhus municipality. The new city—northern capital of a germanized Scandinavia—was meant to house the future German main naval base of the North Atlantic region, and would be the largest of all German naval bases.

City factions

City factions and subdistricts (Norwegian bydeler og delområder) with populations as of 1 January 2003:

• Sentrum 31,477
  • Midtbyen 3,107
  • Øya-Singsaker 6,050
  • Rosenborg-Møllenberg 7,172
  • Lademoen 4,236
  • Lade 4,452
  • Strindheim 6,460

• Strinda* 29,431
  • Charlottenlund-Jakobsli 7,410
  • Ranheim 6,953
  • Berg-Tyholt 7,484
  • Åsvang-Stokkan 6,574
  • Jonsvatnet 1,010

• Nardo 18,712
  • Nardo 3,775
  • Nidarvoll-Leira 8,054
  • Risvollan-Othilienborg 6,155
  • Bratsberg 728

• Byåsen 32,136
  • Ila-Trolla 5,034
  • Sverresborg 8,634
  • Byåsen 14,471
  • Hallset 3,997

• Saupstad 13,377
  • Flatåsen-Saupstad 13,377

• Heimdal 27,388
  • Sjetne-Okstad 4,067
  • Tiller*-Hårstad 7,095
  • Heimdal 12,219
  • Byneset*-Leinstrand* 4,007

(* The former municipalities of Strinda, Tiller, Byneset and Leinstrand merged with Trondheim in 1964.)

Nidaros Cathedral

Two of Norway's greatest tourist attractions are the Nidaros Cathedral and Archbishop's Palace. They are located side by side, in the middle of historic Trondheim. The large gothic cathedral, built from 1070 on, was Northern Europe's most important Christian pilgrimage site during the middle ages, with pilgrimage roads via Oslo in southern Norway, and via the Jämtland and Värmland regions of neighbouring Sweden.

Traditionally, the Nidaros Cathedral has hosted the country's coronation ceremonies, where the heir to the throne is officially announced as the nation's new king following the death of the previous monarch. Starting with King Olav V in 1957, however, coronation was replaced by anointing. In 1991, present King Harald V and Queen Sonja were anointed in the cathedral. On May 24, 2002, their daughter Princess Märtha Louise married writer Ari Behn in the same cathedral.

Other landmarks

• Kristiansten Fortress, built 1681–84; repelled invading Swedes in 1718
• Munkholmen prison island, fort, and monastery
• Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) main building, at Gløshaugen hill
• Stiftsgården, the royal residence in Trondheim
• Sverresborg, King Sverre's medieval castle (now an open-air museum)
• Tyholttårnet TV/radio tower, with a revolving restaurant (1 rev./hr)
• Studentersamfundet, the Student Union House

Major museums

• Sverresborg Trøndelag Folkemuseum – Museum of Cultural History
• Telemuséet – Norwegian Telecom Museum in Trondheim
• Trondhjems Sjøfartsmuseum – The Trondheim Shipping Museum
• Vitenskapsmuséet – Museum of Natural History and Archaeology
• Rustkammeret – The Armoury; adjacent to the Archbishops's Palace
• Ringve Museum – Ringve National Museum (Museum of music and musical instruments), and Ringve Botanical Gardens
• Norsk Rettsmuseum – Trondheim Police Museum
• Sporveismuséet – Trondheim Railway Museum
• Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum – National Museum of Decorative Arts
• Det jødiske museum – The Jewish Museum (including a holocaust section); co-located with the city's synagogue

Education

There are 11 high schools. Trondheim katedralskole ("Trondheim Cathedral School") was founded in 1053 and is the oldest gymnasium-level school of Norway.

A large number of registered students, 29,203 (as of 2003), reside in the city.

Although the official population count, as of 2004, is slightly above 150,000, the large number of resident college and university students, roughly 30,000, makes the actual population more than 180,000 (in Norway, students are typically registered in their home towns/municipalities, and not in their place of study). The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is located here (with a total number of c. 20,000 students).

Trondheim is a centre for maritime, technical and medical technology research.

Transportation

One the the largest airports of the country is Trondheim Airport, Værnes; situated in Stjørdal. The highway E6, passing through Trondheim, is Norway’s most important route to the continent.

Major railway connections are the northbound Nordlandsbanen (to Bodø), the eastbound connection to Sweden, passing Storlien and two southbound connections to Oslo, Rørosbanen (opened 1877) and Dovrebanen (opened 1921). The Coastal Express ships (Hurtigruten) are calling at Trondheim, as does many cruise ships during the summer season.

Trondheim also boasts the northern-most tramway line in the world: the Gråkallbanen (http://www.graakallbanen.no), 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 recreation area Bymarka. Trondheim also boasts the world's only bicycle lift. The bus network (http://www.team-trafikk.no) is also well developed.

Sports

Trondheim is the home town of football team Rosenborg B.K. (colloquially known as RBK), a successful team nationally as well as internationally, playing in the UEFA Champions League for the 9th time in 2004. 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 (XC skiing) and ski jumping arenas (Granåsen), as well as nearby alpine skiing facilities (Vassfjellet). The city hosted the 1997 Nordic skiing World Championships, and held World Cup ski sprint races in the city centre in February 2004.

Many Norwegians like to walk (Norwegian term gå på tur) and ski (recreational XC skiing). In Trondheim, people often go to surrounding areas Bymarka and Estenstadmarka to engage in these activities. Several kilometers of preprepared skiing tracks are available during the winter, as are establishments serving hot food and drinks (coffee, tea, chocolate/cocoa) right in the middle of the forested skiing areas.

Twin cities

Sister cities (twin cities) of Trondheim are Odense (Denmark), Norrköping (Sweden), Tampere (Finland), Darmstadt (Germany), Graz (Austria), Petah Tiqwa (Israel), Ramallah (Palestinian territories) and Keren (Eritrea).

External links

• Trondheim's Official Website, with City Guide (http://www.trondheim.com/engelsk)
• Trondheim photos (http://www.earth-photography.com/Countries/Norway/Trondheim_photos.html)
• Kosmorama - Trondheim International Film Festival (http://www.kosmorama.no/ez/index.php/en/om_festivalen/om_festivalen/forside/forside)

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