Lillehammer

Lillehammer kommune
Municipality
Lillehammer
Coat of arms Innlandet within Norway
Lillehammer within Innlandet
Coordinates: 61°7′N 10°28′E / 61.117°N 10.467°E / 61.117; 10.467Coordinates: 61°7′N 10°28′E / 61.117°N 10.467°E / 61.117; 10.467
Country	Norway
County	Innlandet
District	Gudbrandsdal
Administrative centre	Lillehammer
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Ingunn Trosholmen
Area
• Total	477 km2 (184 sq mi)
• Land	450 km2 (170 sq mi)
Area rank	211 in Norway
Population  (2020)
• Total	28,493
• Rank	33 in Norway
• Density	56/km2 (150/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	5.0%
Demonym(s)	Lillehamring[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-3405
Official language form	Bokmål[2]
Website	lillehammer.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Lillehammer (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈlɪ̂lːəˌhɑmːər] (listen)) is a town and municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of 2020, the population of the town of Lillehammer was 28,493.

The city centre is a late nineteenth-century concentration of wooden houses, which enjoys a picturesque location overlooking the northern part of lake Mjøsa and the river Lågen, surrounded by mountains. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics and 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.^[3] Before Oslo's withdrawal from consideration, it was included as part of a bid to host events in the 2022 Winter Olympics if Oslo were to win the rights to hold the Games.

Populated places[]

Lillehammer Municipality is further subdivided into the following populated places (i.e.: neighborhoods, quarters, villages, localities, settlements, communities, hamlets, etc.):

• Lillehammer Centre
• Vingnes
• Jørstadmoen
  • Fåberg
• Vingrom
• Nordseter

Name[]

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old Hamar (Norse Hamarr) farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word hamarr (rocky hill). To distinguish it from the nearby town and bishopric, both called Hamar, it began to be called "little Hamar": Lilþlæ Hamar and Litlihamarr, and finally Lillehammer. It is also mentioned in the Old Norse sagas as Litlikaupangr ("Little Trading Place").^[4][5]

Coat-of-arms[]

The coat-of-arms was granted in 1898 and shows a birkebeiner, carrying a spear and a shield, who is skiing down a mountainside. It symbolizes the historical importance of when the Birkebeiners carried the to-be-King Haakon from Lillehammer to Rena on skis.^[6]

History[]

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The area has been settled since the Norwegian Iron Age. It is also mentioned as a site for Thing assembly in 1390.

Lillehammer had a lively market by the 1800s and obtained rights as a market town on 7 August 1827. There were 50 registered residents within its boundaries then.

The town of Lillehammer was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838.

The rural municipality of Fåberg was merged into the municipality of Lillehammer on 1 January 1964.

In 1973, Mossad killed a Moroccan waiter, having mistaken him for Palestinian terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh, which became known as the Lillehammer affair.

Lillehammer is known as a typical venue for winter sporting events; it was host city of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, and was part of a joint bid with applicant host city Oslo to host events part of the 2022 Winter Olympics until Oslo withdrew its bid on 1 October 2014.

Lillehammer is home to the largest literature festival in the Nordic countries and, in 2017, was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature.

Education[]

A number of schools are located in Lillehammer, including the , and . consists of two branches, North and South, both situated near the city center. The private High school , NTG, also has a branch in Lillehammer. The Lillehammer campus of Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences is situated just north of the town itself.

Lillehammer is also the home of the Nansen Academy - the Norwegian Humanistic Academy. The Nansen Academy is an educational institution for adult students with varied political, religious, and cultural backgrounds. The Academy was founded on the core principles of humanism and aims at strengthening the knowledge of these principles.

The 14th World Scout Jamboree was held from 29 July to 7 August 1975 and was hosted by Norway at Lillehammer.

Geography[]

Lillehammer is situated in the lower part of Gudbrandsdal, at the northern head of lake Mjøsa, and is located to the south of the municipality of Øyer, to the southeast of Gausdal, northeast of Nordre Land, and to the north of Gjøvik, all in Oppland county. To the southeast, it is bordered by Ringsaker municipality in Hedmark county. To the northwest is the mountain Spåtind.

Climate[]

Lillehammer has a humid continental climate (Dfb), with the Scandinavian mountain chain to the west and north limiting oceanic influences; however, for the latitude, the climate is still relatively mild. The record high of 34 °C (93 °F) was recorded in June 1970. The record low of −31 °C (−24 °F) was recorded in December 1978 and January 1979, and the same low was recorded in January 1987. There has been no overnight air frost in August since 1978 (the record low for that month being -0.6 °C (30.9 °F), a sufficient temperature for air frost), and the coldest recorded temperature after 2000 is −26.2 °C (−15.2 °F) in January 2010. The current weather station Lillehammer-Sætherengen became operational in 1982; extremes are also from two earlier weather stations in Lillehammer.

Economy[]

The basis for the city's commerce is its position as the northernmost point of the lake Mjøsa and as the gateway for the Gudbrandsdal region, through which the historical highway to Trondheim passes. The river has provided the basis for several small industries through the years, but Lillehammer is now all but industry-less.

Transport[]

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One of the major Norwegian rail lines, the Dovre Line, runs from Hamar to the north through Lillehammer on its way up the Gudbrandsdal, to terminate in Trondheim.

European route E6 passes through Lillehammer.

Attractions[]

In addition to the Olympic site, Lillehammer offers a number of other tourist attractions:

• Maihaugen, centrally located in Lillehammer, is the largest open-air museum in Norway, with 185 buildings, mostly from Lillehammer and the valley of Gudbrandsdalen.
• Garmo Stave Church (built around 1150)
• The Norwegian Olympic Museum is the only museum in Northern Europe that shows the whole Olympic history from the ancient times and up to today, including all Summer- and Wintergames. The museum also houses the Norwegian Sports Hall of Fame and a special section about the Lillehammer `94 Olympic Wintergames. The Museum is located in the indoor museum at Maihaugen.
• Lillehammer Art Museum
• Hafjell (Ski resort 15 km (9 mi) from Lillehammer, host of slalom and super-G in the Olympic games 1994)
• Kvitfjell (Ski resort 55 km (34 mi) from Lillehammer, host of downhill in the Olympic games 1994)
• The PS Skibladner is the world's oldest paddle steamer in scheduled service, launched in 1856. Summer sailings around lake Mjøsa: Lillehammer, Moelv, Gjøvik, Hamar, and Eidsvoll.
• The ski jump at Lysgårdsbakkene.
• Sjusjøen is a skiing destination with forest and mountain terrain only 20 kilometres (12 miles) away (east) from the centre of Lillehammer in the municipality of Ringsaker.
• The Sambandets Utdanning og Kompetansesenter is an army unit located in the camp Jørstadmoen 3–4 km (2–2 miles) northwest of Lillehammer.
• The rock carvings at Drotten, Fåberg, west of Gudbrandsdalslågen about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) above Brunlaug bridge.
• The sculpture Mothership with Standing Matter by Antony Gormley in a pavilion by Snøhetta architects close to Lillehammer Station.

The official tourist information for the Lillehammer-region provides more information about activities and attractions in the region

Sport[]

Sports clubs[]

• Lillehammer Ishockeyklubb (The team competes in Norway's major hockey league, the GET-League.)
• Lillehammer Innabandy Klubb
• Lillehammer Orienteringsklubb
• Lillehammer Skiklubb
• Lillehammer Fotballklubb
• Roterud Idrettslag

Notable residents[]

The arts[]

• Kalle Løchen (1865–1893) a Norwegian painter and actor
• Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) a novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928; lived at her home "Bjerkebæk" in Lillehammer from 1919 to 1940 and again after WWII.^[9]
• Odd Grythe (1918–1995) a Norwegian radio and TV personality
• Kjell Lund (1927–2013) a Norwegian architect, songwriter and singer
• Sveinung Hovensjø (born 1950) a Norwegian jazz musician, plays bass and guitar
• Kristin Sevaldsen (born 1966) a jazz musician (saxophone), composer, and music producer
• Atle Antonsen (born 1969) a Norwegian comic and actor, was born in Lillehammer ^[10][11]
• Ingrid Olava (born 1981) a Norwegian singer and musician, born and grew up in Lillehammer

Public service[]

• Lars Olsen Skrefsrud (1840–1910) a Lutheran missionary in India
• Johan Lunde (1866–1938) a theologian and bishop of the Diocese of Oslo
• Ulrik Frederik Lange (1808–1878) educator and mayor of Lillehammer 1840s & 50s
• Margit Haslund (1885–1963) a women's advocate and mayor of Lillehammer in 1940
• Thor Bjørklund (1889–1975) an inventor, invented the Ostehøvel, a popular cheese slicer
• Anne Stine Ingstad (1918–1997) an archaeologist, discovered Norse remains in Canada
• Kai Holst (1913–1945) a seaman, fur farmer and resistance fighter during WWII
• Nils Slaatto (1922–2001) a prominent and influential Norwegian architect
• Egil Tynæs (1941–2004) an anthroposophical physician, died in Afghanistan
• Bjørn Simensen (born 1947) director, Norwegian National Opera 1984/1990 & 1997/2009
• Torkil Damhaug (born 1958) a Norwegian physician and crime fiction writer

Sport[]

• Ove Nielsen (born 1924) Danish rower, competed at 1952 Summer Olympics lives locally
• Petter Belsvik (born 1967) a football coach and former player with 383 club caps
• Jon Inge Høiland (born 1977) a former footballer with 396 club caps and 25 for Norway
• Anita Rapp (born 1977) a footballer and team gold medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Grete Eliassen (born 1986) an American-Norwegian freestyle skier
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (born 1987) a Norwegian professional road racing cyclist
• Robert Johansson (born 1990) a ski jumper with two bronze and a team gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics

In popular culture[]

• The Norwegian-American Netflix Original series Lilyhammer takes place in Lillehammer. The show stars Steven Van Zandt, who plays Frank "the Fixer" Tagliano, a New York mobster who moves to Lillehammer through the U.S. Witness Protection Program after being inspired by the 1994 Winter Olympics to relocate to Norway.
• Toki Wartooth, the fictional guitarist from the Adult Swim TV show Metalocalypse, was born and raised here.

Twin towns – sister cities[]

Lillehammer is twinned with:^[12]

Friendly cities[]

Lillehammer has also friendly relations with:^[12]

• Düsseldorf, Germany
• Minakami, Japan
• Radviliškis, Lithuania^[13]
• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hergegovina

See also[]

• European Youth Parliament
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• St. Mary Church, Lillehammer

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lillehammer.

Look up lillehammer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lillehammer.

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Lillehammer Tourist Office
• Gudbrandsdalen Region
• Hafjell ski resort 20 km (12 mi) north from Lillehammer
• Kvitfjell ski resort 55 km (34 mi) north from Lillehammer
• Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Lillehammer Icehockey Club (in Norwegian)
• Olympic Park in Lillehammer
• Pictures from the Olympic games in 1994¨
• Norwegian Olympic Museum