Ålesund

Ålesund Municipality Ålesund kommune
Municipality
Aalesund  (historic name)
Part of town seen from Aksla viewpoint
Coat of arms
Møre og Romsdal within Norway
Ålesund within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 62°28′40″N 06°11′25″E / 62.47778°N 6.19028°E / 62.47778; 6.19028
Country	Norway
County	Møre og Romsdal
District	Sunnmøre
Established	1 January 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Ålesund
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Håkon Lykkebø Strand (Frp)
Area
• Total	632.51 km2 (244.21 sq mi)
• Land	607.41 km2 (234.52 sq mi)
• Water	25.10 km2 (9.69 sq mi)  4%
• Rank	#184 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	67,250
• Rank	#13 in Norway
• Density	111.2/km2 (288/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+9.1%
Demonyms	Ålesundar Ålesunder[1]
Official language [3]
• Norwegian form	Neutral[2]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1508[4]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Ålesund (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈôːɫəsʉn] ^ⓘ), sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality, as well as the principal shipping town of the Sunnmøre district. The town is a sea port and is noted for its concentration of Art Nouveau architecture. Although sometimes internationally spelled by its older name Aalesund, this spelling is obsolete in Norwegian. However, the local football club Aalesunds FK still carries that spelling, having been founded before the official change.

The 633-square-kilometre (244 sq mi) municipality is the 184th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Ålesund is the 13th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 67,250. The municipality's population density is 111.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (288/sq mi) and its population has increased by 9.1% over the previous 10-year period.^[5][6]

General information

Population development, 1951–2008
Source: Statistics Norway

In 1793, the port of Aalesund was granted limited

The arms are shown in the Kaffe Hag album with the boat sailing right instead of sailing left.

Churches

The

History

According to local legend, Ålesund was founded by Gangerolf (outside of Norway better known as

By 1835, Ålesund had grown to a population of 482,[7] and in 1848 it was given the status of a town.^[16] By 1900, the population had increased to 11,777.^[17]

In the night of 23 January 1904, the town was the scene of the

The town has an unusually consistent architecture, most of the buildings having been built from stone in Art Nouveau style,^[16] between 1904 and 1907. Jugendstilsenteret is a national interpretation centre, visitors can learn more about the town fire, the rebuilding of the town and the Art Nouveau style. Ålesund is a partner in the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, safeguards and development of the Art nouveau.

The term "Little London" was often applied to the community during the

The municipality of Ålesund occupies seven of the large outer islands in the county of

Economy

The town of Ålesund has the most important fishing harbour in Norway. The town's fishing fleet is one of the most modern in Europe. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ålesund was one of the chief stations of the herring fishery business.

In relation to the relatively large fishing fleet belonging to Ålesund and nearby harbours, a large shipbuilding and ship equipment industry has evolved. There are no longer any yards building ships in Ålesund proper; its last shipyard – Liaaen Shipyard - evolved into ship repairs and since the late 1990s has mainly been serving the offshore industry through the company Liaaen Technology

When oil was found in the North Sea in the 1970s, the local fishing fleet ship owners seized the opportunity and rebuilt fishing vessels to serve the infant oil exploration and production industry. Soon they were able to build purpose-designed vessels at local shipyards to serve the North Sea oil adventure even better. Today this has become a cornerstone industry in and around Ålesund through leading offshore supply ship owning companies Farstad,^[55] Bourbon,^[56] Olympic,^[57] Havila,^[58] and Rem.^[59] Serving the ship building industry a large number of equipment manufacturers has evolved: Rolls-Royce,^[60] Odim,^[61] Sperre,^[62] Optimar,^[63] Ship Equip,^[64] Jets,^[63] and many more.

Ålesund and its surroundings also have a large furniture industry. Some well-known household items are manufactured here. To the east of Ålesund lies the

From Øye at the head of Hjørundfjorden, a road strikes south to the

The town's airport,

Lately, there have been suggestions^[clarification needed] of a high-speed rail link to Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim, as well as metro-style local services to meet the needs of the expanding population of the town.^{[citation needed]}

Culture

The Norwegian Centre of Art Nouveau Architecture, Jugendstilsenteret, is situated in Ålesund. It is a museum and interpretive center, with exhibitions telling the story of the town fire and Art Nouveu/Jugendstil in Norway and Europe.

Sunnmøre museum,^[68] founded in 1931, is an outdoor folk museum devoted to the Norwegian coastal culture and way of life. Located on an area of 120 hectares (300 acres), it has more than 55 old and distinct houses from the past 300 years moved to the site, replicas of old Viking ships, and the Medieval Age Museum with artifacts from excavations of the old trading centre.

The local newspaper is Sunnmørsposten, founded in 1882 and published six days a week. The newspaper Arbeidernes blad was briefly published in Ålesund in 1898.^[69][70] Ålesund is the site of the annual Norwegian Food Festival.

Education

Ålesund is home to a branch campus of the

• 
  The viewpoint Aksla on a summer night
• 
  Cruise port and Aspøy School
• 
  Downtown Ålesund
• 
  Ålesundet
• 
  Ålesundet
• 
  Building at the Kirkegata street

Sport

The local

Notable people

Public Service & business

• Anton Ludvig Alvestad (1883–1956), the mayor of Ålesund, 1920–21 and government minister
• Reinert Torgeirson (1884–1969), a politician, poet, playwright and novelist
• Erik Rolfsen (1905–1992), an architect; urban manager of Oslo, 1947–1973
• Monrad Norderval (1902–1976), the Bishop of Nord-Hålogaland, 1961–1972
• Dagfinn Flem (1906–1976), a politician, Mayor of Ålesund, 1958 to 1965
• Birger Strømsheim (1911–2012), a WWII resistance member and heavy water saboteur
• Margit Johnsen (1913–1987), a Norwegian merchant navy sailor; the only female recipient of the military award St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch
• Joachim Rønneberg DSO (1919–2018), an Army officer, broadcaster and WWII Commando
• Rolf B. Wegner (born 1940), a lawyer and well known and popular former chief of police
• Helen Bjørnøy (born 1954), a Lutheran minister, politician and County Governor of Buskerud
• Odd Arne Westad FBA (born 1960), a historian specializing in the Cold War
• Edvard Moser (born 1962), a psychologist and neuroscientist, winner 2014 Nobel Prize
• Harald T. Nesvik (born 1966), a politician and member of the Storting since 1997
• Paal Kibsgaard (born 1967), a petroleum engineer; chairman and CEO of Schlumberger
• counterjihad blogger
  known as Fjordman
• Torry Larsen (born 1971), a Norwegian adventurer and Arctic explorer
• Cecilie Skog (born 1974), a professional adventurer, guide and lecturer.
• Sylvi Listhaug (born 1977), a Norwegian politician and Govt. minister
• Erik Tørrissen (born 1988), a Norwegian politician and yachtsman

The Arts

• Jacob Fjelde (1859–1896), an American sculptor of public monuments
• Ambrosia Tønnesen (1859–1948), the first professional female sculptor in Norway
• Pauline Fjelde (1861–1923), an American painter, embroiderer and textile artist
• Sigvart Høgh-Nilsen (1880–1919), a Norwegian pianist and composer
• Axel Revold (1887–1962), a Norwegian painter, illustrator and academic
• Ole Barman (1897–1983), a novelist, short story writer, playwright and theatre director
• Hartvig Kiran (1911–1978), an author, journalist, songwriter and composer
• Mattis Mathiesen (1924–2010), a Norwegian photographer and film director ^[75]
• Arnold Eidslott (1926–2018), a poet laureate (1986 to 2018) and telegraphic engineer
• Arild Rypdal (1934–2015), an author of spying stories, a pilot and engineer
• Harald Grytten (born 1938), a philologist and historian
• Oddbjørn Blindheim (born 1944), a jazz pianist and dentist
• Svein Olav Blindheim (born 1954), a jazz double bassist, composer and writer
• Geir Rönning (born 1962), a professional singer-songwriter
• Annbjørg Lien (born 1971), a Hardanger fiddler, nyckelharpist, and violinist
• Magne Hovden (born 1974), a writer, translator
• Ernst Simon Glaser (born 1975), a classical musician (cello) and music teacher
• Stian Omenås (born 1980), a jazz musician (trumpet), music conductor and composer
• Hilde Marie Kjersem (born 1981), a jazz and pop singer, musician and songwriter
• Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen (born 1982), a guitarist, vocalist and composer
• Ingrid Helene Håvik (born 1987), a songwriter and vocalist, lead singer of Highasakite
• Bjørn Johan Muri (born 1990), a Norwegian pop singer
• Sigrid Solbakk Raabe
  (born 1996) known as Sigrid, a singer and songwriter

Sport

• Knud Leonard Knudsen (1879–1954), a gymnast, team gold medallist, 1912 Summer Olympics
• Harald Stenvaag (born 1953), a rifle shooter, silver and bronze medallist at the 1992 and 2000 Summer Olympics
• Ann Kristin Aarønes (born 1973), a former footballer, 111 caps with Norway women
• Ingrid Tørlen (born 1979), a beach volleyball player, competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
• John Arne Riise (born 1980), a former footballer with 546 club appearances and 110 caps for Norway
• Leni Larsen Kaurin (born 1981), a football midfielder, 98 caps for Norway women
• Bjørn Helge Riise (born 1983), a former footballer with 358 club appearances and 35 caps for Norway
• Olav Lundanes (born 1987), an orienteering competitor, ten times gold medallist at the World Orienteering Championships
• Nina Haver-Løseth (born 1989), a slalom ski racer, team bronze medallist, 2018 Winter Olympics
• Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (born 1990), a long-distance runner; competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics
• Sebastian Foss Solevåg (born 1991), an alpine ski racer, team bronze medallist, 2018 Winter Olympics
• Andrea Raaholt (born 1996), a Norwegian tennis player

In popular culture

• Mark Kozelek wrote and performed an eponymous song about Ålesund under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, on the record Admiral Fell Promises.
• Ålesund was shown briefly at about the 20:17 mark in the 1969 film, "It's Tough to Be a Bird", by Disney. The town is shown being stepped on by an enormous bird foot.

Twin towns – sister cities

Ålesund is twinned with:^[76]

See also

• Aalesund ship
• Shetland bus

References

External links

Look up Ålesund in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ålesund.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ålesund.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Aalesund".

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Municipality website (in Norwegian)
• Jugendstil Centre/Art Nouveau Centre
• Ålesund Hospital Archived 22 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
• "Ålesund" .
  New International Encyclopedia
  . 1905.
• Webcam from Ålesund Archived 24 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)