Grimstad

21 619 ( March 31, 2013 )

Grimstad is a 21 619 inhabitants (2013 ) scoring coastal town and municipality in southwestern Norway. It lies in the province (county ) Aust- Agder. Your neighboring municipalities are Arendal in the east, Froland and Birkenes in the north and Lillesand in the south.

Etymology

Grim is a synonym for the pagan god Odin. See also Grimsby ( Grims site), Grim's Dyke (for the Antonine Wall ), Grim's Ditch an earthwork, Grims lake ( Grims Lake ), Grimsbury Castle, Grimsthorpe ( Grims village), Grimspound in Cornwall, Grimsay in the Hebrides also Graemsay as Orkney island, as Grimsey island off Iceland, Grimsøy in Norway ( Grims island), Grimsbu in Norway ( Grims hut), Grimsvik ( Grims Bay ) and several places called Grimston.

Geography

The city and surrounding areas extend over an area of ​​950 million years old reddish granite deposits, which are also referred to as Fjære granite or Grimstadt granite. For the monumental buildings by Albert Speer planned in Berlin on behalf of Adolf Hitler this granite were broken in a quarry in Fjære since 1940 ingots, which were stored partially until the end of the 1970s there. They were known in Norway as Hitler stones. In the disused quarry since 1993, is an open air theater, the Agder Theatre Fjæreheia. Grimstad is surrounded by 5 mountains: Binabben, Kirkeheia, Knibeheia, Møllerheia and Vardeheia. The highest point of the municipality is the Dobbelshei (361 moh ). Before the city lies a multitude of islands that form an archipelago Park and form popular destinations in summer especially for boaters. The most popular are the island Hesnesøy, the Hesneskanal and Reddaskanal. The sun shines here more often than anywhere else in Norway.

History

Economy

The development Grimstad is significantly influenced by ship and boat building, trade and cargo shipping. In the heyday, the second half of the 19th century, there were in the region of at least 40 yards. Today there are only a shipyard in Vikkilen. The shipping families Ugland, Mountain Haven and Tønnevold are dominant for the city's economy. The first Norwegian fiberglass boat was built in 1953 by Herbert Waarum in Grimstad. The company he founded Herwa Plast was for many years a pioneer in the production of these boats. Since 2010 located in Grimstad, a location of the University of Agder.

Personalities of Grimstad

• The poet Henrik Ibsen lived and worked 1844-1850 as a pharmacist apprentice in Grimstad. In his work, Terje Vigen, he describes the city from the time when fishing.
• The Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun lived from 1918 until his death in 1952 on the farm Nørholm on the outskirts of the city.
• Tryggve Gran, the Norwegian polar explorer and aviator, who took part in the Antarctic expeditions of Robert Falcon Scott, last lived long in Grimstad.

• Sverre Hassel, polar explorer, one of the first five people who reached the South Pole with Roald Amundsen, last lived as a customs official in Grimstad.
• The city is the birthplace of former Norwegian football goalkeeper Thomas Gill and the cyclist Thor Hushovd.

Attractions

• Ibsen Museum, the former pharmacy where Ibsen was living and working.
• Norwegian Museum of Horticulture in the district Dømmersmoen in whose gardens are also tombs from the Iron Age stone circles and Bautatsteine ​​are.
• Maritime Museum in Grimstad Hassel district Dalen on the premises of a company incorporated in 1841 shipyard.
• Agder Theater Fjæreheia, open-air theater in a former quarry of Fjære - granite, dramas of Ibsen, musicals and other theatrical performances in the summer.
• Lighthouse of Homborsund on a small island off the coast of Grimstad
• Fjære church, a stone church from the period around 1150
• Eide church from 1795
• Landvik church, a cruciform church from 1824
• Grimstad church, a wooden church from 1880

Twin Cities

• Asikkala, Finland
• Grind able Denmark
• Köpings, Sweden