Hamar is a town and municipality in Hedmark which is the county
capital of Innlandet county. It borders in the west to Ringsaker, in
the northeast to Åmot, in the east to Løten, and in the south to
Stange. Closer to 223 km², or approx. 64%, of the municipality is
owned by Vang Almenning. Hamar is the largest city in the Inland,
and the municipality had 31,369 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020.
The town of Hamar had 28,434 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020 and is
part of the Mjøsby region.
The city is the county
administrative seat for Innlandet county. Norsk Tipping is
headquartered in Hamar.
The city was one of the host cities
during the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994. The ice skating races
were held in Vikingskipet, while short track races and figure
skating took place in Hamar Olympic amphitheater, and the city
hosted several major theater and cultural events.
The ice
hockey team Storhamar Hockey, the football teams Ham-Kam and Fart
and the handball team Storhamar come from Hamar.
The city has
a rich cultural life, with active choirs, theater groups and sports
teams at all levels and a varied offer of concerts, theater
performances, film screenings and art exhibitions offered to the
region's inhabitants. The proximity to Lake Mjøsa makes the town an
attractive summer town.
History
Hamar's settlement history dates back almost four
thousand years. From the 5th century, the large farm Åker in Vang
was a center of power and court, Heidsævistinget (Eidsivating),
where law and judgment for the entire lake region was set. Some
place names (for example Torshov and Vidarshov) also indicate
religious power. Hedemarken was one of the last areas that Saint
Olav managed to Christianize. He surprised five small kings under
the leadership of King Rørek who had gathered in Ringsaker to fight.
Hamar is referred to as kaupang during Harald Hardråde's reign.
In 1152, the bishopric of Hamar was established by the papal envoy
Nikolaus Breakspere, who was later elected pope. With this came the
cathedral, monastery, school and council chamber. Thus trade and
culture also grew. For 400 years, Hamar was one of the country's
four to five central cities, due to its position as a bishopric and
religious center. Bishop Mogens Lauritssøn was the last Catholic
bishop to give up, after the Danish army commander Truid Ulfstand
came to Hamar in 1537 and took him captive in Denmark. These events
mark a crossroads in Norwegian history. As a bishop, Mogens was a
member of the Norwegian National Council. With the introduction of
the Reformation, the Danish king Christian III abolished the
Norwegian parliament, and Norway thus became a kingdom of sound
under Denmark.
The cathedral and bishop's castle were now
named Hamarhus Castle. The cathedral and the bishop's castle were
destroyed during the Nordic Seven Years' War in 1567, by the Swedish
king Erik's army commander, Johan Siggeson and his soldiers. With
this, the last remnants of the center of power Hamar disappeared. In
1587, the market in Hamar was closed by royal decree, following
pressure from Oslo citizens who are said to have felt the
competition. Hamar lost its city status, the area was taken over by
Storhamar farm, and the population declined rapidly.
In 1849,
the market town of Hamar was established by royal resolution, on 400
acres of land from Storhamar farm towards Åkersvika. The city was to
be an administrative and economic center for the Inland, with the
sale of agricultural goods as the main means of trade. The country's
second railway line was opened from Hamar to Grundset.
In
1871, Hamar was hit by a typhoid epidemic that lasted for ten years.
The reason was that the sewer was drained too close to the water
intake.
Hamar grew strongly as a city towards the end of the
19th century, helped by the food industry and the workshop industry
associated with agriculture in the district.
The town was
expanded in 1878, 1946, 1947, 1965 and most recently in 1992. The
town reached its current boundaries in 1992 when the municipalities
of Hamar and Vang were merged with parts of Ringsaker municipality
(originally parts of Furnes) to the large municipality of Hamar. The
municipality's area increased from 18 km² to 351 km². The
inhabitants of Vang were strongly critical, and in a referendum 95%
voted against merging.
Suburbs and towns
According to
Statistics Norway (SSB), the town and city of Hamar had 28,434
inhabitants in 2005. 2,078 of these then lived in the Stavsberg area
in Ringsaker municipality, 300 in Ottestad in Stange municipality.
Until 1 July 2014, the nearly 6,000 other inhabitants of Ottestad
settlement were described by Statistics Norway as Bekkelaget, and
counted as part of Hamar settlement. Ottestad / Bekkelaget is
located immediately south of the city and is considered a natural
extension of the village of Hamar. Other suburbs are Hjellum, Ridabu
and Smeby and Solvang. The settlements in the municipality are
Ingeberg, the same year with 862 inhabitants, and Slemsrud, with 523
inhabitants - both of these areas are adjacent to Øvre Vang. The
residential areas Vangli and Grubhol are located along national road
25 towards Løten. A small part of the settlement Ilseng also extends
into Hamar municipality.