Larvik Municipality Larvik kommune
Municipality
Larvik town square, 2008
Coat of arms
Nickname(s):  Bakkebyen, The Hilly City
Vestfold within Norway
Larvik within Vestfold
Coordinates: 59°4′52″N 10°0′59″E / 59.08111°N 10.01639°E / 59.08111; 10.01639
Country	Norway
County	Vestfold
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Larvik
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Birgitte Gulla Løken (H)
Area
• Total	812.88 km2 (313.85 sq mi)
• Land	771.41 km2 (297.84 sq mi)
• Water	41.47 km2 (16.01 sq mi)  5.1%
• Rank	#140 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	48,246
• Rank	#21 in Norway
• Density	62.5/km2 (162/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+5.9%
Demonyms	Larviking Larviker Larvikar[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-3909[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Larvik (Urban East Norwegian: [ˈlɑ̂rviːk] ^ⓘ)^[4] is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Other main population centres in the municipality include the town of Stavern and the villages of Gjone, Helgeroa, Hem, Kjose, Kvelde, Nevlunghavn, Skinmo, Svarstad, Ula, Verningen, and Tjøllingvollen.^[5]

The 813-square-kilometre (314 sq mi) municipality is the 140th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Larvik is the 21st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 48,246. The municipality's population density is 62.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (162/sq mi) and its population has increased by 5.9% over the previous 10-year period.^[6][7]

The city of Larvik achieved market town status in 1671, but it did not become a self-governing municipality until 1 January 1838 when the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect.^[8]

Larvik is known as the hometown of Thor Heyerdahl.^[9]: 30 It is also home to Bøkeskogen, the northernmost beech tree forest in the world. Larvik is the home of Norway's only natural mineral water spring, Farriskilden.^[8][10] Farris Bad, located in Larvik, has been described as one of the best spas in Europe.^[11] It has the largest spa department in Scandinavia.^[12]

General information

The town of Larvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1875, a small area of Brunlanes Municipality (population: 4) and a different area of Hedrum Municipality (population: 46) were both transferred into the town of Larvik. In 1937, another area of Hedrum Municipality (population: 69) was transferred into Larvik. In 1948, an area of Hedrum Municipality (population: 296) was transferred into Larvik. On 1 January 1974, the unpopulated Tagtvedt area of Hedrum was transferred to Larvik. On 1 January 1986, part of the Åsveien 3 property in Hedrum was transferred to the neighboring town of Larvik.^[13]

On 1 January 1988, the city of Larvik was part of a major municipal merger which consolidated the municipalities of Brunlanes (population: 8,138), Hedrum (population: 10,449), and Tjølling (population: 7,878) with the towns of Larvik (population: 8,045) and Stavern (population: 2,538) to create a new, much larger Larvik Municipality with a population of 37,048 people.^[13]

On 1 January 2018, Lardal Municipality was merged the neighboring Larvik Municipality as part of a nationwide municipal reform.^[14] After merging, Larvik was the largest municipality in Vestfold by area and the second-most populous municipality in Vestfold.^[15]

Etymology

The municipality (originally the town of Larvik) is named after the small cove at the end of the Larviksfjorden, which was historically called Lagarvík in Old Norse. The first element is the genitive case of lǫgr 'water, river' (here referring to the Numedalslågen River). The last element is vík 'cove, inlet'. Thus, the meaning of the name is 'cove at the mouth of a river'. Prior to 1889, the name was written Laurvik or Laurvig.^[16]

Coat of arms

Larvik has had three different coats of arms since 1889.

The first coat of arms was granted in 1889 and it was in use until 20 January 1989 when a new coat of arms was granted. The official blazon was "Argent, a leaved tree issuant from a mount vert". This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a green tree growing out of a green hill. The green color in the field and the tree design symbolize the local beech forest around the town. This design may have been chosen because for a couple of reasons. A beech tree had been used by the 18th century governor of the area, Jens Kielman. Also this beech tree design was part of a seal of a local guild in the early 19th century.^[17]

The second coat of arms was granted on 17 March 1989 and it was in use until 1 January 2018. The official blazon was "Azure, a mast with three sails argent" (Norwegian: I blått en sølv mast med tre seil). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a ship's mast with three sails. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field and the design were chosen to represent the maritime traditions of the municipality. The arms were designed by Kjell Ronald Hansen. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.^{[17][18][19][20]}

The current coat of arms was adopted for use starting on 1 January 2018. The blazon is "Azure, a tree with seven droplet-shaped leaves, of which six are opposite two and two, issuant from a mount argent" (Norwegian: I blått et oppvoksende tre med syv dråpeformede blader hvor av seks er motstående to og to, alt i sølv). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a tree design with six leaves shaped like water droplets that are arranged symmetrically, three on each side and one on top. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms have a complex symbolism. The seven drops symbolize forest water that flows into streams and further into the main Numedalslågen and Farriselva rivers. The tree design symbolizes the importance of the local beech forests and forestry industry. The six water drops also symbolized the ports spread along the coast as well as the six former municipalities that are now together as one large municipality. The arms were designed by Tormod Henriksen from Svarstad. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.^{[17][21][22][23]}

History

Various remains from the Stone Age have been discovered throughout the municipality of Larvik, for instance by Torpevannet near the village of Helgeroa. Raet goes through all of Vestfold County before peaking out of the ocean in Mølen in Larvik. Ancient peoples have carried rocks from Raet and constructed vast numbers of burial mounds at Mølen. During the Roman Iron Age, ancient peoples erected a stone monument resembling a ship at Istrehågan, one of Norway's greatest remains (oldtidsminne) from prehistoric times.^[25]: 8

About 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southeast of the town is Skiringssal, an archaeological site where archaeologists first discovered burial mounds and an ancient Viking hall, and later uncovered the nearby remains of an ancient town, Kaupang. This is now known as the oldest known merchant town in Norway. There was international trade from this area, over 1,200 years ago.^[25]: 12 Skiringssal has remains from the oldest town yet discovered in the Nordic countries,^[26] and it was one of Scandinavia's earliest urban sites.^[27]

Larvik (which historically used the Danish spelling: Laurvig) was an old coastal village. In 1671, the village received kjøpstad (market town) status in 1671 when Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve bought the Fritsø estate. He later became the first Count of Laurvig. The count built a new residence in 1674, "Herregården", which can still be visited today.^[28][5] The whole Larvik area was owned by a Danish Count (grevskap) until 1817. Since the rest of Norway had come under Swedish rule in 1814, the county was purchased by four local businessmen in 1817.^[29] Then in 1821, it became part of the newly created Jarslberg og Laurvigs amt (county).

Larvik is also the site of the Treschow estate, "Fritzøehus", which is currently owned by the heirs of Mille-Marie Treschow, reportedly "Norway's richest woman". The Treschow estate was created in 1835 when Willum Frederik Treschow bought the county from the Danish crown, who in turn had bought the county from the local consortium "grevlingene", four local entrepreneurs who proved unable to manage the ownership financially (the consortium had bought the county from the Danish crown in 1817 originally, the crown taking over the county when the last of the counts had to sell it because of debt).

Larvik, along with neighbouring cities of Sandefjord and Tønsberg, were the three dominant whaling cities of Norway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[30]

Government

Larvik Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[31] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestfold District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Larvik is made up of representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.