Tvedestrand Municipality

General information

Administrative history

The ladested of Tvedestrand was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the following areas were merged to form an enlarged Tvedestrand Municipality:

On 1 January 1962, the Strengereid area (population: 375) of Tvedestrand Municipality was transferred to the neighboring Moland Municipality. Then on 1 January 1964, the Holtegården area (population: 5) was transferred from Moland Muncipality to Tvedestrand Muncipality. On 1 January 1984, the uninhabited Folevatnet area in Tvedestrand Muncipality was transferred to the neighboring Risør Municipality.

In 2020, there were many municipal and county mergers across Norway due to the work of the Solberg cabinet. Historically, this municipality was part of the old Aust-Agder county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Agder county (after Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties were merged).

On 1 January 2025, the 9.5-square-kilometre (3.7 sq mi) Røysland area (population: 100) was transferred from Risør Municipality to the neighboring Tvedestrand Municipality.

Name

The town and municipality is named after the old Tveite farm (Old Norse: Þveitar) since that is the location of the present town of Tvedestrand. The first element is the farm name which is the genitive case of the word þveit which means "clearing" or "small farm". The last element is strǫnd which means "beach" or "strand". Thus this is the beach of the Tveit farm.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a tern volant argent" (Norwegian: I blått en oppflyvende sølv terne). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a tern, a type of local seabird. The tern 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 tern were chosen to represent the sea since the municipality was historically dependent on it for its economy. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within Tvedestrand Muncipality. It is part of the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

History

Holt Church probably dates from the twelfth century and it has an ancient baptismal font. The interior was decorated by Torsten Hoff.

Around 1600, Tvedestrand was mainly a harbour for the Berge and Tveite farms' boats, hence the name Tvedestrand (strand means beach or coast in Norwegian).

Lyngør was the site of the Battle of Lyngør between English and Dano-Norwegian forces during the Napoleonic Wars resulting in the sinking of the frigate of the Dano-Norwegian forces, Najaden by the British ship-of-the-line Dictator in 1812.

The town, as it now exists, was built in the 19th century as a harbour for Norway's longest existing iron works, Næs jernverk. Lying in the parish of Holt, Næs jernverk has one of the largest and most significant of the surviving mansions in Sørlandet, built by Ulrich Schnell. Schnell bought up various iron works in the neighborhood and set up several sawmills in the district. He obtained a special license to export timber directly from Tvedestrand, establishing the basis for an international harbor.

Government

Tvedestrand 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. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Tvedestrand Municipality is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Tvedestrand Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

Geography

Tvedestrand Municipality lies along the Skagerrak coast between the coastal towns of Arendal to the southwest and Risør to the northeast. Vegårshei Municipality lies to the north, Risør Municipality lies to the northeast, the Skagerrak lies to the east, Arendal Municipality lies to the south, Froland Municipality lies to the southwest, and Åmli Municipality lies to the west.

Tvedestrand belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet in the Østre Agder area of Agder county. The town itself lies at the end of a picturesque fjord, Tvedestrandfjorden, which is the name for the inner part of the Oksefjorden (originally Ufsefjorden, meaning the fjord with steep, rocky sides). The municipality also encompasses the islands Borøy, Sandøy, and Askerøya as well as the unique village of Lyngør which lies on several small islands. Lyngør was acclaimed "Europe's best preserved village" by Europa Nostra in 1991. Lyngør Lighthouse is located by the village. Tvedestrand Municipality includes 162 islands, with a collected coastline of 214 kilometres (133 mi).

The river Storelva, one of the Southern Coast's best salmon and sea trout rivers, flows past the Næs jernverk and ultimately out into the Sandnesfjorden. The highest point in the municipality is the 261.37-metre (857.5 ft) tall mountain Ansmyrheia.

Climate

There are two climate zones in Tvedestrand under the Köppen classification. The outermost coast, influenced by the sea, experience a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), while the inner parts have a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb), with temperatures in the coldest month typically averaging below 0°C. This means that snow cover can be inconsistent at the coast during winter, but is more reliable farther away from the coast. The town of Tvedestrand is somewhere in-between the two climate zones, with average temperatures in January and February hovering around 0°C. Daily highs in the town during July typically reach 21-22°C.

Lyngør Lighthouse is located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the town of Tvedestrand and has data going back to 1920. The station shows a typical climate for the outermost coast of the municipality. There, autumn is the wettest season and spring the driest. The all-time high temperature recorded here is 29.8 °C (85.6 °F), set on 12 August 1975.

Geology

A number of rare minerals are found in Tvedestrand Municipality:

Sunstone, a rare feldspar exhibiting in certain directions a brilliant spangled appearance, which has led to its use as a gemstone.

A rare yttrium phosphate mineral Xenotime.

Thulite (also called rosaline), an opaque, massive pink variety of the mineral zoisite.

Attractions

The 18th century Næs jernverk are 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the town center.

Tvedestrand is recognized as a book town, a small village with a large number of second-hand or antiquarian book shops.

Interesting Places in Tvedestrand municipality:

Lyngør, a cluster of offshore islands which have been described as the 'Skagerrak Venice' and proclaimed by the European Commission to be “Europe’s best preserved village.”

Sagesund village

Sandøya island, including the villages of Kilen and Klåholmen

Borøya island

Notable people

Peder Johnsen (1783 in Tvedestrand – 1836), a sailor who was a representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly

Knud Knudsen (1812 in Tvedestrand – 1895), an educator, author, linguist, and philologist

Elise Wærenskjold (1815 in Dypvåg – 1895), a Norwegian-American writer, temperance leader, and early pioneer in Texas

Erik Eriksen (1820 in Lyngør – 1888), a polar captain

Arne Garborg (1851–1924), an author who founded and edited the Tvedestrandsposten newspaper (still published in 2019)

Jens Holmboe (1880 in Tvedestrand – 1943), a botanist, professor, and author

Theo Findahl (1891 in Tvedestrand – 1976), a teacher, journalist, and foreign correspondent

Alfred Engelsen (1893 – 1966 in Tvedestrand), a gymnast and diver who was team gold medallist at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Kristian Vilhelm Koren Schjelderup Jr. (1894 in Dypvåg – 1980), a Norwegian Lutheran theologian, author, and bishop of the Diocese of Hamar 1947 to 1964

Harald K. Schjelderup (1895 in Dypvåg – 1974), a physicist, philosopher, and psychologist; Norway's first professor of psychology

Rolv Werner Erichsen (1899 in Holt – 1988), a newspaper editor

Trond Bergh (born 1946 in Tvedestrand), an economic historian, writer, and academic

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tvedestrand has sister city agreements with the following places:

Lysekil, Västra Götaland County, Sweden