Hamar Municipality

Hamar Municipality (Hamar kommune; ) is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. Other settlements in Hamar include Hjellum, Slemsrud, Ridabu, Ingeberg, and Ilseng.

The 351 km2 municipality is the 250th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hamar is the 32nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 32,382. The municipality's population density is 95.9 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 10.3% over the previous 10-year period.

Among the municipality's responsibilities, it the operation of nine primary and three lower secondary school, with a combined 3,115 pupils. The municipality also owns the power company Hamar Energi, and the sports venues Briskeby Arena, Vikingskipet and Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre.

General information
In 1848, the village of Hamar was granted kjøpstad status for a land area of about 400 daa. This newly designated "town" (population: 1,025) was separated from the municipality of Vang to and established as a separate municipality in 1849. On 1 January 1878, the town/municipality of Hamar was enlarged by annexing about 800 daa of land and 138 people from Vang to Hamar. In 1946, a large area in Vang that surrounded the town of Hamar (population: 4,087) was transferred out of Vang and into Hamar. The next year in 1947, part of the municipality of Furnes (population: 821) was transferred into Hamar. On 1 January 1965, a part of Ringsaker (population: 100) was transferred to Hamar. On 1 January 1992, the municipality of Vang (population: 9,103) was merged with the town of Hamar (population: 16,351) and parts of the Stensby, Hanstad, Viker, and Stammerud areas of Ringsaker (population: 224) to form a new, larger Hamar Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the town) is named after the old Hamar farm (Hamarr). The medieval market was first built on this farm and that market eventually became a kjøpstad, the town of Hamar. This town later became a self-governing municipality. The name is identical with the word which means "stone" or "rocky hill".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was first granted on 2 June 1896 and re-granted on 9 July 1993. The official blazon is "Argent, a grouse sable displayed standing on a pine tree issuant from the base" (I sølv, en svart orrfugl med flakte vinger i toppen av et grønt furutre med naturfarget stamme). 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 black grouse sitting at the top of a pine tree. An older version of the arms had been used for a long time. The old version was first described in the anonymous Hamar Chronicle, written in 1553. Since then, it has been generally kept the same, although it has had some minor revisions over the years. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch (1896 version) and by Per Solheim (1963 version) and Arvid Steen (1993 version). The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Hamar. It is part of the Hamar domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Geography
The municipality of Hamar lies along the eastern shore of the large lake Mjøsa. The rivers Flakstadelva, Lageråa, and Svartelva run through the municipality. The municipality lies to the east of Ringsaker Municipality, to the south of Åmot Municipality, to the west of Løten Municipality, and to the north of Stange Municipality.

Climate
Hamar has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with fairly dry and cold winters, and comfortably warm summers. The Hamar II weather station, at an elevation of 141 m, started recording in 1968. The all-time high 33 C was recorded in July 2018, which was the warmest month on record with average daily high 28.8 C and mean 21.6 C. The all-time low -29.8 C is from in December 2010, which was a very cold month with mean -14 C and average daily low -18.2 C. A previous weather station (Hamar I, at an elevation of 139 m) recorded the coldest month on record with mean -17.2 C in January 1917. In August 1975, the weather station "Staur Forsøksgård" in nearby Stange recorded 35 C.

Government
Hamar 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 Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hamar is made up of 39 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 mayors (ordfører) of Hamar:


 * 1849-1851: Henrik Christian Borchgrevink
 * 1852-1853: P.J. Major
 * 1854-1854: Hans Arveschoug Samuelsen
 * 1855-1855: Bernt Magnus Kinck
 * 1856-1856: Hans Arveschoug Samuelsen
 * 1857-1857: Bernt Magnus Kinck
 * 1858-1858: Peter Nicolai Zernichow Arentz
 * 1859-1859: Holger Bierch Matheson
 * 1860-1860: Hans Arveschoug Samuelsen
 * 1861-1861: Peter Nicolai Zernichow Arentz
 * 1862-1862: Hans Arveschoug Samuelsen
 * 1863-1863: Christian Fredrik Stoud Platou
 * 1864-1864: Hans Arveschoug Samuelsen
 * 1865-1866: Rudolph Falck
 * 1867-1867: Hans Arveschoug Samuelsen
 * 1868-1868: Bernt Magnus Kinck
 * 1868-1869: Andreas Steen
 * 1870-1870: Johannes Olsen
 * 1871-1873: Andreas Steen
 * 1874-1874: Johannes Olsen
 * 1875-1875: Martinus Schjerden
 * 1876-1876: Bernt Magnus Kinck
 * 1877-1877: Martinus Schjerden
 * 1878-1878: Oluf Saxe
 * 1878-1881: Andreas Steen
 * 1882-1882: Martinus Schjerden
 * 1883-1885: Jens Jenssen
 * 1885-1885: Bernt Magnus Kinck
 * 1886-1901: Carl Willoch Ludvig Horn
 * 1902-1907: Gabriel Andreas Stoud Platou
 * 1908-1910: Gustav Heiberg (V)
 * 1911-1913: Just Johan Bing Broch (V)
 * 1913-1913: Engebret H. Brændholen (Ap)
 * 1914-1916: Gustav Heiberg (V)
 * 1917-1919: Fredrik Monsen (Ap)
 * 1919-1920: Ole Anderssen (V)
 * 1920-1926: Carl Holst Larsen (H)
 * 1927-1931: Nicolai Helland (Ap)
 * 1932-1932: Johannes Bergh (H)
 * 1933-1933: Sigurd Pedersen (Ap)
 * 1934-1934: Johannes Bergh (H)
 * 1935-1935: Sigurd Pedersen (Ap)
 * 1935-1946: Kristian Bakken (Ap)
 * 1941-1945: Einar Grill Fasting (NS)
 * 1946-1967: Erling Audensen (Ap)
 * 1968-1975: Kristian Birger Gundersen (Ap)
 * 1975-1991: Egil Oddvar Larsen (Ap)
 * 1992-1999: Odd Aspeli (Ap)
 * 1999-2011: Einar Busterud (LL)
 * 2011-2015: Morten Aspeli (Ap)
 * 2015-2023: Einar Busterud (LL)
 * 2023-present: Vigdis Stensby (LL)

Transportation
The town of Hamar is an important railway junction between two different railway lines going to Trondheim. The Rørosbanen railway line (the older line) leaves Hamar and heads northeast towards Røros. The main Dovrebanen railway line also heads north, but further west of the other line. Both lines stop at Hamar Station. The Norwegian Railway Museum (Norsk Jernbanemuseum) is also in Hamar. Hamar Airport, Stafsberg serves general aviation out of Hamar. The European route E6 highway and the Norwegian National Road 3 both cross through the municipality.