Halden
Encyclopedia
is a both a town and a municipality
in Østfold
county
, Norway
. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town
located at the Tista river delta
on the Iddefjord
, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden
.
area of the municipality where rock carvings
from the Nordic Bronze Age
can be found. Named after a small farm Hallen ("rise" or "slope") first mentioned in 1629, "Halden", became the city Fredrikshald in 1665 for Frederick III of Denmark
. The Gud med oss (God be with us) coat-of-arms created in 1665 shows a knight
standing on a mountain, yellow on a blue background and was inspired the bravery of the citizens of the city in the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660)
.
As a reference to the town's citizens burning their own houses to prevent them being taken on 4 July 1716 by the forces of King Charles XII of Sweden , Halden is one of only two cities in Norway's national anthem
. In 1718, the Great Northern War
ended when Karl XII was shot and killed at the Fredriksten
fortress. The fortress had been erected in the 17th century as a replacement for the Bohus Fortress
lost at the Treaty of Roskilde
in 1658 when Bohuslän
was ceded to Sweden.
Never captured by force by any invading army (although occupied by Nazi forces in WWII), the Swedes unsuccessfully attempted to invade Halden six times between 1658 and 1814.
Halden municipality: In 1838, Fredrikshald became a city municipality
, and in 1928, the name was changed back to Halden. The 4 kilometres (2 mi) Tistedalen
east of the Halden was part of the city from 1686-1967 until it was separated from Halden. At the same time, the area of Halden, Tistedalen, and the rural municipalities of Berg
and Idd
became the Halden municipality on 1 January 1967.
As of 2007, Halden is ruled by a coalition between Arbeiderpartiet
(a social-democratic
party), the Socialist Left Party
, and the Christian Democratic Party.
in Norway at the time was located at the Institute for Energy Technology
's facilities in Halden. From the 1960s-1980s, Halden was infamous for high levels of industrial pollution
, largely originating from the Norske Skog Saugbrugs
paper mill (part of Norske Skog
since 1989). As a result of projects initiated by both Norske Skog-Saugbrugs and the city authorities, the polluted fjords and river
s of Halden have been cleaned up and the city was dubbed Norway's Environment City in 1996.
One of Norway's two nuclear reactor
s is located in Halden. The Halden Boiling Water Reactor is a research reactor located 100 metres (328 ft) within Månefjell, adjacent to the Saugbrugs paper mill. It is in operation about 50% of the time and, in addition to research data, supplies steam to the mill. The reactor is operated by the Institute for Energy Technology, one of Halden's largest employers, and is the largest experimental facility operated for OECD Halden Reactor Project research. IFE's Man-Technology-Organisation laboratory is IFE's other major facility, and was opened by Norway's crown prince regent in March 2004. This new laboratory building houses the most recent incarnations of the Halden Man-Machine Laboratory (HAMMLAB) and Halden Virtual Reality
Centre's (HVRC) VR laboratory. The OECD Halden Reactor Project (established in 1958) is one of the world's longest running international research collaborations, with 20 countries participating (2005) and the largest international research project in Norway. This ensures a steady influx of international guest scientists to the city. The fact that Norway has no commercial interest in nuclear power
ensures that Halden is viewed internationally as a neutral location. In national politics, the reactor is controversial, however locally it has had support from the majority of political parties and the city's population. Some of the largest IT companies in Halden, such as Hand-El Skandinavia (now part of the OM Technology group) and ScandPower, are spin-offs from IFE.
partially-guyed TV tower, and Svinesund
bridges. The fortress of Fredriksten
has historical museums, and the Østfold University College
(Høgskolen i Østfold) is in Halden.
s and water so hiking and fishing locations can easily be found. Deer
and elk
are a common sight, and wolves have also been observed in the district along the border with Sweden
. Raspberries
, blackberries
, blueberries
, wild cranberries
, and many varieties of mushroom
can be found in the woods in the early autumn. Popular destinations for hikers and other nature lovers include Prestebakke and Kornsjø
.
Halden's meteorological station is at Buer.
, Madrugada, Morten Harket
, and Kurt Nilsen
. The city's intimate theatre hosts frequent plays by national and local theatre groups, and occasionally serves as a concert hall.
Halden festivals include a food and wooden boat festival (Halden Day) in July, a croquet
festival (August), the Bom-Kræsj-Bang cultural festival (April), and the Down on the Farm country/roots festival. The famous pub "Siste Reis" neighbouring the train station has been voted among the ten best pubs in Europe!
Artists born in Halden that are represented in the Norwegian National Gallery in Oslo
include Thomas Fearnley (1802-1842) and Jacob Mathias Calmeyer (1802-1883). Fearnley is locally exhibited at the manor house
Rød Herregård. Other significant artists that lived in Halden, but were not born there, include Johannes Fintoe (1786-1870) and Heinrich August Grosch (1763-1843). Grosch's son, Christian Heinrich Grosch
(1801-1865), who moved with his parents to Halden at the age of ten, became an influential architect, whose works include seventy-eight churches (including Immanuels Kirke in Halden), the Bank of Norway, the Oslo Stock Exchange
, and the original university buildings in Oslo.
club plays in the Premier Division, and while the local ice hockey
team Comet did play in the GET-league
(Norway's highest ice hockey division) for some years, but they ran into some financial problems in 2008/2009, and is now in division 1. Halden also has many football clubs, the biggest of them, Kvik Halden FK, plays in the Norwegian Third Division. The two handball clubs, Tistedalens TIF in the first division and HK Halden, have teams for children, youth and adults.
One of Norway's few curling
centres lies in Halden. Halden Curling Center is host to East-Norway 1 division. In addition there is a separate amateur league with two divisions. Several curlers from Halden have won Norwegian championships and competed internationally.
Halden's forests are a good place for orienteering
; and hiking
, canoe
ing, boating, fishing
, and gymnastics
are also popular sports amongst Halden's population.
with Halden: - Ringsted
, Sjælland
, Denmark
- Skövde
, Västra Götaland
, Sweden
- Vammala
, Länsi-Suomi
, Finland
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
in Østfold
Østfold
is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...
county
Counties of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town
Border town
A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states or regions. Usually the term implies that it is one of the things the town is most famous for. Border towns can have highly cosmopolitan communities, a feature they share with port cities...
located at the Tista river delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
on the Iddefjord
Iddefjord
The Iddefjord runs along the Norwegian – Swedish border from the Singlefjord. The Iddefjord separates the Swedish province of Bohuslän in the county of Västra Götaland from the Norwegian municipality of Halden in the county of Østfold...
, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
History
Evidence of early human settlements in this region of Norway have been found, particularly in the SvinesundSvinesund
Svinesund is a sound separating the Swedish municipality of Strömstad in the province of Bohuslän in the county of Västra Götaland from the Norwegian municipality of Halden in the county of Østfold....
area of the municipality where rock carvings
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
from the Nordic Bronze Age
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...
can be found. Named after a small farm Hallen ("rise" or "slope") first mentioned in 1629, "Halden", became the city Fredrikshald in 1665 for Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
. The Gud med oss (God be with us) coat-of-arms created in 1665 shows a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
standing on a mountain, yellow on a blue background and was inspired the bravery of the citizens of the city in the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660)
Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660)
The Dano-Swedish War of 1658–60 was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. It was a continuation of an earlier conflict between the two belligerents which had ended just months earlier, after Sweden and Denmark brokered a peace agreement in Roskilde in 1658...
.
As a reference to the town's citizens burning their own houses to prevent them being taken on 4 July 1716 by the forces of King Charles XII of Sweden , Halden is one of only two cities in Norway's national anthem
Ja, vi elsker dette landet
is the national anthem of Norway. It is commonly referred to as just "Ja, vi elsker" . The lyrics were written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson between 1859 and 1868, and the melody was written by his cousin Rikard Nordraak in 1864. It was first performed publicly on 17 May 1864 in connection with the 50th...
. In 1718, the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
ended when Karl XII was shot and killed at the Fredriksten
Fredriksten
-History:This Fortresses was constructed ny Denmark-Norway in the 17th century as a replacement for the border fortress at Bohus, which had been lost when the province of Bohuslän was ceded to Sweden by the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658...
fortress. The fortress had been erected in the 17th century as a replacement for the Bohus Fortress
Bohus Fortress
Bohus Fortress lies along the old Norwegian - Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches...
lost at the Treaty of Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
in 1658 when Bohuslän
Bohuslän
' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold in Norway to the north...
was ceded to Sweden.
Never captured by force by any invading army (although occupied by Nazi forces in WWII), the Swedes unsuccessfully attempted to invade Halden six times between 1658 and 1814.
Halden municipality: In 1838, Fredrikshald became a city municipality
Formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...
, and in 1928, the name was changed back to Halden. The 4 kilometres (2 mi) Tistedalen
Tistedalen
Tistedalen is a part of Halden, Norway. Originally four kilometers from the town centre, the area, from the start growing up around a saw mill, has now been engulfed by Halden itself, although it still maintains some identity....
east of the Halden was part of the city from 1686-1967 until it was separated from Halden. At the same time, the area of Halden, Tistedalen, and the rural municipalities of Berg
Berg, Østfold
Berg is a former parish and municipality which now forms part of Halden municipality in Østfold county, Norway.-History:Berg was the main parish in a district which included Rokke and Halden until 1721. Halden subsequently became the main parish in the district. By a royal proclamation in 1769,...
and Idd
Idd
Idd is a parish and former municipality in Halden, Østfold county, Norway.The parish of Id was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 . The rural municipality was merged with the city of Halden January 1, 1967...
became the Halden municipality on 1 January 1967.
Politics
The political situation in Halden has become infamous in Norway for conflicts between individual politicians and between local political parties.As of 2007, Halden is ruled by a coalition between Arbeiderpartiet
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
(a social-democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
party), the Socialist Left Party
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
, and the Christian Democratic Party.
Economy
The slogan, Halden, IT- og Miljøbyen (Halden, IT and Environment City), is a reference to Halden's large number of IT companies. In the late 1960s, the most powerful mainframe computerMainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
in Norway at the time was located at the Institute for Energy Technology
Institute for Energy Technology
Institute for Energy Technology was established in 1948 as the Institute for Nuclear Energy . The name was changed in 1980. Its main office is at Kjeller, Norway, and slightly under half of the institute’s activities are based in Halden...
's facilities in Halden. From the 1960s-1980s, Halden was infamous for high levels of industrial pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
, largely originating from the Norske Skog Saugbrugs
Norske Skog Saugbrugs
Norske Skog Saugbrugs is a paper mill located in Halden in Norway. The mill is part of the Norske Skog Corporation and opened in 1859 with the name Saugbrugsforeningen...
paper mill (part of Norske Skog
Norske Skog
Norske Skogindustrier ASA or Norske Skog, which translates as Norwegian Forest Industries, is a Norwegian pulp and paper company based in Oslo, Norway and established in 1962...
since 1989). As a result of projects initiated by both Norske Skog-Saugbrugs and the city authorities, the polluted fjords and river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s of Halden have been cleaned up and the city was dubbed Norway's Environment City in 1996.
One of Norway's two nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s is located in Halden. The Halden Boiling Water Reactor is a research reactor located 100 metres (328 ft) within Månefjell, adjacent to the Saugbrugs paper mill. It is in operation about 50% of the time and, in addition to research data, supplies steam to the mill. The reactor is operated by the Institute for Energy Technology, one of Halden's largest employers, and is the largest experimental facility operated for OECD Halden Reactor Project research. IFE's Man-Technology-Organisation laboratory is IFE's other major facility, and was opened by Norway's crown prince regent in March 2004. This new laboratory building houses the most recent incarnations of the Halden Man-Machine Laboratory (HAMMLAB) and Halden Virtual Reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
Centre's (HVRC) VR laboratory. The OECD Halden Reactor Project (established in 1958) is one of the world's longest running international research collaborations, with 20 countries participating (2005) and the largest international research project in Norway. This ensures a steady influx of international guest scientists to the city. The fact that Norway has no commercial interest in nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
ensures that Halden is viewed internationally as a neutral location. In national politics, the reactor is controversial, however locally it has had support from the majority of political parties and the city's population. Some of the largest IT companies in Halden, such as Hand-El Skandinavia (now part of the OM Technology group) and ScandPower, are spin-offs from IFE.
Sights
Halden sights include the canal system, HøiåsmastenHøiåsmasten
Høiåsmasten is a TV tower used for FM- and TV-transmission near Halden, Norway. Høiåsmasten, built in 1980, is one of the tallest partially guyed towers in the world and with a height of the second tallest tower of Norway. It consists, like the Gerbrandy Tower, of a concrete tower as basement on...
partially-guyed TV tower, and Svinesund
Svinesund
Svinesund is a sound separating the Swedish municipality of Strömstad in the province of Bohuslän in the county of Västra Götaland from the Norwegian municipality of Halden in the county of Østfold....
bridges. The fortress of Fredriksten
Fredriksten
-History:This Fortresses was constructed ny Denmark-Norway in the 17th century as a replacement for the border fortress at Bohus, which had been lost when the province of Bohuslän was ceded to Sweden by the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658...
has historical museums, and the Østfold University College
Østfold University College
Østfold University College is a further and higher education institution in south-eastern Norway. It has campuses in Fredrikstad and Halden. Enrollment is approximately 4,000 students ; and 480 staff...
(Høgskolen i Østfold) is in Halden.
Rød Herregård
Rød Herregård in Halden is one of the best preserved manor house in Norway. The property features well-preserved buildings, a baroque garden and an English landscape garden. The buildings have their oldest origins of the late 1600's, but were largely built during the last half of the 1700s. The manor house and estate complex was owned by the Tanker family through three generations, from 1733 to 1829. In 1961, two foundations were established to maintain the historic property. Rød Manor Foundation (Stiftelsen Rød Herregård) is responsible for the manor house, buildings and gardens. Ankerske Foundation Collections (Stiftelsen De Ankerske Samlinger) is responsible for the contents and the rich archives related to the property.Nature
Halden is surrounded by forestForest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and water so hiking and fishing locations can easily be found. Deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and elk
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
are a common sight, and wolves have also been observed in the district along the border with Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Raspberries
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
, blackberries
Blackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of the Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial roots. Blackberries and...
, blueberries
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
, wild cranberries
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
, and many varieties of mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
can be found in the woods in the early autumn. Popular destinations for hikers and other nature lovers include Prestebakke and Kornsjø
Kornsjø
Kornsjø is a village in Enningdalen in Halden, Norway on the border to Sweden. The village has 250 residents . At Kornsjø is the bordercrossing for the railway lines Østfoldbanen and Norgebanan . Previously change of crew was performed at Kornsjø Station, but this has since been closed....
.
Halden's meteorological station is at Buer.
Culture
Outdoor concerts are frequently held at the fortress while the local churches, pubs, and student union are regular venues for indoor concerts. Musicians recorded by the Hitsville and Athletic Sound studios in the Halden region include MotorpsychoMotorpsycho
Motorpsycho is a band from Trondheim, Norway. Their music can generally be defined as psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from metal, jazz, rock, pop and many other musical styles. The members of the band are Bent Sæther , Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan and Kenneth Kapstad...
, Madrugada, Morten Harket
Morten Harket
Morten Harket is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Norwegian synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985. A-ha disbanded in 2010. Harket has also released four solo...
, and Kurt Nilsen
Kurt Nilsen
The following is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian music artist Kurt Nilsen.-Albums:-Singles:-Other releases:*1998 Shoe...
. The city's intimate theatre hosts frequent plays by national and local theatre groups, and occasionally serves as a concert hall.
Halden festivals include a food and wooden boat festival (Halden Day) in July, a croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
festival (August), the Bom-Kræsj-Bang cultural festival (April), and the Down on the Farm country/roots festival. The famous pub "Siste Reis" neighbouring the train station has been voted among the ten best pubs in Europe!
Artists born in Halden that are represented in the Norwegian National Gallery in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
include Thomas Fearnley (1802-1842) and Jacob Mathias Calmeyer (1802-1883). Fearnley is locally exhibited at the manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
Rød Herregård. Other significant artists that lived in Halden, but were not born there, include Johannes Fintoe (1786-1870) and Heinrich August Grosch (1763-1843). Grosch's son, Christian Heinrich Grosch
Christian Heinrich Grosch
Christian Heinrich Grosch was a Norwegian architect.He was born in Halden and educated by his father, Heinrich August Grosch and in Germany and Copenhagen....
(1801-1865), who moved with his parents to Halden at the age of ten, became an influential architect, whose works include seventy-eight churches (including Immanuels Kirke in Halden), the Bank of Norway, the Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange
The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
, and the original university buildings in Oslo.
Sports
The Halden VBK volleyballVolleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
club plays in the Premier Division, and while the local ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team Comet did play in the GET-league
GET-ligaen
GET-ligaen is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation. The league was known as 1. divisjon until 1990, when it was reorganized and named Eliteserien . That name was held until 2004 when cable TV company UPC became main sponsor...
(Norway's highest ice hockey division) for some years, but they ran into some financial problems in 2008/2009, and is now in division 1. Halden also has many football clubs, the biggest of them, Kvik Halden FK, plays in the Norwegian Third Division. The two handball clubs, Tistedalens TIF in the first division and HK Halden, have teams for children, youth and adults.
One of Norway's few curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
centres lies in Halden. Halden Curling Center is host to East-Norway 1 division. In addition there is a separate amateur league with two divisions. Several curlers from Halden have won Norwegian championships and competed internationally.
Halden's forests are a good place for orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...
; and hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
ing, boating, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, and gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
are also popular sports amongst Halden's population.
Notable residents
- Ivar HuitfeldtIvar HuitfeldtIvar Huitfeldt was a Dano-Norwegian naval officer who was killed in action, when he commanded the ship Dannebroge during Great Northern War 1700–1721.-Biography:...
(1665-1710), commander in the Dano-NorwegianDano-NorwegianDano-Norwegian is a linguistic term for a koiné that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway . It is from this koiné that Riksmål and Bokmål developed...
fleet - Nils Otto TankNils Otto TankNils Otto Tank was a Moravian Church missionary and pioneer land developer in Wisconsin.-Background:Otto Tank was born at Rød Herregård, the family estate near Halden, in Østfold county, Norway. The son of a wealthy politician and landowner, Tank was educated in various European universities...
(1800–1864), Moravian Church religious leader - Christian Heinrich GroschChristian Heinrich GroschChristian Heinrich Grosch was a Norwegian architect.He was born in Halden and educated by his father, Heinrich August Grosch and in Germany and Copenhagen....
(1801-1865), architect - Thomas Fearnley (1802-1842), artist
- Alvilde PrydzAlvilde PrydzAlvilde Prydz was a Norwegian novelist.-Biography:She was born near Fredrikshald, now Halden in Østfold county, Norway. Her parents were Paul Fredrik Birkenbusch Prydz a merchant and customs inspector and Andersine Nicoline Lund . She grew up in a large group of children on the farm ofT osterød...
(1846-1922), Novelist - Nini Roll AnkerNini Roll AnkerNini Roll Anker was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. She was born in Molde, as the daughter of stipendiary magistrate and later member of parliament and minister Ferdinand Nicolai Roll. She was married twice, first to land owner Peter Martin Anker, and later to engineer Johan August Anker...
(1873-1942), writer - Karl OurenKarl OurenKarl Ouren was an American artist best known for his paintings of Norwegian landscapes and scenes, particularly those featuring winter and snow.-Background:...
(1882-1943), Norwegian-American artist - Håkon Wium LieHåkon Wium LieHåkon Wium Lie is a web pioneer, a standards activist, and, , the Chief Technology Officer of Opera Software.He is best known for proposing the concept of Cascading Style Sheets while working with Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau at CERN in 1994. As an employee at W3C, he developed CSS into a...
(1965-), CTO of Opera SoftwareOpera SoftwareOpera Software ASA is a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers with over 220 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is...
Twin towns — Sister cities
The following cities are twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with Halden: - Ringsted
Ringsted municipality
Ringsted municipality is a municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand in east Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 295 km², and has a total population of 32,092...
, Sjælland
Region Sjælland
Region Zealand is an administrative region of Denmark established on January 1, 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which replaced the traditional counties with five larger regions. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, cutting the number of...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
- Skövde
Skövde
Skövde is a locality and the seat of Skövde Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 34 446 inhabitants .Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vänern and Vättern. It sits on the eastern slope of a low mountain ridge Billingen ,...
, Västra Götaland
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County is a county or län on the western coast of Sweden.The county is the second largest of Sweden's counties and it is subdivided into 49 municipalities . Its population of 1,550,000 amounts to 17% of Sweden's population...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
- Vammala
Vammala
Vammala is a former town and municipality of southwestern Finland, chartered in 1907.On 1 January 2009 Vammala was consolidated with the municipalities of Mouhijärvi and Äetsä, to form a new city named Sastamala.-Geography:...
, Länsi-Suomi
Western Finland
Western Finland was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland.- History :...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
External links
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics NorwayStatistics NorwayStatistics Norway is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876.Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...