Lillehammer

This article is about the Norwegian town. For the TV series, see Lilyhammer.

Lillehammer kommune
Municipality
Lillehammer
Coat of arms Oppland within Norway
Lillehammer within Oppland
Coordinates: 61°7′N 10°28′E
Country	Norway
County	Oppland
District	Gudbrandsdal
Administrative centre	Lillehammer
Government
• Mayor (2012)	Espen Johnsen
Area
• Total	477 km2 (184 sq mi)
• Land	450 km2 (170 sq mi)
Area rank	211 in Norway
Population (2011)
• Total	26,639
• Rank	33 in Norway
• Density	56/km2 (150/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	5.0 %
Demonym(s)	Lillehamring
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0501
Official language form	Bokmål
Website	lillehammer.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Lillehammer (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈlɪl̥əhɔmɔr]) is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was 26,639. The city centre is a late 19th-century concentration of wooden houses, which enjoys a picturesque location overlooking the northern part of lake Mjøsa and the river Lågen, surrounded by mountains. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics and 2016 Winter Youth Olympics. Before Oslo's withdrawal from consideration, it was included as part of a bid to host events in the 2022 Winter Olympics if Oslo were to win the rights to hold the Games.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old Hamar (Norse Hamarr) farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word hamarr (rocky hill). To distinguish it from the nearby town and bishopric, both called Hamar, it began to be called "little Hamar": Lilþlæ Hamar and Litlihamarr, and finally Lillehammer. It is also mentioned in the Old Norse sagas as Litlikaupangr ("Little Trading Place").

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms was granted in 1898 and shows a birkebeiner, carrying a spear and a shield, who is skiing down a mountainside. It symbolizes the historical importance of when the Birkebeiners carried the to-be-King Haakon from Lillehammer to Rena on skis.

History

Lillehammer Church

The area has been settled since the Norwegian Iron Age; it is also mentioned as a site for council in 1390. Lillehammer had a lively market by the 1800s and obtained rights as a merchant city on 7 August 1827, at which point there were 50 registered residents within its boundaries.

The town of Lillehammer was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838.

Further information: formannskapsdistrikt

The rural municipality of Fåberg was merged into the municipality of Lillehammer on 1 January 1964.

Lillehammer was the site of the Lillehammer affair in 1973, wherein operatives of the Israeli Mossad shot and killed a Moroccan waiter they mistakenly thought was Ali Hassan Salameh, who was involved in the Munich Massacre.

Lillehammer is known as a typical venue for winter sporting events; it was host city of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, and was part of a joint bid with applicant host city Oslo to host events part of the 2022 Winter Olympics until Oslo withdrew its bid on 1 October 2014.

Education

A number of schools are located in Lillehammer including the Hammartun Lower Secondary School. Lillehammer High School, Mesna High School and Vargstad High School are the three public high schools in Lillehammer, in addition to the private Norges Toppidrettsgymnas. Lillehammer University College is situated just north of the town itself.

Lillehammer is also the home of the Nansen Academy - the Norwegian Humanistic Academy. The Nansen Academy is an educational institution for adult students with varied political, religious, and cultural backgrounds. The Academy was founded on the core principles of humanism and aims at strengthening the knowledge of these principles.

The 14th World Scout Jamboree was held from July 29 to August 7, 1975 and was hosted by Norway at Lillehammer.

Geography

Lillehammer is located to the south of the municipality of Øyer, to the southeast of Gausdal, northeast of Nordre Land, and to the north of Gjøvik, all in Oppland county. To the southeast, it is bordered by Ringsaker municipality in Hedmark county. Lillehammer has a subarctic inland climate. It has moderate precipitation, higher in summer and autumn. To the northwest is the mountain Spåtind.

Climate

Climate data for Lillehammer
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−6 (21)	−4 (25)	1 (34)	6 (43)	13 (55)	18 (64)	19 (66)	17 (63)	12 (54)	7 (45)	0 (32)	−4 (25)	5 (41)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−9 (16)	−7.5 (18.5)	−3.5 (25.7)	1.5 (34.7)	8 (46)	13 (55)	14 (57)	12.5 (54.5)	8 (46)	4 (39)	−3 (27)	−7 (19)	2.5 (36.5)
Average low °C (°F)	−12 (10)	−11 (12)	−8 (18)	−3 (27)	3 (37)	8 (46)	9 (48)	8 (46)	4 (39)	1 (34)	−6 (21)	−10 (14)	−1.5 (29.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	46 (1.81)	35 (1.38)	40 (1.57)	37 (1.46)	58 (2.28)	77 (3.03)	89 (3.5)	90 (3.54)	86 (3.39)	85 (3.35)	68 (2.68)	50 (1.97)	761 (29.96)
Average precipitation days	16	13	13	11	14	16	18	17	16	16	16	16	182
Source: World Weather Information Service

Economy

The basis for the city's commerce is its position as the northernmost point of the lake Mjøsa and as the gateway for the Gudbrandsdal region, through which the historical highway to Trondheim passes. The Mesna river has provided the basis for several small industries through the years, but Lillehammer is now all but industry-less.

Transport

One of the major Norwegian rail lines, the Dovrebanen, runs from Hamar to the north through Lillehammer on its way up the Gudbrandsdal, to terminate in Trondheim.

European route E6 passes through Lillehammer.

Attractions

Storgata shopping area

In addition to the Olympic site, Lillehammer offers a number of other tourist attractions:

• Maihaugen, centrally located in Lillehammer, is the largest open-air museum in Norway, with 185 buildings, mostly from Lillehammer and the valley of Gudbrandsdalen.
• Garmo stave church (built around 1150)
• The Norwegian Olympic Museum is the only museum in Northern Europe that shows whole the Olympic history from the ancient times and up to today, including all Summer- and Wintergames. The museum also houses the Norwegian Sports Hall of Fame and a special section about the Lillehammer `94 Olympic Wintergames. The Museum is located in the indoor museum at Maihaugen.
• Lillehammer Art Museum
• Hafjell (Ski resort 15 km (9 mi) from Lillehammer, host of slalom and super-G in the Olympic games 1994)
• Kvitfjell (Ski resort 55 km (34 mi) from Lillehammer, host of downhill in the Olympic games 1994)
• The art museum, "Flygelet" -> "The Grand Piano"
• The PS Skibladner is the world's oldest paddle steamer in scheduled service, launched in 1856. Summer sailings around lake Mjøsa: Lillehammer, Moelv, Gjøvik, Hamar, and Eidsvoll.
• The ski jump at Lysgårdsbakkene.
• Sjusjøen is a skiing destination with forest and mountain terrain only 20 kilometres (12 miles) away (east) from the centre of Lillehammer in the municipality of Ringsaker.
• The Sambandets Utdanning og Kompetansesenter is an army unit located in the camp Jørstadmoen 3–4 km (2–2 miles) northwest of Lillehammer.
• The rock carvings at Drotten, Fåberg, west of Gudbrandsdalslågen about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) above Brunlaug bridge.

The official tourist information for the Lillehammer-region provides more information about activities and attractions in the region

Sport

Olympic ski jump

Sportclubs

• Lillehammer Icehockey Club (The team competes in Norway's major hockey league, the GET-League.)
• Lillehammer Orienteeringclub
• Lillehammer Skiclub
• Lillehammer Speedskating club
• Faaberg Fotball Lillehammer
• Roterud Idrettslag
• Lillehammer Fotballklubb

Notable residents

• Atle Antonsen, a Norwegian comic and actor, was born in Lillehammer.
• Sigrid Undset lived in Lillehammer at her home "Bjerkebæk" from 1919 through 1940. She brought her children with her for a short rest, planning on returning to Oslo but chose to remain in Lillehammer. She wrote her most famous works there: the three-volume Kristin Lavransdatter, the six-volume Sverkholt tales, and the four-volume Olav Audunssønn. In 1940, because she had expressed strong anti-Nazi sentiments since the early 1930s, she fled Lillehammer before the invading German army reached the town. She returned to Lillehammer after the war and died there in 1949. She is buried at the cemetery in Mesnali, a nearby village.

In popular culture

• The Norwegian-American Netflix Original series Lilyhammer takes place in Lillehammer. The show stars Steven Van Zandt, who plays Frank "the Fixer" Tagliano, a New York mobster who moves to Lillehammer through the U.S. Witness Protection Program after being inspired by the 1994 Winter Olympics to relocate to Norway.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Lillehammer:

• - Autrans, Isère, France
• - Sarajevo, Sarajevo Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• - Hayward, Wisconsin, United States
• - Hørsholm, Region Hovedstaden, Denmark
• - Leksand, Dalarna County, Sweden
• - Oberhof, Thuringia, Germany
• - Oulainen, Oulu Province, Finland
• - Shiozawa, Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Lillehammer has also friendly connections with

• - Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• - Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, Japan
• - Bujanovac, Serbia
• - Radviliškis, Lithuania

See also

• European Youth Parliament
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Lillehammer Tourist Office
• Gudbrandsdalen Region
• Hafjell ski resort 20 km (12 mi) north from Lillehammer
• Kvitfjell ski resort 55 km (34 mi) north from Lillehammer
• Lillehammer University College
• Lillehammer Icehockey Club (Norwegian)
• Olympic Park in Lillehammer
• Pictures from the Olympic games in 1994¨
• Norwegian Olympic Museum