Elverum

Elverum lies at an important crossroads, with Hamar to the West, Kongsvinger to the South, and Trysil on the Swedish border to the northeast. It is bordered on the north by Åmot municipality, in the north east by Trysil municipality, in the south east by Våler and in the west by Løten.

1 Elverum in History
2 Elverum's Museums
- 2.1 Norwegian Forest Museum
- 2.2 Glomdal Museum
3 Famous residents
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Elverum in History

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Elverum (Norse Alfarheimr), since the first church was built here. The first element is the genitive case of elfr f 'river' (here Glomma), the last element is heimr m 'home, homestead, farm'.

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). It shows an owl - the bird of knowledge (to represent the many schools in the municipality).

[edit] Military ties

During the Nordic Seven Years' War (1563 - 1570), Swedish troops invaded Norway in a number of locations, including a number of incursions into the Østerdal. In 1563, Norwegian troops stopped the Swedish advance at Elverum, which provided a strategic point since it lay on both north-south and east-west trade and travel routes.

The parishes Idre and Särna originally belonged to Elverum. But they was occupied by Swedish troops in 1644, and since that lost to Sweden.

Construction of fortifications started in 1673 during the Gyldenløve War as Hammersberg Skanse (also referred to as Terningen Skanse); the bastion of which is still preserved today. It was renamed Christiansfjell Fortress in 1685 by Christian V during his visit to Hammersberg skanse on June 14th. Although the fortress was manned through the Great Northern War, the city was spared major battles. In 1742 Christiansfjell Fortress was closed.

A Norwegian infantry regiment, the Oppland Regiment, was formed in 1657 and Elverum became a garrison town. The area of population east of the river called Leiret (literally the camp) adjacent to Christiansfjell Fortress was built up by soldiers as well as the merchants and craftsmen who settled nearby. Even to this day the area of Elverum east of the river is referred to as Leiret.

In 1878, Terningmoen at Elverum became the home base for the Oppland Regiment and an artillery school was founded here in 1896.

The Oppland Regiment had a history which included courageous involvement in combat from the Swedish wars of the 17th century through the German invasion of Norway in 1940. As part of the general restructuring, the unit was disbanded in 2002.

[edit] Elverum as a Regional Town

In the Danish-Norwegian period, Elverum was the location for a bailiff (fogd), a judge (sorenskriver), a head pastor (prost), as well as numerous military officers.

It became important as a market town as well. In 1570 Hamar Cathedral in Hamar was burned and Hamarhus castle was destroyed by the Swedish armies during the Seven Years' War with Sweden. Hamar lost its city status, leaving no kjøpstad, or official market city, between Christiania and Trondheim. Eastern Norway needed an organized market for trading goods. The Grundset market (Grundsetmart'n) in Elverum municipality grew to meet the need. It is recorded as existing in the 17th century, and in 1765 the owner of Gaarder obtained special market privileges from the king, to take place six miles north of the population center of Elverum on his estate. By 1767 it was described as Norway's largest and most famous market. On the first week of March, for almost 300 years, the folks of the district met to trade and to celebrate. People from Gudbrandsdal, Oslo, Trøndelag and Sweden also regularly came to Grundsetmart'n. The Grundset market was finally abandoned in 1901, when pressures of the railroad and other markets made it superfluous.

View of the westside of the river Glomma from Gammelbrua

Elverum has been the market town for the Østerdal since the 18th century.

The railway connecting Oslo and Trondheim passed through Elverum in 1877.

[edit] Elverum in Recent History

Elverum municipality served as a temporary capital of Norway during the World War II German invasion. On April 9, 1940 Norwegian troops prevented the Germans from capturing Norway's King Haakon, Crown Prince, and Parliament while the Parliament was meeting to issue the Elverum Authorization, authorizing the exiled government authorization to run the Norwegian government until the Parliament could again convene. On April 11th, shortly after the government's refusal to submit to German terms, the center of Elverum was reduced to ashes.

[edit] Elverum's Museums

[edit] Norwegian Forest Museum

The Norwegian Forest Museum is a national museum recognizing the importance of forestry, hunting and fishing to the Norwegian history and economy.

[edit] Glomdal Museum

From the eastern side of Glomma (the Museum of Norwegian Forestry - Skogmuseet), a pedestrian bridge across the Klokkerfoss falls to Prestøya, and then a bridge across the Prestfossen falls leads to the Glomdal Museum, one of the largest Norwegian outdoor museums, with numerous houses from the mountain parishes of Østerdalen and the lowland districts of Solør on the Glomma river valley. The exhibition includes a library with numerous books, including handwritten medieval manuscripts.

[edit] Famous residents

Born and raised in Elverum:
- Roy Khan, lead singer of the music group Kamelot

[edit] External links

Elverum Tourist Information

[edit] References

History of the Norwegian People by Knut Gjerset, The MacMillan Company, 1915, Volumes I & II
A History of Norway by Karen Larson, Princeton University Press, 1948
East Norway and its Frontier by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1956
Adventure Roads in Norway by Erling Welle-Strand, Nortrabooks, 1996. ISBN 82-90103-71-9
Norway, edited by Doreen Taylor-Wilkie, Houghton Mifflin, 1996. ISBN 0-395-81912-1

Municipalities of Hedmark
Alvdal \| Eidskog \| Elverum \| Engerdal \| Folldal \| Grue \| Hamar \| Kongsvinger \| Løten \| Nord-Odal \| Os \| Rendalen \| Ringsaker \| Stange \| Stor-Elvdal \| Sør-Odal \| Tolga \| Trysil \| Tynset \| Våler \| Åmot \| Åsnes