Tromsø: Encyclopedia II - Tromsø - History

Tromsø - History

Settlement of the Tromsø area goes back to the end of the ice age. Einar Østmo reports this region as having Corded Ware culture remains. This is the late Neolithic into the early bronze age. During the iron age, the outer coast off Tromsø was settled by both Norse and Sami people, whereas the inland areas of Tromsø Municipality was all Sami.

The first church was built in 1252, and was then the world's northernmost church, called Sancta Maria juxta paganos, or "Saint Mary's close to the pagans". Probably around the same time, a turf rampart was built to protect the area against raids from Karelia and Russia.

Tromsø was issued its city charter in 1794, by then only around 80 people lived there. During the 19th century the city rose in importance, with the establishment of a bishop's seat (1834), a teacher training college (1848), a shipyard (1848), the Tromsø Museum (1872) and the Mack Brewery (1877).

Arctic hunting, from Novaya Zemlya to Canada, started up around 1820. By 1850 Tromsø was the major centre of Arctic hunting, overtaking the former centre of Hammerfest, and the city was trading from Arkhangelsk to Bordeaux. In 1803 Tromsø became the seat of a Bishop, and in 1848, a teachers' training college was relocated to Tromsø. By the end of the 19th century, Tromsø had become a major Arctic trade centre from which many Arctic expeditions originated, explorers like Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Fridtjof Nansen made use of the know-how in Tromsø on the conditions in the Arctic, and often recruited their crew in the city. The Northern lights observatory was founded in 1927.

During World War II it served briefly as the seat of Norwegian government. However, the city escaped the war without any damage, although the German battleship Tirpitz was sunk off the Tromsøy Island on November 12 1944, when close to 1000 German soldiers died. At the end of the war, the city received thousands of refugees from the Finnmark province, that was devastated by German forces at the time.

Expansion after World War II has been rapid. The airport opened in 1964, the University of Tromsø in 1972 and the Norwegian Polar Institute was relocated to Tromsø from Oslo in 1998. Tromsø Airport served 1 447 000 passengers in 2004.

The population growth has been strong, some years more than 1000 people; in 1964 the present municipal borders were created through unification of several boroughs. Then the city had some 32 000 inhabitants, practically doubled today at 63 000. At present the growth is slowing slightly.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki