The 478-square-kilometre (185 sq mi) municipality is the 210th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Lillehammer Municipality is the 39th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 29,011. The municipality'spopulation density is 60.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (157/sq mi) and its population has increased by 6.4% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
Thetown of Lillehammer is the largest urban centre in the municipality. It lies in the central part of the municipality and it is surrounded by more rural areas. The town centre is a late nineteenth-century concentration of wooden houses, which enjoys a picturesque location overlooking the northern part of lakeMjøsa and the riverLågen, surrounded by mountains.
The municipality was established on 1 January 1838 (seeformannskapsdistrikt law). Initially, the municipality only included thetown of Lillehammer. On 1 January 1906, a small adjacent area of the neighboringFåberg Municipality (population: 140) was annexed by Lillehammer Municipality to make room for more expansion as the town grew. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of theSchei Committee. On 1 January 1964, thetown of Lillehammer (population: 5,905) was merged withFåberg Municipality (population: 13,381) to form a new, much larger Lillehammer Municipality.[8]
Historically, the municipality was part of the oldOppland county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formedInnlandet county (afterHedmark andOppland counties were merged).[9]
The municipality (originally theparish) is named after the oldHamar farm (Old Norse:Hamarr) since the firstLillehammer Church was built there. The name is identical with the wordhamarr which means "stone" or "rocky hill". To distinguish it from the nearby town ofHamar andDiocese of Hamar, it began to be called "little Hamar":Lilþlæ Hamar andLitlihamarr, and finally Lillehammer. It is also mentioned in the Old Norsesagas asLitlikaupangr ("Little Trading Place").[10][11]
Thecoat of arms was granted on 4 April 1898. The arms have are divided with a diagonalline. Thefield (background) above the line has atincture of blue. Below the line, the field has a tincture ofargent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. Thecharge is abirkebeiner, carrying a spear and a shield, who is skiing down the mountainside under a blue sky. The design symbolizes the historical importance of when the Birkebeiners carried the future King Haakon from Lillehammer toRena on skis. There is amural crown above theescutcheon. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch.[12][13]
The town of Lillehammer is located at the northern end of Norway's largest lake,Mjøsa. There have likely been settlements here since theIron Age and the market here was mentioned inHåkon Håkonson's saga in 1390. It is also mentioned as a site forThing assembly in 1390. Tradition states that it was here in Lillehammer where thebirkebeiners Torstein Skjevla and Skjervald Skrukka joined up with the King's son (and future King), Haakon, in 1205 before they traveled toØsterdalen (an event which is commemorated in March every year to this day). Since medieval times, theLillehammer Church has been located here.[14]
The town was grantedmarket town rights on 7 August 1827 as akjøpstad. At that time, 50 people lived within the boundaries of the newly established town. This site was chosen because there were no other towns in all ofChristians amt (county) and this site was located along theGudbrandsdalslågen river and the wholeGudbrandsdal valley was a major transportation route from the capital to northern Norway. Within two years of the establishment of the town, the population had risen to 360 people. The merchant Ludvig Wiese has been counted as the founder of the town (a statue of him was erected in the town in connection with the town's 100th anniversary in 1927). The laying of the main railway line from the capital inChristiania toEidsvoll was completed in 1852. This railway line was connected with steamships along the lakeMjøsa which travelled to Lillehammer and from there a newly laid road made connections further up into theGudbrandsdalen valley. This transport system made the transit of timber and agricultural goods from all over the county to the capital possible, and it contributed to the growth of the town of Lillehammer.[14]
Lillehammer is known as a typical venue for winter sporting events; it was host city of the1994 Winter Olympics, and the2016 Winter Youth Olympics, and was part of a joint bid with applicant host cityOslo to host events part of the2022 Winter Olympics until Oslo withdrew its bid on 1 October 2014.
Lillehammer is home to the largest literature festival in the Nordic countries and, in 2017, was designated as a UNESCOCity of Literature.
Lillehammer is also the home of theNansen 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 ofhumanism and aims at strengthening the knowledge of these principles.
The14th World Scout Jamboree was held from 29 July to 7 August 1975 and was hosted by Norway at Lillehammer.
Themunicipal council(Kommunestyre) of Lillehammer Municipality is made up of 39 representatives who are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by politicalparty.
Themayor (Norwegian:ordfører) of Lillehammer Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:[43]
Lillehammer has ahumid continental climate (Köppen:Dfb) and used to have asubarctic climate (Köppen:Dfc), with the Scandinavian mountain chain to the west and north limiting oceanic influences. The record high of 34 °C (93 °F) was recorded in June 1970. The record low of −31 °C (−24 °F) was recorded in December 1978 and January 1979, and the same low was recorded in January 1987. There has been no overnight air frost in the month of August since 1978 with the record low for that month being −0.6 °C (30.9 °F). The coldest recorded temperature after 2000 is −26.2 °C (−15.2 °F) in January 2010. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C (32.0 °F)) in spring is May 10[45] and average date for first freeze in autumn is September 30 (1981-2010 average)[46] giving an average frost-free season of 142 days. The current weather station Lillehammer-Sætherengen became operational in 1982; extremes are also from two earlier weather stations in Lillehammer.
Climate data for Lillehammer 1991-2020 (240 m; extremes 1957 - 2018)
Lillehammer Municipality is subdivided into the following populated places (i.e.: neighborhoods, quarters, villages, localities, settlements, communities, hamlets, etc.):
The basis for the economy of the municipality is its position as the northernmost point of the lakeMjøsa and as the gateway for theGudbrandsdalregion, through which the historical highway fromOslo toTrondheim passes. TheMesna river has provided the basis for several small industries through the years, but Lillehammer is now all but industry-less. –
In addition to the Olympic site, Lillehammer offers a number of other tourist attractions:
Maihaugen, centrally located in Lillehammer, is the largestopen-air museum in Norway, with 185 buildings, mostly from Lillehammer and the valley ofGudbrandsdalen.
TheNorwegian Olympic Museum is the only museum in Northern Europe that shows the whole Olympic history from the ancient times and up to today, including all Summer- and Winter games. The museum also houses the Norwegian Sports Hall of Fame and a special section about the Lillehammer `94 Olympic Winter games. The Museum is located in the indoor museum atMaihaugen.
Sjusjøen is a skiing destination with forest and mountain terrain only 20 kilometres (12 miles) away (east) from the centre of Lillehammer inRingsaker Municipality.
Sigrid Undset (1882–1949), a novelist, awarded theNobel Prize for Literature in 1928; lived at her home "Bjerkebæk" in Lillehammer from 1919 to 1940 and again after WWII.[48]
Odd Grythe (1918–1995), a radio and TV personality
Kjell Lund (1927–2013), an architect, songwriter and singer
Sveinung Hovensjø (born 1950), a jazz musician, plays bass and guitar
Kristin Sevaldsen (born 1966), a jazz musician (saxophone), composer, and music producer
^Mæhlum, Lars; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 November 2024)."Innlandet".Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved8 June 2025.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024)."kommunestyre".Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved31 December 2024.
.jpg)
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg)
.jpg)
