Stjørdal

General information

Stjørdalen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1850, Stjørdalen was divided into Øvre Stjørdal and Nedre Stjørdal. Later, Øvre Stjørdal was divided into Hegra and Meråker on 1 January 1874 and Nedre Stjørdal was divided into Lånke, Skatval, and (a smaller) Stjørdal on 1 January 1902. All of these municipalities (except for Meråker) were merged on 1 January 1962 to form a new, larger Stjørdal municipality.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Stjórardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Stjór (now called Stjørdalselva) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The meaning of the river name is unknown.

The pronunciation of the name Stjørdal in the local dialect is [ʃøɽdaɽːɲ].

Coat of arms and flag

On September 29, 1983, by resolution of its municipal council, Stjørdal adopted a new municipal coat of arms in red and gold, bearing a gold or yellow Lindworm (a two-legged dragon or wyvern) on a field of red. The arms were granted on November 25, 1983.

Most Norwegian municipalities have a banner of their respective coats of arms as a flag, and accordingly, the municipal flag of Stjørdal similarly bears a yellow wyvern on a red field.

Although the coat of arms is from modern times, the dragon motif of the arms was inspired by a medieval seal for the district, dating from 1344. The old municipal seal was considered unsuitable for selection as the municipal coat of arms, because to obtain a municipal coat of arms and flag, a Norwegian municipality must fulfill certain heraldic requirements that do not apply to a seal. For example, a coat of arms will generally contain only one pictorial motif, while Stjørdal's seal had three motifs and failed to meet additional requirements concerning color elements. The municipality sought assistance from the National Archives of Norway, and was referred to archivist Hallvard Trætteberg, resulting in a collaboration to develop the new coat of arms.

The dragon is a symbol of Saint Margaret of Antioch, and its depiction is derived from Stjørdal's old seal, which showed Saint Margaret standing on a slain dragon. According to Stjørdal's municipal website, both the four-legged dragon and the two-legged wyvern are used in ancient designs of arms going back thousands of years, and have "always stood as a symbol of authority, power, and exalted dignity of great national cultures."

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Stjørdal. It is part of the Stjørdal deanery and the Diocese of Nidaros.

History

Stjørdal is the location of Steinvikholm Castle, the residence of Norway's last Catholic archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson. It is located on the Skatval peninsula.

Hegra Fortress is located in the central part of the municipality. It was used as a defense against the Swedish military. It was also used during World War II in the Battle of Hegra Fortress.

The Stjørdal Folk Academy was founded in 1908 by Nils Anton Vaagland, who was later mayor of Stjørdal and also served as the academy's director for 10 years.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Stjørdal, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Stjørdal is made up of 41 representatives that are elected to every four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:

Geography

Stjørdal consists of the old municipalities of Skatval, Hegra, Lånke, and Stjørdal. The Stjørdalselva river runs through the Stjørdalen valley, with the Skatval peninsula on the northern side. The Forbordsfjellet mountain sits in the northern part of the municipality. The Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park lies in the eastern part of the municipality, as is a tiny part of the lake Feren.

The village of Stjørdal declared township in 1997. Stjørdal is the fastest growing municipality in Nord-Trøndelag due to its proximity to the city of Trondheim and also to Statoil's presence (it controls a large part of the petroleum activity in the Norwegian Sea from Stjørdal).

Trondheim is only about 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Stjørdal either by road (European route E6) or train (Trønderbanen). Stjørdal is in the process of "growing together" with Trondheim, a show of regional urbanization. The distance to Steinkjer is about 90 kilometres (56 mi), and the towns of Levanger and Verdal are both about 48 to 60 kilometres (30 to 37 mi) to the north. All four of these towns are located on the eastern shore of Trondheim Fjord. Stjørdal is now considered a part of Trondheim due to its urbanization process and close location

Birdlife

The Stjørdal area has a rich bird life with well over 260 recorded species and several good birding localities. Though Stjørdal can not boast of a long coastline (it's only 25 kilometres or 16 miles long) some of best birding areas are to be found along Stjørdalfjorden. Halsøen is virtually situated near the centre of Stjørdal, and can be easily viewed from a number of advantage points from route E6 in the east or Langøra in the west. Formed by the old river outlet, this tidal area is well worth checking. Due to the shallow waters and extensive areas of mud at low tide, Halsøen is used both as a wintering area and a migration stopover point by many species.

Transportation

Stjørdal is a regional transportation centre that is near the regional airport, Trondheim Airport, Værnes, as well as port facilities, European route E6, European route E14, and the Nordland Line going through the municipality from Trondheim to Bodø with stops at Hell Station, Trondheim Airport Station, Stjørdal Station, and Skatval Station. In addition, the Meråkerbanen railway line goes from Hell east to Åre Municipality in Sweden. Stations on that railway line include Hell Station, Hegra Station, Sona Station, and Flornes Station.

Twin cities