Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal (or historically Vinger). The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Austmarka, Brandval, Lundersæter, and Roverud.
The municipality is the 111th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Kongsvinger Municipality is the 73rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 18,109. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 1.3% over the previous 10-year period. Kongsvinger's eastern municipal boundary is the Norway–Sweden border.
General information In 1854, the King designated the market town of Kongsvinger as a kjøpstad, which gave it special rights. The designation included a small patch of land on both sides of the river Glomma with an area of approximately . Because of this designation, on 7 February 1855, the town was separated from Vinger Municipality to form the new Kongsvinger Municipality which was coterminous with the town. Initially, the town had 472 residents and this left Vinger Municipality with 10,947 residents. On 1 January 1876, the town was enlarged when an area of Vinger Municipality (population: 209) was transferred into Kongsvinger.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Kongsvinger Municipality: the town of Kongsvinger (population: 2,345) Vinger Municipality (population: 6,257) Brandval Municipality (population: 4,384)
At that time, Norwegian municipalities were classified as urban municipality (), sometimes called towns or cities, and rural municipalities. After the merger, Kongsvinger Municipality lost its status as an urban municipality due to merging with rural municipalities. One year later, on 1 January 1965, the government redesignated Kongsvinger as an urban municipality (the government later changed the law and removed the distinction of urban and rural municipalities.
On 1 January 1974, the unpopulated Lystad area was transferred from Grue Municipality to Kongsvinger Municipality. On 1 January 1986, the northern part of the Åbogen area (population: 14) was transferred from Kongsvinger Municipality to the neighboring Eidskog Municipality.
Historically, the municipality was part of the old Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).
Name The whole region where Kongsvinger is located was historically called Vinger (). This name could be related to the river Glomma which flows through the region. One could compare this to the English word swing (for the missing s see Indo-European s-mobile). The river Glomma passes through the center of the district where the south-flowing river takes a sharp northwestward turn. This can be compared to the similar Lithuanian word vìngis which means "bend", "bow", or "turn". This old name used to represent this whole area. The first element of the name is the possessive form of (meaning "the King's") was added after the Kongsvinger Fortress was built in 1690. It was first applied only to the fortress (written as in old documents). Then, it was later given to the town that grew up around the fortress.
Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 25 June 1926. The design is a stylized representation of Kongsvinger Fortress towering high above the river Glomma. The river is rendered as a wavy bar in the bottom half of the design. The river and fortress have a tincture of argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if the arms are made out of metal, then silver is used. The lower part of the arms represent the land and the mountain on which the fortress sits. This area has a background in black to represent the local conifer forest. The curved upper part of the background is colored red to symbolize the sky. The color is taken from the Norwegian flag to mark the national historical importance of the fortress. A mural crown is often shown above the escutcheon to indicate that the town of Kongsvinger is located in the municipality. The arms were designed by J. W. Oftedal.
Churches The Church of Norway has three parishes () within Kongsvinger Municipality. It is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.
+ Churches in KongsvingerParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtAustmarkaAustmarka ChurchAustmarka1858BrandvalBrandval ChurchBrandval1651Lundersæter ChurchLundersæter1868Roverud ChurchRoverud1969VingerVinger ChurchKongsvinger1699
History The area was historically a part of the prestegjeld of Vinger. The village that later became Kongsvinger already existed as a trading center by the Middle Ages, due to the accessibility by natural waterways. Viking chieftains reached Sweden by boat from Kongsvinger. Kongsvinger Fortress was founded in 1669, and a star-shaped plan was laid out for the fortress. Work began in 1682 and it was finished in 1690 as part of a general upgrade to Norwegian fortresses. The building of the fortress formed the foundations for what was to become the town of Kongsvinger. The fortress was built as a defensive structure against the Swedes, and on numerous occasions there have been military engagements in the area around the fortress, but Kongsvinger fortress has never been taken in military combat. Below Kongsvinger fortress lies Øvrebyen, which literally translated means "upper town". This is the oldest part of the town of Kongsvinger, and one can still find a number of the original houses built after the establishment of the fortress. Kongsvinger Museum is located here, together with a museum of female emancipation in a building called "Rolighed", the home of Dagny Juel, the famous author once portrayed by Edvard Munch.
The rural, eastern parts of Kongsvinger and its neighboring municipalities to the north and south were populated at the end of the 17th century by Finnish emigrants who came across the Swedish border. The area is called Finnskogen which means "The Finnish forest".
Kongsvinger played an important part in the Norwegian resistance force against the Nazis being a gateway to Sweden. Norway's highest decorated citizen, Gunnar Sønsteby frequently passed through Kongsvinger in his work to sabotage the Nazis' installations in Norway. Some of the busiest escape routes for refugees also went through Kongsvinger to Sweden.
From 1983 to 1999, and again in 2010, Kongsvinger's association football team KIL Toppfotball held a position in the Norwegian Premier League. It made some notable merits participating in the UEFA Cup and winning a silver medal during the 1992 season.
Government Kongsvinger Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Romerike og Glåmdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council of Kongsvinger Municipality is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors The mayor () of Kongsvinger 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:
1855–1856: Jacob N. Hygen 1857–1859: S. Christian Strøm 1859–1859: Sigvald Rynning 1860–1860: Christian Kruse 1861–1877: Hans Hansen 1877–1880: C.F. Heidenreich 1881–1884: A. Knagenhjelm Blix 1885–1888: Lorentzo Rynning 1889–1898: Carl Henriksen 1899–1907: O.A. Herud 1908–1910: Otto Aamodt 1911–1913: O.A. Herud 1914–1914: Kristian Walby 1915–1919: Axel Engebretsen 1920–1920: Sigvald Olsen 1921–1922: Eiler Baanerud 1923–1925: Jacob Forseth 1926–1928: Thomas Johnsen 1929–1931: Eiler Baanerud 1932–1932: Christian Voss 1933–1933: H. Wallerud 1934–1934: Christian Voss 1935–1940: Eiler Baanerud 1940–1941: R. Talhaug (NS) 1942–1943: Erling Huseby (NS) 1944–1945: Johan Nitteberg (NS) 1945–1945: Eiler Baanerud 1946–1964: Aasmund Grimstad 1964–1975: Norvald Strand (Ap) 1975–1984: Odd Finsrud (Ap) 1984–1993: Terje Pedersen (Ap) 1994–1995: Jan K. Kristiansen (SV) 1995–1995: Johanne Wetterhus (H) 1995–1999: Trond Hansen (Ap) 1999–2011: Arve Bones (Ap) 2011–2015: Øystein Østgaard (H) 2015–2019: Sjur Strand (Ap) 2019–2021: Margrethe Haarr (Sp) 2021–2023: Eli Wathne (H) 2023–present: Elin Såheim Bjørkli (Ap)
Geography Kongsvinger Municipality is situated on both sides of the river Glomma, where the south-flowing river takes a sharp northwestward turn. The Kongsvinger Fortress is the main landmark, situated on a hill west and north of the river. Kongsvinger is a regional center of the Glåmdal region, which is made up of the southern parts of Innlandet county. Kongsvinger Municipality is about from Oslo and from Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.
Kongsvinger Municipality is bordered to the south and southwest by Eidskog Municipality, to the west by Sør-Odal Municipality, to the north by Grue Municipality, to the east by Torsby Municipality (Sweden), and to the southeast by Eda Municipality and Arvika Municipality (both in Sweden). The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Rafjellet.
The Holtbergmasta, a tall guyed mast for FM-/TV-broadcasting on Holtberget () was built in 1967.
Transportation + Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Kongsvinger by country of origin in 2017AncestryNumber 198 186 186 147 142 123 94 80 71 65 Travel to and from Kongsvinger: Several daily train services to Oslo Twice daily train services to Stockholm, Sweden Five daily train services to Karlstad, Sweden Several daily bus services to Elverum and Hamar in Norway and also to Charlottenberg, Sweden Suburban bus services running throughout the town of Kongsvinger Four lane highway between Kongsvinger and Oslo is under construction.
Air travel is served by Gardermoen Airport.
Distances The following are road distances to Kongsvinger from various locations: Starting locationDistance to KongsvingerOsloOslo Airport, GardermoenHamarElverumTrondheimBergenTromsøCharlottenberg (Sweden)Arvika (Sweden)Karlstad (Sweden)Stockholm (Sweden)Copenhagen (Denmark)
Economy There are 1,530 businesses including forestry and farming, and 245 of these are retail outlets. There are of mall situated in the downtown area. As well as downtown shopping streets, there are also glass domed pedestrian shopping streets. The governmental regional Kongsvinger Hospital is also situated in Kongsvinger.
Major businesses
InfoCare Computer service and logistics Eidsiva Energi customer service unit (energy) Ibas (IT) Thales (IT) Metso Minerals (conveyor belts) Schütz Nordic (plastic) Statistics Norway Telenor customer service unit (telecommunications) TI Automotive (fuel systems)
Education In the town of Kongsvinger:Elsewhere in the municipality: Politihøgskolen (Norwegian Police University College) Høgskolesenteret i Kongsvinger (University College) Øvrebyen VGS (high school) Sentrum VGS (high school) Norges Toppidrettsgymnas (middle school and high school) Kongsvinger ungdomsskole (middle school) Vennersberg barneskole (primary school) Marikollen barneskole (primary school) Langeland barneskole (primary school) Austmarka barne- og ungdomsskole (primary and middle school) Roverud barneskole (primary school) Brandval skole (primary school) Finnskogen Montessoriskole
Notable people Public service & public thinking