Steinkjer () or is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Steinkjer which is located on the inner part of the Trondheimsfjord. The town is also the administrative centre for Trøndelag county. Other populated areas in Steinkjer include the villages of Bartnes, Beitstad, Binde, Byafossen, Follafoss, Følling, Gaulstad, Henning, Hyllbrua, Kvam, Lerkehaug, Malm, Mære, Sela, Skei, Sparbu, Stod, Sunnan, Vassaunet, Vellamelen, and Verrastranda.
The municipality is the 31st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Steinkjer Municipality is the 54th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 24,032. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 0.4% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
The village of Steinkjer in Stod Municipality was declared a ladested (town) in 1857, and then on 23 January 1858 it was separated from Stod Municipality to form a municipality of its own. The initial population of Steinkjer Municipality was 1,150.
Over time, as the town grew, land was annexed from the neighboring municipalities. It started on 1 January 1902 when an unpopulated area from the neighboring Ogndal Municipality was taken for future growth of Steinkjer. Then in 1941, an area (population: 57) was taken from Ogndal Municipality to be added to Steinkjer. Again, in 1948, an area (population: 78) was transferred from Ogndal Municipality and another area (population: 70) was transferred from Egge Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a large municipal merger took place involving six rural municipalities and the town of Steinkjer. The following places were merged to form a new, larger Steinkjer Municipality: the town of Steinkjer (population: 4,325) Sparbu Municipality (population: 4,027) Egge Municipality (population: 3,476) Ogndal Municipality (population: 2,678) Beitstad Municipality (population: 2,563) Stod Municipality (population: 1,268) Kvam Municipality (population: 1,245)
On 1 January 2018, Steinkjer Municipality was switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the newly-formed Trøndelag county.
On 1 January 2020, Steinkjer Municipality and most of the neighboring Verran Municipality were merged to form a new, larger Steinkjer Municipality.
Toponymy The municipality (originally the town) is named after the old Steinkjer farm () since the town was built on the site of the old farm. The first element is (m) which means "stone" or "rock". The last element is (n) which means a "barrier made for catching fish" or "container".
Coat of arms
The current coat of arms was approved in October 2018 for use starting on 1 January 2020 after the merger of Steinkjer and Verran municipalities (these arms were previously the arms for Verran from 1987 until 2019). The official blazon is "Azure, a boat with raised square sail and topsail argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a Veranjekt (boat) with a raised square sail and topsail. The boat has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen to symbolize the historical importance of boating and boatbuilding for the area. The (literally translated as "a yacht from Verran") is a type of boat has been built in Verran for centuries. The arms were designed by Rolf Tidemann. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
The previous coat of arms was originally granted on 8 March 1957 to the town of Steinkjer. Then on 14 March 1964, they were re-granted to the newly enlarged Steinkjer Municipality. They were in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was enlarged again and a new coat of arms was put into use. The official blazon was "Azure, a mullet of six argent" (). This means the arms had a blue field (background) and the charge was a six-pointed star. The star had a tincture of argent which meant it was commonly colored white, but if it was made out of metal, then silver was used. The original meaning of the star was that six main roads crossed in the town of Steinkjer. After the municipal reorganization in 1964, the arms were re-granted, but the meaning was slightly changed. The town of Steinkjer now formed the centre of the municipality and the points were directed to the six other districts (former municipalities) in the new, large Steinkjer Municipality. The six districts were Beitstad, Egge, Kvam, Ogndal, Sparbu, and Stod. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches The Church of Norway has nine parishes () within Steinkjer Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Innherad prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Churches in Steinkjer MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtBeitstadBeitstad ChurchBeitstad1869Bartnes ChurchBartnes1960EggeEgge ChurchEgge in Steinkjer1767FøllingFølling ChurchFølling1726HenningHenning ChurchHenning1872KvamKvam ChurchKvam1878MalmMalm ChurchMalm1885Sela ChurchSela1997MæreMære ChurchMærec. 1150OgndalSkei ChurchSkei1664Bodom ChurchOgndalen1905SteinkjerSteinkjer ChurchSteinkjer1965StodFor ChurchStod1846VerranFollafoss ChurchFollafoss1954
History
The Steinkjer area has been populated since the Stone Age, as shown by the Bølareinen rock carving, which depicts an almost life-sized reindeer and a bear. There are other rock carvings in the area as well, as in Bardal rock carvings, the oldest up to 6,000 years old.
Mære was a Norse religious place with sacrifices and seasonal gatherings () before Christianity came to Norway.
Steinkjer has survived two major disasters in modern history. The first was a town-wide fire in the year 1900, which burned down much of the southern parts of the town. The second disaster happened on 21 and 22 April 1940, when the town was struck by Luftwaffe bombers during the Norwegian campaign. Most of the town was destroyed, but no people died.
The attack destroyed a large part of the town of Steinkjer, and many priceless historical buildings, such as the old, cruciform Steinkjer Church were lost. The town was, however, quickly rebuilt after 1945 with much aid from the United States. Much of the architecture of modern Steinkjer originates from the 1950s and 1960s with architecture inspired by functionalism rather than the aestheticism of the earlier Art Nouveau style to be seen in such cities as Trondheim and Ålesund. A few historical buildings – for example, the railway station and the town's college – survived the bombing. These are buildings based on the neoclassical architectural style known as Jugendstil. Good examples are the aforementioned railway station (jernbanestasjonen) and the administration building of Nord-Trøndelag University College ().
Government Steinkjer 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 Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council () of Steinkjer Municipality is made up of 39 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 Steinkjer 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:
1858–1860: Johan Fredrik Jenssen 1861–1863: Sivert Malmo 1864–1867: Adolf Volqvartz Schrøder 1868–1874: Georg Christian Andersen 1875–1877: Nils Jacob Laache 1878–1879: Johan Wilhelm Klüver 1880–1881: Nicolay Martens 1882–1882: Claus Urbye 1883–1885: Nicolay Martens (V) 1886–1886: Johannes Rognaas (V) 1887–1890: Nicolay Martens (V/MV) 1891–1893: Mikael Andresen Elstad (V) 1894–1895: Eigil Steen (H) 1896–1897: Ole H. Grindberg (H) 1898–1901: Eigil Steen (H) 1902–1903: Andreas S. Oksvold (V) 1904–1904: Lars Solem (H) 1905–1905: Mikael Andresen Elstad (MV) 1906–1906: Tøger Hagemann (V) 1907–1907: Carl Julius Norstrøm 1908–1908: Lars Bach (V) 1909–1913: Asmund Schiefloe (V) 1914–1916: Amund Wendelbo (V) 1917–1917: Asmund Schiefloe (V) 1918–1918: Kristian Bragstad (H) 1919–1920: Amund Wendelbo (V) 1920–1921: Kristian Hegstad (V) 1921–1924: Rolf Hanssen (H) 1925–1927: Gustav R. Strugstad (V) 1928–1930: Adolf Ribsskog (V) 1931–1936: Andreas Strand (V) 1937–1939: Olav Hougen (V) 1939–1941: Arne Gausen (V) 1942–1945: Christian Bruseth (NS) 1945–1945: Arne Gausen (V) 1946–1951: Alf Sjursen (Ap) 1952–1963: Åmunn Solberg (Ap) 1964–1967: Karl Dahl (Ap) 1968–1973: Knut Aas (Sp) 1974–1981: Bård Rannem (Sp) 1982–1989: Erik Bartnes (Sp) 1990–1991: Erling Aune (Ap) 1992–1999: Kristian Wibe (Sp)|date=2023-09-12 1999–2007: Per Sverre Rannem (Ap) 2007–2019: Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) 2019–2023: Anne Berit Lein (Sp) 2023–present: Gunnar Thorsen (Ap)
Geography Steinkjer Municipality is located at the head of Beitstadfjorden, the northern branch of the Trondheimsfjord system. To the west, the municipality borders Åfjord Municipality and to the northwest, it borders Namsos Municipality. Overhalla Municipality lies to the north. Snåsa Municipality lies to the northeast. The easternmost point in Steinkjer Municipality lies just from the border with Sweden. Verdal Municipality is located to the southeast. Indre Fosen Municipality and Inderøy Municipality both lie to the south of Steinkjer Municipality.
Situated inland from the coast, Steinkjer is actually still connected to the Atlantic ocean through the narrow strait of Skarnsundet, some south of Steinkjer. The longest cable-stayed bridge in Norway, Skarnsund Bridge, crosses the Skarnsund (total length of ). Large ships pass through Skarnsundet and this allows tourists to visit this town by ship. Each year ferries from Hurtigruten make trips to the cruise port of Steinkjer, more than of travel through the fjord system. The landscape is dotted with wavy hills and dense spruce forests, as well as agricultural fields in the lowland areas. There are many lakes in this region including: Gilten, Fossemvatnet, Leksdalsvatnet, Mokkavatnet, Snåsavatnet, and the group of lakes called Bangsjøene. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Brannheiklumpen.
Natural resources Steinkjer is one of Norway's larger urban municipalities measured by total area. Approximately half the population lives near the town center, while the rest live in rural areas. However, much of the town is today in the process of urbanization, with the building of several apartment blocks in or within the immediate vicinity of the town. Currently, about 500 apartments are being finished.