Lillehammer

Lillehammer Municipality is further subdivided into the following populated places (i.e.: neighborhoods, quarters, villages, localities, settlements, communities, hamlets, etc.):

• Søre Ål
• Nordre Ål
• Lillehammer Centre
  • Nybu
• Vårsetergrenda
  • Røyslimoen
• Vingnes
• Jørstadmoen
  • Fåberg
• Rudsbygd
• Saksumdal
• Vingrom
• Nordseter
• Busmoen

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old Hamar (Norse Hamarr) farm, since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word hamarr (rocky hill). To distinguish it from the nearby town and bishopric, both called Hamar, it began to be called "little Hamar": Lilþlæ Hamar and Litlihamarr, and finally Lillehammer. It is also mentioned in the Old Norse sagas as Litlikaupangr ("Little Trading Place").[4][5]

The coat-of-arms was granted in 1898 and shows a birkebeiner, carrying a spear and a shield, who is skiing down a mountainside. It symbolizes the historical importance of when the Birkebeiners carried the to-be-King Haakon from Lillehammer to Rena on skis.[6]

A church in Lillehammer

The area has been settled since the Norwegian Iron Age. It is also mentioned as a site for Thing assembly in 1390.

Lillehammer had a lively market by the 1800s and obtained rights as a market town on 7 August 1827. There were 50 registered residents within its boundaries then.

The town of Lillehammer was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838.

The rural municipality of Fåberg was merged into the municipality of Lillehammer on 1 January 1964.

In 1973, Mossad killed a Moroccan waiter, having mistaken him for Palestinian terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh, which became known as the Lillehammer affair.

Lillehammer is known as a typical venue for winter sporting events; it was host city of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, and was part of a joint bid with applicant host city Oslo to host events part of the 2022 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 UNESCO City of Literature.

A number of schools are located in Lillehammer including the Hammartun Primary and Lower Secondary School, Søre Ål Primary School and Kringsjå Primary and Lower Secondary School. Lillehammer Public High School consists of two branches, North and South, both situated near the city center. The private High school Norwegian College of Elite Sports, NTG, also has a branch in Lillehammer. The Lillehammer campus of Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences is situated just north of the town itself.

Lillehammer is also the home of the Nansen 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 of humanism and aims at strengthening the knowledge of these principles.

The 14th World Scout Jamboree was held from 29 July to 7 August 1975 and was hosted by Norway at Lillehammer.

Lillehammer is situated in the lower part of Gudbrandsdal, at the northern head of lake Mjøsa, and is located to the south of the municipality of Øyer, to the southeast of Gausdal, northeast of Nordre Land, and to the north of Gjøvik, all in Oppland county. To the southeast, it is bordered by Ringsaker municipality in Hedmark county. To the northwest is the mountain Spåtind.

Lillehammer is situated in an inland valley with reliable snow cover in winter

The basis for the city's commerce is its position as the northernmost point of the lake Mjøsa and as the gateway for the Gudbrandsdal region, through which the historical highway to Trondheim passes. The Mesna river has provided the basis for several small industries through the years, but Lillehammer is now all but industry-less.

One of the major Norwegian rail lines, the Dovre Line, runs from Hamar to the north through Lillehammer on its way up the Gudbrandsdal, to terminate in Trondheim.

European route E6 passes through Lillehammer.

Storgata shopping area

In addition to the Olympic site, Lillehammer offers a number of other tourist attractions:

• Maihaugen, centrally located in Lillehammer, is the largest open-air museum in Norway, with 185 buildings, mostly from Lillehammer and the valley of Gudbrandsdalen.
• Garmo Stave Church (built around 1150)
• The Norwegian 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 Wintergames. The museum also houses the Norwegian Sports Hall of Fame and a special section about the Lillehammer `94 Olympic Wintergames. The Museum is located in the indoor museum at Maihaugen.
• Lillehammer Art Museum
• Hafjell (Ski resort 15 km (9 mi) from Lillehammer, host of slalom and super-G in the Olympic games 1994)
• Kvitfjell (Ski resort 55 km (34 mi) from Lillehammer, host of downhill in the Olympic games 1994)
• The PS Skibladner is the world's oldest paddle steamer in scheduled service, launched in 1856. Summer sailings around lake Mjøsa: Lillehammer, Moelv, Gjøvik, Hamar, and Eidsvoll.
• The ski jump at Lysgårdsbakkene.
• Sjusjøen is a skiing destination with forest and mountain terrain only 20 kilometres (12 miles) away (east) from the centre of Lillehammer in the municipality of Ringsaker.
• The Sambandets Utdanning og Kompetansesenter is an army unit located in the camp Jørstadmoen 3–4 km (2–2 miles) northwest of Lillehammer.
• The rock carvings at Drotten, Fåberg, west of Gudbrandsdalslågen about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) above Brunlaug bridge.
• The sculpture Mothership with Standing Matter by Antony Gormley in a pavilion by Snøhetta architects close to Lillehammer Station.

The official tourist information for the Lillehammer-region provides more information about activities and attractions in the region

• Atle Antonsen, a Norwegian comic and actor, was born in Lillehammer.[9]
• Sigrid Undset lived in Lillehammer at her home "Bjerkebæk" from 1919 through 1940. She brought her children with her for a short rest, planning on returning to Oslo but chose to remain in Lillehammer. She wrote her most famous works there: the three-volume Kristin Lavransdatter, the six-volume Sverkholt tales, and the four-volume Olav Audunssønn. In 1940, because she had expressed strong anti-Nazi sentiments since the early 1930s, she fled Lillehammer before the invading German army reached the town. She returned to Lillehammer after the war and died there in 1949. She is buried at the cemetery in Mesnali, a nearby village.[10]
• Ingrid Olava, a Norwegian singer and musician was born and grew up in Lillehammer.
• Margit Haslund (1885–1963), mayor of Lillehammer

• The Norwegian-American Netflix Original series Lilyhammer takes place in Lillehammer. The show stars Steven Van Zandt, who plays Frank "the Fixer" Tagliano, a New York mobster who moves to Lillehammer through the U.S. Witness Protection Program after being inspired by the 1994 Winter Olympics to relocate to Norway.
• Toki Wartooth, the fictional guitarist from the Adult Swim TV show Metalocalypse, was born and raised here.

• European Youth Parliament
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• St. Mary Church, Lillehammer

Look up lillehammer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lillehammer.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lillehammer.

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Lillehammer Tourist Office
• Gudbrandsdalen Region
• Hafjell ski resort 20 km (12 mi) north from Lillehammer
• Kvitfjell ski resort 55 km (34 mi) north from Lillehammer
• Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Lillehammer Icehockey Club (in Norwegian)
• Olympic Park in Lillehammer
• Pictures from the Olympic games in 1994¨
• Norwegian Olympic Museum