Steinkjer

Steinkjer town hall

The village of Steinkjer in the municipality of Stod was declared a kjøpstad (town) in 1857, and then on 23 January 1858 it was separated from Stod to form a municipality of its own. The initial population of Steinkjer 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 to be added to Steinkjer. Again, in 1948, an area (population: 78) was transferred from Ogndal 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 merger took place: the neighboring municipalities of Beitstad (population: 2,563), Egge (population: 3,476), Kvam (population: 1,245), Ogndal (population: 2,678), Sparbu (population: 4,027), and Stod (population: 1,268) were all merged with the town of Steinkjer (population: 4,325) to form the new municipality of Steinkjer.[5]

On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Nord-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Steinkjer and the neighboring municipality of Verran merged to form a new, larger municipality of Steinkjer.[6]

Churches

The Church of Norway has nine parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Steinkjer. It is part of the Nord-Innherad prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

The medieval Mære church

Churches in Steinkjer

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location	Year built
Beitstad	Beitstad Church	Beitstad	1869
	Bartnes Church	Bartnes	1960
Egge	Egge Church	Egge in Steinkjer	1767
Følling	Følling Church	Følling	1726
Henning	Henning Church	Vekre	1872
Kvam	Kvam Church	Kvam	1878
Malm	Malm Church	Malm	1885
	Sela Church	Sela	1997
Mære	Mære Church	Mære	c. 1150
Ogndal	Skei Church	Ogndal	1664
	Bodom Church	Bodom	1905
Steinkjer	Steinkjer Church	Steinkjer	1965
Stod	For Church	Stod	1846
Verran	Follafoss Church	Follafoss	1954

Bronze Age rock carvings, Bardal in Steinkjer; see also Nordic Bronze Age.

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, the oldest up to 6,000 years old.

The Steinkjer area was one of the strongest powerbases in early Viking Age. Mære was one of the best known Norse religious places with sacrifices and seasonal gatherings (Norwegian: Hov) before Christianity came to Norway.

Steinkjer in 1880

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 lives were lost.[11]

The attack destroyed a large part 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 (Norwegian: Høgskolen i Nord-Trøndelag).

All municipalities in Norway, including Steinkjer, 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.[12] The municipality falls under the Inntrøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Steinkjer is located at the head of Beitstadfjorden, the northern branch of the Trondheimsfjord system. To the west, the municipality borders Åfjord and Namsos. To the east is Sweden, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Steinkjer. To the north are the Snåsa and Overhalla municipalities, and to the south are the Indre Fosen, Inderøy and Verdal municipalities.

Bølareinen rock carving from the Stone Age

Situated 60 kilometres (37 mi) inland from the coast, Steinkjer is actually still connected to the Atlantic ocean through the narrow strait of Skarnsundet, some 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Steinkjer. The longest cable-stayed bridge in Norway, Skarnsund Bridge, crosses the Skarnsund (total length of 1,010 metres or 3,310 feet). 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 130 kilometres (81 mi) 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 municipality covers large areas outside the town itself, much of it farmland or productive forest. View towards the Beitstadfjorden.

Steinkjer lies about 120 kilometres (75 mi) by road north of the city of Trondheim along the European route E6 highway. The Sneppen Bridge is part of the E6 in the town of Steinkjer, crossing the river Byaelva. Norwegian County Road 17 begins in Steinkjer and heads north. This highway is often referred to as the Coastal highway, whereas the E6 runs to the north, but further inland.

Steinkjer is the home of the oldest network arch bridge in the world opened to traffic 1964. The bridge is 94 m long and takes the Nedre Mølleveg over the Steinkjerelva.[36]

The municipality is situated along the Nordland Line from Trondheim, and is served by Steinkjer Station and Sparbu Station.

Steinkjer also has a rich culture and hosts one of the most prominent music cultures in central Norway. Steinkjer is also labeled "Steinkjer Punkrock town" by some of its citizens. The music festival Steinkjerfestivalen was established in 2006.[37] Steinkjermartnan, held each year in August, is a happening where trading booths are staged in the town centre's streets and a traditional trade festival with concerts are held.

Steinkjer has the standard cultural facilities like a cinema, town library, culture house (in which many cultural events and concerts are held), and a modern swimming pool called Dampsaga Bad. The swimming pool has a 25-metre (82 ft) long training pool plus heating pools, sauna, two learning pools for kids, and a large swim tube.

• Anders Bardal (born 1982), ski jumper
• Ida Jenshus (born 1987), musician
• Ivar Asbjørn Følling (1888–1973), first scientific description of Phenylketonuria (Følling's disease)
• Jakob Weidemann (1923–2001), artist
• Kristofer Uppdal (1878–1961), poet, writer
• Silje Nergaard (born 1966), musician

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steinkjer.

• Trøndelag travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Dampsaga Culture House - houses public library, concert hall and cinema of Steinkjer (in Norwegian)
• Steinkjer2007.no (in Norwegian)
• Steinkjer.net - recent news about commerce and business in Steinkjer (in Norwegian)
• Webcameras showing Steinkjer (in Norwegian)
• Steinkjerx.net - A database with articles and pictures about Steinkjer