Holmestrand is a municipality in Vestfold, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. Some of the notable villages in Holmestrand include Eidsfoss, Eikeberg, Gullhaug, Hof, Klever, Sande, Selvik, and Sundbyfoss.

The 432-square-kilometre (167 sq mi) municipality is the 228th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Holmestrand is the 45th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 26,872. The municipality's population density is 62.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (161/sq mi) and its population has increased by 19% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The kjøpstad of Holmestrand was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1942, an area of neighboring Botne Municipality (population: 148) was transferred into the growing town of Holmestrand. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring Botne Municipality (population: 4,656) was merged into Holmestrand Municipality (population: 1,956). Prior to 1964, the Holmestrand Municipality consisted of only the 0.63 square kilometres (0.24 sq mi) town of Holmestrand, and after the merger, the municipality was 84.25 square kilometres (32.53 sq mi) with a population of 6,612 residents.

On 1 January 2018, the neighboring Hof Municipality (population: 3,176) was merged into Holmestrand Municipality. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring Sande Municipality (population: 9,904) was merged into Holmestrand Municipality. On the same date, the 690-decare (0.69 km; 170-acre) coastal and island areas of Re Municipality were transferred to Holmestrand when that municipality was dissolved and merged into Tønsberg Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the town) is named Holmestrand (Old Norse: Holmastrand). The first element is the genitive case of the word holmi which means "rocky islet". The last element is strand which means "shore" or "beach". This is likely referring to three small islets that were located just offshore where the town is now located. The islets are no longer visible due to infilled land reclamation efforts.

Coat of arms

The first coat of arms for Holmestrand was granted on 14 November 1898 and in use until 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Gules, an eagle displayed argent holding in dexter an anchor Or and in sinister a rod of Aesculapius also Or and in an inescutcheon azure a frigate argent" (Norwegian: På rød bunn en sølv, flakt ørn som i høyre klo holder et gull anker og i venstre en gull æskulapstav. I blått hjerteskjold en sølv fregatt.). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is an eagle. The eagle 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 eagle in the arms is derived from the arms of the merchant Johan Heinrich Tordenskiold, who, in 1819, donated all his fortune to built a school in Holmestrand. The shield on the eagle shows his frigate Hvide Ørn ("White Eagle"), pictured in silver on a field of blue. The right claw of the eagle holds a golden anchor which symbolises that Holmestrand is a centuries-old maritime town. The eagle holds in its left claw a golden rod of Asclepius, symbolizing the Greek god of medicine. The snake rod represents the town's health spa, which was established in 1840 and in use for over 100 years. The arms had a golden mural crown above it, symbolizing its status as a town. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch. A municipal flag with the same design as the coat of arms was approved in 1981.

The present coat of arms was approved for use starting on 1 January 2020, after a large municipal merger took place, greatly increasing the size of Holmestrand. The new arms were developed as part of a local competition which had 588 entries. From them, ten finalists were selected before the municipal council chose the winning design. The official blazon is "Per fess wavy offset to base azure and argent, an oak leaf argent and three wavy lines azure" (Norwegian: I blått over en sølv skjoldfot avdelt med et enkelt bølgesnitt, et sølv opprett eikeblad uten bladstamme. I skjoldfoten, tre enkle, svevende blå bølger 1-1-1.). This means the arms are divided with a wavy horizontal line towards in the bottom of the arms. The field (background) above the line has a tincture of azure (blue). Below the line, the field has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. On the top portion of the arms, there a large white or silver oak leaf standing vertically and below the line, there is a set of three blue wavy lines symbolizing an ocean wave. The oak leaf symbolizes the oak forests in the municipality. It also symbolizes the fjord cutting into the municipality. The waves below symbolize the maritime heritage of the coastal municipality. The area was historically known for its timber trade which ties forests and the ocean together.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Holmestrand. It is part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Churches in Holmestrand

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Botne	Botne Church	Botne	c. 1200
	Hillestad Church	Hillestad	1724
	Holmestrand Church	Holmestrand	1675
Hof, Vassås og Eidsfoss	Eidsfoss Church	Eidsfoss	1904
	Hof Church	Hof	c. 1150
	Vassås Church	Vassås	c. 1200
Sande	Sande Church	Sande i Vestfold	c. 1093

Geography

Holmestrand Municipality is located in the northernmost part of Vestfold county. Øvre Eiker Municipality (in Buskerud county) lies to the northwest, Drammen Municipality (also in Buskerud county) lies to the north and east, Horten Municipality and Tønsberg Municipality lie to the south, and Kongsberg Municipality (in Buskerud county) and Larvik Municipality lie to the west. The Ytre Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden are both located on the east side of the municipality. The islands of Langøya and Bjerkøya are located in the ocean on the east side of the municipality as well. The large lake Eikeren is partially located in northwestern Holmestrand. There are several mountains located in northwestern Holmestrand, including Buaren, Grøntjernkollen, Lauvkollen, Skibergfjellet, and Vestfjellet (the highest point in all of Vestfold county).

Government

Holmestrand Municipality 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 Vestfold District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Holmestrand is made up of 35 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 mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Holmestrand:

Transportation

The European route E18 highway passes through Vestfold county, following the coastline south from Oslo towards Southern Norway. The highway runs north-south through the municipality passing through Sande i Vestfold and then passing a short distance to the west of the town of Holmestrand. The Vestfoldbanen railway line follows a similar path through Vestfold county as well. It runs through the centre of the town of Holmestrand, stopping at Holmestrand Station.

The Skjeggestad Bridge and the Hanekleiv Tunnel are both part of the E18 highway in Holmestrand.

Notable people

• Hans Hein Nysom (1767–1831), a priest and politician
• Gullik Madsen Røed (1786 in Holmestrand–1857), a soldier and farmer who was a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly
• Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen (1826 in Holmestrand – 1892), an engineer and industrialist
• Morten Müller (1828 at Christianiafjord – 1911), a Norwegian landscape painter
• Jacob Thurmann Ihlen (1833 in Holmestrand – 1903), a barrister and politician
• Harriet Backer (1845 in Holmestrand – 1932), a painter of detailed interior scenes
• Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847 in Holmestrand – 1907), a Norwegian pianist, music teacher, and composer
• Nils Kjær (1870 in Holmestrand – 1924), a playwright, short story writer, and theatre critic
• Signe Heide Steen (1881 in Holmestrand – 1959), a Norwegian actress
• Øivind Lorentzen (1882 in Holmestrand – 1980), a Norwegian shipping magnate
• Ragnhild Sundby (1922 in Hof – 2006), a zoologist who specialized in entomology
• Odd Børretzen (1926–2012), an author, illustrator, folk singer, and artist who lived in Holmestrand
• brothers Ulf Lövaas (born 1947) & Dag Lovaas (born 1953), a former motorcycle speedway riders
• Johannes Eick (born 1964 in Eidsfoss), a double bass and electric bass guitar player
• Christine Sagen Helgø (born 1968 in Holmestrand), the mayor of Stavanger from 2011 to 2019
• Runhild Gammelsæter (born 1976 in Holmestrand), a singer and biologist

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Holmestrand has sister city agreements with the following places:

• Arsuk, Sermersooq, Greenland
• Åland, Finland
• Eiði, Eysturoy, Faroe Islands
• Herning, Region Midtjylland, Denmark
• Husby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
• Kangasala, Western Finland, Finland
• Siglufjörður, Eyjafjörður, Iceland
• Vänersborg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden