Asker Explained

Asker
Former:yes
Idnumber:0220
County:Akershus
Capital:Asker
Demonym:Askerbøring
Language:Bokmål
Coatofarms:Asker_komm.svg
Flag:none
Munwebpage:www.asker.kommune.no
Mayor:Lene Conradi
Mayor Party:H
Mayor As Of:2007
Area Rank:385
Area Total Km2:101
Area Land Km2:97
Area Water Percent:0.03
Population As Of:30 September 2019
Population Rank:11
Population Total:61906
Populationpercent:1.11
Population Density Km2:585
Population Increase:15.7
Coordinates:59.8353°N 10.435°W
Utm Zone:32V
Utm Northing:6633966
Utm Easting:0580439
Geo Cat:adm2nd

Asker (Norwegian: Asker), also called Asker proper (Askerbygda or gamle Asker in Norwegian), is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker (also known as Greater Asker[1]) together with the traditional Buskerud districts Røyken and Hurum; Asker constitutes the northern fourth and is part of the Greater Oslo Region. The administrative center was the town of Asker, which remains so for the new larger municipality. Asker was established as a parish in the Middle Ages and as a municipality on 1 January 1838.

History

Since the Middle Ages, the Asker parish consisted of the later municipalities Asker and Bærum. In the 19th century, Bærum became the Vestre Bærum and Østre Bærum parish and Asker and Bærum were also established as separate municipalities.

In 2020, Asker merged with Røyken and Hurum to form Asker Municipality, a larger administrative region than traditional/geographical Asker. The newly-formed Asker Municipality was made part of Viken County immediately following the 2020 merge. However, Viken dissolved on January 1, 2024, returning Asker (with the addition of Røyken and Hurum) to the county of Akershus.[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Asker farm since the first church was built here. The name (Old Norse: Askar) is the plural form of ask which means "ash tree".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 7 October 1975. The arms show a green background with three silver-colored tree trunks (Norwegian: askekaller) and are thus canting arms. The trees are ashes, which were cropped every year to provide food for the animals. The trees thus developed after many years a very typical shape, which was characteristic for the area.[3] [4]

Place of the Millennium

In 1998, just before the millennium, the 'Askerbøringer' (the inhabitants of Asker) elected the beautiful area of Semsvannet including the mountain ridge Skaugumsåsen – to be their Place of the Millennium.

Geography

Its main parts are Asker, Gullhella, Vollen, Vettre, Blakstad, Bleiker, Borgen, Drengsrud, Dikemark, Vardåsen, Engelsrud, Holmen, Høn, Hvalstad, Billingstad, Nesøya, Nesbru, and Heggedal. Asker is a coastal place with many beaches, but also contains hills and woods. The district is known for many important businesses. It is also known for gardening. The Skaugum estate, where Crown Prince Haakon of Norway lives with his family, is situated here. The first IKEA store outside of Sweden opened at Slependen in Asker in 1963. There are many hiking/ sightseeing spots around Asker; such as Semsvannet lake[5] and Drengsrud cultural path[6] around the area.

Municipality reform

As part of the municipality reform process instigated by Minister of Local Government Jan Tore Sanner the municipalities of Asker, Hurum, and Røyken evaluated if they should merge into a new common municipality during the first half of 2016. A tentative agreement was reached and on 16 June 2016 the Municipal Council of Røyken approved the merger with Asker and Hurum with 24 votes for and 3 against. On 14 June 2016 the Municipal Council of Asker also approved the merger with 42 votes for and 5 against.[7] A few days later the Municipal Council of Hurum followed suit and approved the merger. The proposed merger date was 1 January 2020 and the new name will be Asker.[8] Asker was merged with the municipalities of Røyken and Hurum as of 1 January 2020.

Minorities

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Asker by country of origin in 2017[9]
AncestryNumber
Poland1,870
Sweden846
Somalia562
India506
Pakistan486
Lithuania461
451
Denmark435
United Kingdom348
Philippines346
Germany343
Iraq307
Afghanistan287
267
Eritrea230

Culture

Although Asker is principally a rural municipality, the expansion of Oslo has resulted in its becoming an affluent suburb. Thus numerous celebrities now reside in the area. According to SSB (Statistics Norway), Asker ranks as the 2nd wealthiest municipality in Norway based on median household income.

Sports

Asker is also the home of the sports club IF Frisk Asker; the club won the Norwegian Hockey championship in 1975, 1979, 2002, and 2019. Asker Skiklubb is the largest sports club in Norway. It has a long history dating back to 1889. Many of Asker's famous people have been successful individuals associated with the sports club.

The city is the home of Asker svømmeklubb. Asker women's football club has been home to many international players including four who played in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China.

Politics

Asker is politically dominated by the conservatives, and the mayor is Lene Conradi who represents the Conservative Party of Norway (Høyre).

Church

Asker Church (Asker Kirke) is located not far from Skaugum in Asker. The neo-Gothic red brick church was built in 1879 based upon designs by architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church renovation in 1930 was led by the architects Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas. Architect Arnstein Arneberg was in charge of the renovation in the 1950s. The church was the sight of the wedding of Princess Ragnhild and Erling Lorentzen in 1953. The statue of Crown Princess Märtha in front of the church was designed by sculptor Dyre Vaa in 1957.[10]

Maud

See main article: Maud (ship). In 1916 (or 1917) the Arctic expedition ship Maud was built in nearby Vollen and launched into Oslofjord. The ship was designed and built especially for Roald Amundsen and sailed through the Northeast Passage between 1918 and 1924. Sold to the Hudson's Bay Company as the supply vessel Baymaud she sank at Cambridge Bay, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada in 1930. In 1990, the ship was sold by the Hudson's Bay Company to Asker town with the expectation that she would be returned there; however, the export permit expired due to the 230 million kroner cost to repair and move the ship.[11] [12] [13] In 2011 a new project was commenced to salvage Maud and transport her to a new museum to be built at Vollen.[14]

On 31 July 2016 it was reported that the hull of Maud had been raised to the surface and placed on a barge in preparation for shipment to Norway.[15] In August 2017 Maud began the journey back to Norway; she was towed through the Northwest Passage. In September 2017 she arrived in Greenland to stay for the winter.[16] [17] Maud arrived in Bergen on 6 August 2018, finally returning to Norway nearly a century after her departure with Amundsen. She was then towed along the Norwegian coast, and arrived at Vollen on 18 August.[18]

Media

Magazines

Notable residents

Royalty

Public service

Art

Sport

Twin towns

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway. Asker is twinned with:[25]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nå er alt klart for "Stor-Asker" – også Ap vil sammen med Røyken og Hurum. Morten Gisle. Johnsen. 25 May 2016. www.budstikka.no.
  2. .
  3. Web site: Norske Kommunevåpen. 1990. Nye kommunevåbener i Norden. 17 December 2008.
  4. Web site: Askers kommunevåpen. Asker kommune. 17 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090125012037/http://asker.kommune.no/Ditt-Asker/Askers-kommunevapen/. 25 January 2009. dead. no.
  5. Web site: Semsvannet lake – walk. akershus.com. 24 December 2017.
  6. Web site: Drengsrud cultural path – walk. akershus.com. 24 December 2017.
  7. Web site: Kommunestyret vedtok sammenslåing. Asker kommune. 14 June 2016. 16 June 2016. no. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160815201507/https://www.asker.kommune.no/politikk/kommunereformen/aktuelt-om-kommunereformen/kommunestyret-vedtok-sammenslaing/. 15 August 2016.
  8. Web site: Røyken sier ja til sammenslåing. Røyken kommune. 16 June 2016. 16 June 2016. no. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160821225327/https://www.royken.kommune.no/Aktuell-informasjon/Royken-sier-ja-til-sammenslaing/. 21 August 2016.
  9. Web site: Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population . ssb.no . 25 June 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150702101705/https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true . 2 July 2015 .
  10. Web site: Asker kirke. Kulturminnesøk. 1 March 2018.
  11. Web site: Underwater Treasure of Cambridge Bay. 17 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090108173521/http://explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa082799.htm. 8 January 2009 . live.
  12. News: Nunavut News/North Monday. 20 August 2007. Saving the Maud.
  13. Web site: Cambridge Bay at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070809214800/http://pwnhc.learnnet.nt.ca/research/archrep/central.htm. 9 August 2007.
  14. http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/16557_norway_wants_amundsens_maud_back_from_nunavut/ Norway wants Amundsen’s Maud back from Nunavut
  15. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/the-maud-recovered-july-30-2016-1.3702513 CBC News: The Maud floats again: Norwegians bring long-sunken ship to surface
  16. Web site: Ship that sank in Cambridge Bay 87 years ago finally on the journey home to Norway CBC News . 2017-08-30 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20221206125900/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/maud-journey-home-cambridge-bay-norway-1.4266797 . 2022-12-06 . live .
  17. Web site: Cambridge Bay prepares to bid adieu to the Maud as Norwegian mayor visits community CBC News . 2017-08-10 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20220107172033/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/maud-to-return-to-norway-1.4242183 . 2022-01-07 . live .
  18. Web site: Maud Returns to Norway . The Maritime Executive. 6 August 2018. 7 August 2018.
  19. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0635195/ IMDb Database
  20. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0854409/ IMDb Database
  21. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0616927/ IMDb Database
  22. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0351785/ IMDb Database
  23. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175758/ IMDb Database
  24. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4935995/ IMDb Database
  25. Web site: Asker kommune . 17 December 2008 . Vennskapskommuner . no . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090808045116/http://www.asker.kommune.no/Ditt-Asker/Vennskapskommuner/ . 8 August 2009 .
  26. Web site: Sister cities of Jakobstad . jakobstad.fi . 26 April 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140802052747/http://www.jakobstad.fi/index_en.html . 2 August 2014 .