Ålesund Municipality

In 1793, the port of Aalesund was granted limited ladested rights. Later, in 1824, it was granted full ladested rights. In 1835, Ålesund had 482 inhabitants. On 1 January 1838, the new formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect, granting limited local self-government to all parishes in Norway. Therefore, on that date, the small ladested of Aalesund became a small municipality with its own council. The small seaport-municipality was entirely surrounded by the large rural Borgund Municipality. In 1848, the small municipality was upgraded to the status of a , a more important market town. On 1 January 1875, part of Borgund Municipality (population: 902) was transferred into the Ålesund. In 1922, another part of Borgund Municipality (population: 1,148) was transferred into the growing Ålesund Municipality. On 1 January 2024, the northern part of the municipality that used to be part of the old Haram Municipality before 2020 was separated from Ålesund to become a separate Haram Municipality once again. Toponymy A part of the town was originally known as Kaupangen Borgund. The Old Norse word means "marketplace" or "town", thus the market town for Borgund. The Old Norse form of the current name was Álasund. The first element of that (probably) is the plural genitive case of which means "eel". The last element is which means "strait" or "sound". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aalesund with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Ålesund, using the letter Å instead. ==Coat of arms==

The coat of arms was granted on 1 April 1898. The arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a fishing boat on the water with three cod fish beneath the boat. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. A mural crown is depicted above the escutcheon. The arms symbolize the importance of fishing for Ålesund. The type of ship was typical for the fishing vessels in the 18th and 19th century and is taken from a drawing made in 1762. The waves and three fish were added to the drawing in the arms. The arms were designed by Andreas Bloch. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms. The arms are shown in the Kaffe Hag album with the boat sailing right instead of sailing left. ==Churches==

The Church of Norway has eight parishes () within Ålesund Municipality. It is part of the Nordre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The seat of the deanery is at Ålesund Church. ==Geography==

The municipality of Ålesund occupies seven of the large outer islands in the county of Møre og Romsdal: Hessa, Aspøya, Nørve, Uksenøya, Ellingsøya, Humla, and Tørla plus a large area on the mainland along the north side of the Storfjorden. The municipality also includes a small island exclave to the north of Haram Municipality. The exclave includes the islands of Harøya, Finnøya, Sandøya, and Ona. The town centre, Ålesund, is located on the islands Aspøya and Nørve, while Hessa and Uksenøya contain residential areas. There are also many other smaller surrounding islands. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Lauparen, a tripoint on the border with Ålesund Municipality, Vestnes Municipality, and Fjord Municipality. ==Climate==

Ona is a lighthouse on an island out in the sea, so will have milder winters and colder summers than Ålesund city. ==Government==

Ålesund 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 Sunnmøre District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal. Municipal council The municipal council () of Ålesund Municipality is made up of 47 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party. {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table {{Kommunestyre table Mayors The mayor () of Ålesund 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: • 1838–1839: Peder Tonning • 1840–1840: Peder Jalles Øwre • 1841–1842: Niels Albert Vogt Tonning • 1843–1843: Lauritz Peder Tostrup • 1844–1844: Niels Albert Vogt Tonning • 1845–1845: Hans Lund Schjølberg • 1846–1848: Andreas Mathias Sanne • 1849–1852: Anton Magnus Søeberg • 1853–1853: Andreas Mathias Sanne • 1854–1855: Christian August Bendixen • 1856–1856: Andreas Mathias Sanne • 1857–1857: Christian August Bendixen • 1858–1860: Joakim Anderssen • 1861–1863: Andreas Mathias Sanne • 1864–1864: Johannes Aarflot • 1865–1867: Jens Thuesen • 1868–1870: Andreas Mathias Sanne • 1871–1871: Leonhard Elisar Holmboe • 1872–1875: Christian Henrichsen • 1876–1881: Johannes Aarflot (H) • 1882–1882: Joakim Andersen • 1883–1891: Johannes Aarflot (H) • 1892–1895: Ivar Waldemar Brøgger (H) • 1896–1896: Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg (H) • 1897–1898: Anton Johan Rønneberg (V) • 1899–1901: Ivar Waldermar Brøgger (H) • 1902–1904: Henrik Frisak (V) • 1905–1907: Johannes Aarflot Jr. (H) • 1908–1909: Henrik Frisak (V) • 1910–1910: Jørgen Anton Johnsen Øwre (H) • 1911–1912: Kristian Friis Petersen (V) • 1913–1913: Kristian Fredrik Brøgger • 1914–1915: Anders N. Aarsæther • 1916–1916: Peter Elias Karolius Sæter (V) • 1917–1918: Tore Toresen Berset (V) • 1919–1919: Peter Elias Karolius Sæter (V) • 1920–1921: Anton Ludvig Alvestad (Ap) • 1922–1922: Tore Toresen Berset (V) • 1923–1925: Elias Røsvik (Ap) • 1926–1927: Tore Toresen Berset (V) • 1928–1928: Kristoffer Bernhard Hagen (V) • 1929–1930: Jacob Rørstad (V) • 1931–1931: Rasmus Theodor Berg (V) • 1932–1933: Kristoffer Bernhard Hagen (V) • 1934–1934: Harald Kristian Thoresen (Ap) • 1935–1935: Jon Petrus Hovde (V) • 1936–1936: Kristoffer Bernhard Hagen (V) • 1937–1937: Jon Petrus Hovde (V) • 1938–1940: Rasmus Theodor Berg (V) • 1940–1941: Nicolai Helseth (NS) • 1941–1945: Gustav Sveen (NS) • 1945–1945: Rasmus Theodor Berg (V) • 1946–1947: Harald Kristian Thoresen (Ap) • 1948–1949: Kristian Langlo (V) • 1950–1951: Bjarne Fjærtoft (V) • 1952–1953: Ole Grebstad (V) • 1954–1955: Paulus Giørtz (H) • 1956–1958: Oscar Andreas Ingebrigtsen (Ap) • 1959–1965: Dagfinn Flem (V) • 1966–1967: Karsten Larsen (H) • 1968–1975: Gustav M. Flisnes (DNF) • 1976–1977: Johannes Giske (KrF) • 1978–1979: Olav Helge Balsnes (H) • 1980–1987: Svein Tømmerdal (H) • 1988–1989: Leidulf Dahle (Ap) • 1990–1993: Kjell-Arne Slinning (KrF) • 1994–1995: Asbjørn Måløy (Ap) • 1995–1999: Asbjørn Rutgerson (LL) • 1999–2007: Arve Tonning (H) • 2007–2015: Bjørn Tømmerdal (H) • 2015–2023: Eva Vinje Aurdal (Ap) • 2023–present: Håkon Lykkebø Strand (FrP) ==Economy==

The town of Ålesund has the most important fishing harbour in Norway. The town's fishing fleet is one of the most modern in Europe. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ålesund was one of the chief stations of the herring fishery business. In relation to the relatively large fishing fleet belonging to Ålesund and nearby harbours, a large shipbuilding and ship equipment industry has evolved. There are no longer any yards building ships in Ålesund proper; its last shipyard – Liaaen Shipyard - evolved into ship repairs and since the late 1990s has mainly been serving the offshore industry through the company Liaaen Technology that merged and rebranded to Strata Møre in 2007. In the neighbouring communities, however, shipyards continue to operate successfully: Vard, Ulstein Verft, Kleven Maritime, and Havyard Group. When oil was found in the North Sea in the 1970s, the local fishing fleet ship owners seized the opportunity and rebuilt fishing vessels to serve the infant oil exploration and production industry. Soon they were able to build purpose-designed vessels at local shipyards to serve the North Sea oil adventure even better. Today this has become a cornerstone industry in and around Ålesund through leading offshore supply ship owning companies Farstad, Bourbon, Olympic, Havila, and Rem. Serving the ship building industry a large number of equipment manufacturers has evolved: Rolls-Royce, Odim, Sperre, Optimar, Ship Equip, Jets, The Atlanterhavsparken aquarium is another tourist attraction. ==Twin towns – sister cities==

Ålesund has sister city agreements with the following places: • Akureyri, Iceland (1949) • Borgo a Mozzano, Italy (1979) • Lahti, Finland (1947) • Peterhead, Scotland, United Kingdom (1967) • Randers, Denmark (1947) • Tacoma, United States (1986) • Västerås, Sweden (1947) ==See also==