The
town of Harstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1904 when it was separated from the large
Trondenes Municipality because it had just been declared a
ladested (small seaport). The initial population of the town of Harstad was 1,246. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the
Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the town of Harstad (population: 3,808) was merged with neighboring
Sandtorg Municipality (population: 7,512) and
Trondenes Municipality (population: 6,567) to form a new, larger Harstad Municipality with a population of 17,882. Prior to the merger, the town of Harstad had 3,808 residents. On 1 January 2013, the neighboring
Bjarkøy Municipality (to the north) was merged with Harstad, forming a new, larger Harstad Municipality. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the new
Troms og Finnmark county which replaced the old Troms county. On 1 January 2024, the
Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of
Troms county. In recent years, a 3000-year-old bronze axe and a 2600-year-old bronze collar have been found at the Trondenes peninsula, just north of the city center. These, together with the burial
cairns built close to the sea, are indications of a well-developed
Bronze Age culture in the Harstad area. There is also substantial archeological evidence of a well-developed
Iron Age culture in the area, around 200 AD.
Trondenes is mentioned in the
Heimskringla as a power centre in the
Viking Age and a place to meet and discuss important issues (
Trondarting). In 2020 archeologist concluded that
Sandtorg, located along the Tjeldsundet strait, south of the town of Harstad, was the location of the only known
Viking Age trading place in Northern Norway. The Tjeldsundet strait was very likely an important ship lane back then as it still is today.
Trondenes Church, the world's northernmost medieval church, which dates back to the 13th–15th century, is situated just outside the town. Adjacent to the church is the
Trondenes Historical Center and nearby is the
Adolf Gun, an enormous land-based cannon from
World War II, and the last of four cannons originally constructed by the
Nazis. Harstad is one of the few towns in this part of Norway which were left largely undamaged by World War II. Beach at Sandtorg, Harstad municipality, Hinnøya island, Norway. The sea is part of Tjeldsundet strait, between Hinnøya and the mainland.jpg|
Sandtorg, where a trading place from the Viking age was located File:Harstad kulturhus.jpg|Harstad Kulturhus (culture house) File:Harstad Kirche von Trondenes.jpg|
Trondenes Church at Trondenes. File:Harstad at night seen from Gangsåstoppen.jpg|Northern part of Harstad at night, early August. View towards north-west from
Gangsåstoppen Origin of the name The municipality (and
town) is named after the old
Harstad farm (), since the town is built where the farm once was located. On 6 February 2017, the municipality of Harstad adopted a co-equal
Sami language name for the municipality: Hárstták. The Sami language name spelling changes depending on how it is used. It is called when it is spelled alone, but it is when using the Sami language equivalent to "Harstad municipality".
Coat of arms The
coat of arms was granted on 24 April 1953. The official
blazon is
"Azure, two bars wavy argent" (). This means the arms have a blue
field (background) and the
charge is two wavy
bars. The bars have a
tincture of
argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of sea and the wavy bars were chosen to represent the waves in the sea. Since the town of Harstad is located in the municipality, a
mural crown is typically shown above the
shield. The arms were designed by Jardar Lunde in cooperation with Hallvard Træteberg. ==Government==