page_title: Levanger
section_title: Town
hierarchical_section_title: Levanger / History / Town
caption_attribution_description: Norsk bokmål: Sverres gate i Levanger mot jernbanestasjonen, 13. mars 2014.
context_page_description: Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, Ekne, Hokstad, Markabygd, Momarka, Frol, Mule, Nesset, Okkenhaug, Ronglan, Skogn, and Åsen.
  The town of Levanger lies at the mouth of the Levangselva river along the Trondheimsfjord. One of the main roads through the town is Kirkegata. The 5.74-square-kilometre town has a population of 10,008. The population density is 1,555 inhabitants per square kilometre. The town has held "town status" since 1997.
  Levanger is a member of the Italian initiative, Cittaslow, for slow towns that don't adopt a "fast-lane" approach that is so common in most modern towns.
  The 646-square-kilometre municipality is the 174th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Levanger is the 62nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 20,164. The municipality's population density is 33.1 inhabitants per square kilometre and its population has increased by 8.5% over the previous 10-year period.
context_section_description: The town of Levanger was founded by King Charles XIV John of Sweden on 18 May 1836, on the site where the village of Levanger already existed.  The village had expanded from the traditional winter fair, known as the marsimartnan (lit. the St. Marcus Market of Levanger), dating back to the 13th century. In October 1836, as the town's borders set, Commissioner Mons Lie proposed that "the town shall bear the name of Carlslevanger, so the name of this ancient soil can be united with that of the new town's glorious founder". Despite the suggestion's being refused, the town protocols spoke of Carlslevanger Stad instead of Kjøpstaden Levanger until 1838. In 1838, the formannskapsdistrikt law classified this town as a ladested or port town.
  The inhabitants of Levanger were not prepared for becoming a town, and so it took a long time before the town was constituted.  In these early days the town was ruled by the Foged (Royal rural administrator).  At that time there were already established a trade organization, "Levangerpatrisiatet", from 1695, based on the market. But only citizens of Trondheim could be members, until Levanger became a town in its own right.  In 1839, the first guild of the town was established, and in the following years several new trades and craftsmen settled in the town.
  In 1841, the first official elections were held, and Hans Nicolai Grønn was elected the first mayor of the town.  Two years later, the town got its first water-pipe system, its first two primitive street lamps and a town hall.
  The fire-security report of 1844 clearly confirmed the great risk of disastrous fire in the town's narrow lanes; all houses were wooden houses. Therefore, the mayor hired Major Johannes Mathias Sejersted (1797-1886) to make a general report and draw up a new regulation plan, showing Levanger as a more "continental" town. And already in 1846, two years later the town was nearly totally ruined by a great fire. Sejersted's regulation plan was used when the town was rebuilt.  Levanger was damaged by two great fires after that time, in 1877 and 1897, but each time the town has been rebuilt as a wooden town, and still today most houses are wooden houses.
  Throughout the 19th century, the famous market's economical importance faded out, and the ancient arrangement was reduced to a tradition without much content. That was the end of Levanger as an important port of foreign trade between Sweden and Norway. However, in the early 20th century, the town of Levanger was pleased by new establishments such as county hospital and college of education.  The German occupation in 1940 was the beginning of a 40-year-long "interregnum" of the traditional "Marsimartnan".
  In 1961, the town of Levanger decided to merge with its neighbors.  On 1 January 1962, Frol, Skogn, and Åsen were merged with Levanger, and at the same time, it lost its "town status".  The municipality of Ytterøy was merged with Levanger two years later.
  Over thirty years later, in 1997, as a result of the resurrection of the "Marsimartnan" in 1989, the town of Levanger was re-established, though the town still is part of Levanger municipality. But the center of administration is to be found in the town of Levanger, which is also, in historical terms, the administrative basis for the municipality. And Levanger's town traditions and culture go way back. The town is laid out according to an urban and regulated plot with proper streets such as Kirkegata. It's more than just a town hall and a city square. In fact, Levanger's always been a town, though not always officially, and every inhabitant in the town area carries this piece of knowledge with pride. Thus there does exist a sense of distinction between town people and the people from the countryside..
  In 2002, Levanger joined the Cittaslow movement, although there've been some violations of the Cittaslow charter, of which can be mentioned the construction of the unharmonic new mini mall in Sjøgata, down by the seaside. This mini mall includes two grocery stores and several electrical appliances stores.
caption: View of Sverres gate in Levanger towards the railway station
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