Haugesund

The town is situated on a strategically important sound, the Karmsundet, through which ships could pass without traversing heavy seas. In the early years, the coastal waters off Haugesund were a huge source of herring, and the town grew accordingly. Despite being barely a village back then, King Harald Fairhair lived at Avaldsnes, very close to the modern town of Haugesund. In the last decades, the town, like its neighbours, has been turning towards the petroleum industry, with the herring being long gone.

During the last 20 years, the municipality has established its position as the main trading centre for the Haugaland region and southern parts of Vestland county. It has several relatively large shopping centres, however, this has led to a decline of the trade and shopping activity in the town centre.[7]

The Haugesund Region, a statistical metropolitan area, which consists of the municipalities Karmøy, Haugesund, Tysvær, Sveio and Bokn, has a population of approximately 100,000 people (as of 2009).

Haraldshaugen

Part of central Haugesund

Despite being a fairly young town, the areas surrounding Haugesund were lands of power during the Viking Age. Harald Fairhair was the first king of Norway. He had his home in Avaldsnes, also known as Homeland of the Viking Kings, only 8 km (4.9 mi) from the present town.[8][9] After his death in c. 940, Fairhair was buried at Haraldshaugen, a burial mound adjacent to the Karmsundet strait.[10] This site is the namesake of the town and municipality of Haugesund. The national monument at Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872, to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Hafrsfjord in 872. The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as when western Norway was unified under a single monarch for the first time.[11]

Karmøy pastures and St. Olav's church at Avaldsnes

Haugesund has a strong historical bond to the sea and especially the herring. In the earlier years, the coastal waters of Haugesund were a huge source for fishing herring, and the town grew accordingly. The protective straits of Smedasund and Karmsund gave the town potential to grow in both fishing and shipping. Even to this day, Karmsund is one of Norway's busiest waterways. The town is still growing geographically even though the population has increased only moderately the last decade. Today the herring is long gone, and the town is turning more and more towards the petroleum industry, like its neighbouring town to the south, Stavanger.

Urban area of Haugesund (2005)

Haugesund municipality has a coastline with the North Sea, however, the island of Karmøy and the archipelago of Røvær shelter it from the rough waters of the ocean. The Karmsundet strait, located between Karmøy and Haugesund used to be very strategically important, since ships could pass without having to sail through heavy sea. Haugesund's city centre has a distinctive street layout, similar to those found in Kristiansand and Oslo. Haugesund has a typical maritime climate with mild winters, cool but pleasant springs, and mild summers lasting until the end of September. Monthly 24-hr average range from 1.1 °C (34.0 °F) in February to 14 °C (57 °F) in August. Mean annual precipitation is 1,520 millimetres (60 in), with September to December as the wettest period.[14]

The municipality includes several islands. Risøy and Hasseløy are densely built, and connected to the mainland by bridges. Røvær which lies further out and consists of a number of islands, is also populated and connected to the mainland by ferry. Vibrandsøy and its neighboring islands are now mainly a recreational area. Røværsholmen Lighthouse sits just off the coast of the main Røvær island. The lakes Vigdarvatnet and Stakkastadvatnet are located in the municipality.

• 
  The city hall, designed by Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas
• 
  Common street in Haugesund
• 
  Haugesund from the Risøy bridge
• 
  Risøybrua seen from Risøy. Photo: Knut Arne Gjertsen
• 
  Haugesund docks, with bridge to Risøy

Haugesund City Hall was built in 1931, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2006.[15] The pink city hall, designed by Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas,[16] is one of the finest neo-classical buildings in Norway, and has been elected the most beautiful building in Haugesund.[17] It is also included in the new Norwegian edition of the game Monopoly after it was successful in a national vote. The building may not be altered in any way without permission from the national preservation agency. It overlooks the town square and a park which was inaugurated on 28 August 1949.[17]

During the last 20 years, the municipality has established its position as the main trading centre for the Haugaland region and southern parts of Vestland county. It has several relatively large shopping centres, however, this has led to a decline of the trade and shopping activity in the town centre.[18]

There are several churches in the town of Haugesund including Vår Frelsers Church, Udland Church, Rossabø Church, and Skåre Church.

All municipalities in Norway, including Haugesund, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.[19] The municipality falls under the Haugaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

MS Draupner, one of the catamaran ferries on the former route Bergen – Haugesund – Stavanger

Haugesund Airport, located on the island of Karmøy to the southwest of Haugesund in Karmøy municipality, has year-round flights to Oslo and Gdańsk in addition to some seasonal and charter destinations.[39] The Norwegian airline Coast Air was based at Haugesund airport, but filed for bankruptcy on 23 January 2008.[40]

The European Route E39 bypasses Haugesund to the east, passing through Aksdal. The European Route E134 leads eastwords to Drammen outside Oslo.

The bus station in Haugesund is located at Flotmyr on the east side of the downtown area. Long-distance bus services are available to Stavanger, Bergen, and Oslo. The local bus transport is operated by Vy Buss, on a contract with Kolumbus.

The town is connected to the island of Utsira by car ferry, and to the islands of Røvær and Feøy by passenger ferry. Until 2008, the Newcastle–Bergen–Stavanger ferry operated here as well.

Haugesund Hospital provides specialist health services to around 180,000 inhabitants in North Rogaland, Sunnhordland, Hardanger and Ryfylke. The hospital offers services in both medicine and surgery, radiology / X-ray, childbirth / maternity, gynecology and fertility, habilitation and specialized treatment in mental health care.[41] There are also more than 10 public and private health centers in the municipality for either general or specialized care, including the Privatsykehuset Haugesund.

Haugesund is the main cultural centre for its region, and is home to several festivals, the largest being the Norwegian International Film Festival and Sildajazz, an international jazz festival with approximately 70 bands and close to 200 concerts. Every August, The Norwegian Trad-jazz festival, the Sildajazz is held. Both local and international musicians are presented at the Sildajazz.[42]

In the summer of 2004, the annual rock festival, ""RockFest"" started. It attracted local, national and international pop and rock bands, such as Elton John, Madcon, DumDum Boys and Kaizers Orchestra. The festival started as a part of the celebration of Haugesund's 150 year anniversary. In 2009, the last Rockfest was held, and got replaced by a new concept in 2010; Haugesund Live. Haugesund Live is a series of individual concerts, and has featured bands such as The Baseballs, Kim Larsen and Mötley Crüe.

The Norwegian International Film Festival has since 1973 been held in Haugesund, premiering and showing international and Norwegian films. The Amanda Award, Norway's variation of the Oscars, has been held in Haugesund since 1985 [43] in concurrence with the film festival.

Haugesunds Avis is a daily newspaper published in Haugesund, but with branches in Bømlo, Kopervik, Odda, Sauda and Stord. Founded in 1895, it is today owned by the investment group Mecom Group, and is as such part of the media group Edda Media. In 2006, Haugesunds Avis had a circulation of 33 448.[44] As of 2007, the executive editor is Tonny Nundal. The newspaper owns the local radio channel Radio 102.

The main campus of Stord/Haugesund University College is located in Haugesund. Established in 1994, it is the result of the merger between Haugesund Nursing College, Stord Teachers College, and Stord Nursing College.[45] The university college has approximately 2700 students and 260 employees,[45] thus making it one of the smallest university colleges in Norway.

The county of Rogaland operates four high schools in Haugesund. The schools Skeisvang and Vardafjell prepare pupils for further for college or university studies. The schools Haugaland and Karmsund are vocational high schools. In addition, the private Haugesund Toppidrettsgymnas has a sports-oriented high school program.

The municipality has seven pure elementary schools of grades 1 to 7 (Saltveit, Gard, Austrheim, Solvang, Lillesund, Rossabø, and Brakahaug), two pure middle schools of grades 8 to 10 (Haraldsvang and Håvåsen) and three grade 1 to 10 schools (Hauge, Røvær, and Skåredalen). In addition, the Breidablik school offers elementary and middle school courses to new foreigners and refugees. The two private schools are Steinerskolen offering a Waldorf education program, and Danielsen, a Christian school offering courses for grades 8 and 9.[46]

• Sigmund R. Petersen, born in Haugesund, emigrated with his family to the United States and became a rear admiral and the fourth Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps.
• A statue of Marilyn Monroe by artist Nils Aas stands in the harbor of Haugesund. Martin Edward Mortensen (1897–1981), the son of an emigrant from the village of Skjold near Haugesund, was listed as father on Monroe's birth certificate.[49][50]
• Hannah Kallem, an American Army nurse who served in the Spanish–American War, was born in Haugesund.
• Dramatist and playwright Jon Fosse was born in Haugesund.
• Singer-songwriter and record producer Susanne Sundfør was born in Haugesund.
• Former professional footballer Egil Østenstad was born in Haugesund.

• Privatsykehuset Haugesund

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haugesund.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Haugesund.

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Haugesund travel guide from Wikivoyage
• "Haugesund" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). 1911.
• Tourist information (English, German and Norwegian language)
• Municipality website (Norwegian language)
• Haugalandet.net
• Haraldshaugen, the national monument