Ålesund () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The town is the

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

Ålesund Municipality Ålesund (, sometimes spelled Aalesund in English) is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ce ...

. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, and Nørve with newer developments located on the islands of Uksenøya the outer parts of the "urban area" even stretch onto the island of Sula which is in the neighboring

Sula Municipality Sula () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, district. The administrative centre is the village of Langevåg. Other villages ...

. The town is the main headquarters for the

Norwegian Coastal Administration Norwegian Coastal Administration () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the water transport infrastructure along the Coast of Norway. It is responsible for coastal navigation infrastructure, pilotage and harbour and port infrastr ...

as well as one location of the

Møre og Romsdal District Court Møre og Romsdal District Court () was a district court located in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This court was based at four different courthouses which were located in Volda, Ålesund, Molde, and Kristiansund. The court was subordinate to t ...

. In Norwegian, Ålesund is considered to be a which can be translated as a town or a city. Ålesund is the ninth largest town/city in Norway. The town has become more of an

urban agglomeration An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

during the late part of the 20th century and the urban area has spread out and into the neighboring

. The town has a population (2024) of 55,684 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . About of the town with a population of 46,554 lies in

and the remaining of the town with a population of 9,130 lies in

. The town has an unusually consistent architecture, most of the buildings having been built between 1904 and 1907.

Jugendstilsenteret Jugendstilsenteret is an Art Nouveau Center located in central Ålesund, in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. Jugendstilsenteret is part of the Foundation Cultural Quarter in Ålesund. The Art Nouveau Center is located in the former Art Nouveau desi ...

is a national

interpretation centre An interpretation centre, interpretive centre, or visitor interpretive centre is an institution for dissemination of knowledge of natural or cultural heritage. Interpretation centres are a kind of new-style museum, often associated with visitor c ...

, visitors can learn more about the town fire, the rebuilding of the town and the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style. Ålesund is a partner in the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, safeguards and development of the Art nouveau. The term "Little London" was often applied to the community during the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

due to the Norwegian resistance work that took place here. Among other things, the city was central to the flights to Scotland and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

Legend has it that ''Gangerolf'' (outside of Norway better known as

Rollo Rollo (, ''Rolloun''; ; ; – 933), also known with his epithet, Rollo "the Walker", was a Viking who, as Count of Rouen, became the first ruler of Normandy, a region in today's northern France. He was prominent among the Vikings who Siege o ...

), the 10th-century founder of the dynasty of the dukes of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, hailed from the island of

Giske Giske may refer to: Places *Giske Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Giske (island), a island within Giske Municpiality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Giske (village), a village within Giske Municpiality in Møre ...

, north-west of the present-day town of Ålesund. At least three statues of Rolle exist: in the town park in Ålesund, in the city of Rouen, France, and in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. The old

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

of Borgund included all of what is now Ålesund. 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 () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

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

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

. It was surrounded by the large rural Borgund Municipality. In 1848, it was upgraded to the status of a

kjøpstad A (historically ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'', from ) is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" in Denmark–Norway for several hundred years. Kjøpstads were places of trade and exporting materials (e.g. timber, flour, iron ...

, a more important market town. On 1 January 1875, part of Borgund Municipality (population: 902) was transferred to the town of Ålesund. By 1900, the population had increased to 11,777. In the night of 23 January 1904, the town was the scene of the

Ålesund Fire The Ålesund fire happened on 23 January 1904 in the Norwegian city of Ålesund. It destroyed almost the whole city centre, built mostly of wood, like the majority of Norwegian towns at the time. The town has since been rebuilt and it is now th ...

, one of the most terrible of the many conflagrations to which Norwegian towns, once built largely of wood, have been subjected. Practically the entire town was destroyed during the night, a gale aiding the flames, and the population had to leave the town in the middle of the night with only a few minutes' notice. Only one person died in the fire, the 76-year-old Ane Heen, but more than 10,000 people were left without shelter. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had often been on vacation to

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

. After the fire, he sent four warships with materials to build temporary shelters and

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

. After a period of planning, the town was rebuilt in stone, brick, and mortar in

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

(Art Nouveau), the architectural style of the time. The structures were designed by approximately 20 master builders and 30 Norwegian architects, most of them educated in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

and Charlottenburg, Berlin, drawing inspiration from all over

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. To honor Wilhelm, one of the most frequented streets of the town is named after him. In 1922, another part of Borgund Municipality (population: 1,148) was transferred to the town of Ålesund. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1968, most of the neighbouring Borgund Municipality (population: 20,132) was merged with the town of Ålesund forming the new

. This merger more than doubled the population of Ålesund, for a new total population of 38,589 and the land area of the municipality was vastly larger. The town of Ålesund was the

of the large municipality. After the merger, the town no longer had its own council and was no longer self-governing, with the new municipal council representing the whole municipality. On 1 January 1977, the island of Sula and some small surrounding islets (population: 6,302) were separated from Ålesund to form the new

. The southern part of the town of Ålesund was located on Sula, therefore the town's urban area overlaps two municipalities.

Name

A part of the town was historically known as ''Kaupangen Borgund''. The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word ''kaupang'' means ''"

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

"'' or ''"

"'', 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 In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of ''áll'' which means "

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

" and the last element is ''sund'' which means "

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

" or "

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

". Before 1921, the name was written ''Aalesund''.

Climate

Ålesund has a temperate and heavily moderated

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfb''). Winters are mild, damp and windy; the coldest month of the year, January, has a mean temperature of . The lowest temperature ever recorded at

Ålesund Airport, Vigra Ålesund Airport (, ), or alternatively Ålesund Vigra Airport, is an international airport serving the Ålesund (town), town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the Vigra (island), island of Vigra in Giske Municipali ...

was . The climate is extremely mild for the latitude and inland areas at similar parallels especially in lowland Sweden see much hotter summers and colder winters. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Ålesund is . The following climate data is from the local

, which is technically not located in the town, but on a nearby island in the sea in

Giske Municipality Giske is an island List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the Ålesund (town), town of Ålesund in the Districts of Norway, traditional distr ...

. Ålesund itself is more sheltered and has slightly warmer summers.

Culture

The Norwegian Centre of Art Nouveau Architecture,

, is situated in Ålesund. It is a museum and interpretive center with exhibitions telling the story of the town fire and Art Nouveu/Jugendstil in Norway and Europe. Sunnmøre museum, founded in 1931, is an outdoor folk museum devoted to the Norwegian coastal culture and way of life. Located on an area of , it has more than 55 old and distinct houses from the past 300 years moved to the site, replicas of old Viking ships, and the Medieval Age Museum with artifacts from excavations of the old trading centre. The local newspaper is '' Sunnmørsposten'', founded in 1882 and published six days a week. Ålesund is the site of the annual Norwegian Food Festival.

Education

Ålesund is home to a sub-division of the

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

(NTNU), with approximately 1,800 students and 150 employees. The ''Ålesund School of Art'' () is a school for

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

located in Ålesund. Ålesund videregående skole, also known as ''Latinskolen'', formerly ''Aalesund Lærd- og Realskole'', is the oldest

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in Ålesund, having been established in 1863. Of the six upper secondary schools in Ålesund, including ''Latinskolen'', Fagerlia videregående skole is the largest with room for approximately 1,000 students. Ålesund also features an International school for children aged 5–15.

Transportation

Sea

Ålesund is a port of call for passenger and freight vessels travelling between

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and

, including the Hurtigruta (Norwegian Coastal Express) cruise ships, which arrive in Ålesund twice a day. In 2022 they added the large power connections that allow ships to turn off their engines whilst docked.

Air

The town's airport,

, has several daily flights to/from

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. In November 2012 KLM announced it would fly to Ålesund 5 days a week from Amsterdam starting in April 2013.

Bus

There are 18 local bus lines (including one night bus line) and 9 express bus lines operated by FRAM and Skyss going through the town.

Sport

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team,

Aalesunds FK Aalesunds Fotballklubb, commonly known as Aalesund or AaFK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Ålesund (town), Ålesund, that competes in the Norwegian first division, the second tier of the Norwegi ...

(''Aalesunds Fotballklubb''), was founded in 1914. The team played in the Norwegian top flight for the first time in the 2003 season. The club won its first

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and won again in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. They played their home matches at Kråmyra Stadium until the 2005 season, when they relocated to the new Color Line Stadium, located approximately outside the town centre. AaFK's supporter club is called "Stormen" and has about 2,000 members.

Notable people

Public Service & business

* Anton Ludvig Alvestad (1883–1956), the mayor of Ålesund, 1920–21 and government minister * Reinert Torgeirson (1884–1969), a politician, poet, playwright and novelist * Erik Rolfsen (1905–1992), an architect; urban manager of Oslo, 1947–1973 * Monrad Norderval (1902–1976), the Bishop of Nord-Hålogaland, 1961–1972 * Dagfinn Flem (1906–1976), a politician, Mayor of Ålesund, 1958 to 1965 * Margit Johnsen (1913–1987), a Norwegian merchant navy sailor; the only female recipient of the military award St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch * Joachim Rønneberg DSO (1919–2018), an Army officer, broadcaster and WWII Commando * Helen Bjørnøy (born 1954), a Lutheran minister, politician and County Governor of Buskerud *

Odd Arne Westad Odd Arne Westad FBA (born 5 January 1960) is a Norwegian historian specializing in the Cold War and contemporary East Asian history. He is the Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University, where he teaches in the Yale History ...

FBA (born 1960), a historian specializing in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Edvard Moser Edvard Ingjald Moser () is a Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist, who is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2014 with long-term col ...

(born 1962), a psychologist and neuroscientist, winner 2014

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

* Harald T. Nesvik (born 1966), a politician and member of the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

since 1997 * Paal Kibsgaard (born 1967), a petroleum engineer; chairman and CEO of

Schlumberger Schlumberger (), doing business as SLB, is a global multinational oilfield services company. Founded in France in 1926, the company is now incorporated as Schlumberger NV in Willemstad, Curaçao, with principal executive offices in Houston ...

* Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen (born 1975), q controversial counterjihad

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ger known as ''Fjordman'' * Torry Larsen (born 1971), a Norwegian adventurer and Arctic explorer * Cecilie Skog (born 1974), a professional adventurer, guide and lecturer. * Sylvi Listhaug (born 1977), a Norwegian politician and Govt. minister

The Arts

Jacob Fjelde Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde (April 10, 1859 – May 5, 1896) was a Norwegians, Norwegian-born United States, American sculptor.Harris, Moira F., ''Monumental Minnesota: A Guide to Outdoor Sculpture'', Pogo Press, 1992, pg. 6 He is remembered ...

(1859–1896), an American sculptor of public monuments * Ambrosia Tønnesen (1859–1948), the first professional female sculptor in Norway * Sigvart Høgh-Nilsen (1880–1919), a Norwegian pianist and composer * Axel Revold (1887–1962), a Norwegian painter, illustrator and academic * Ole Barman (1897–1983), a novelist, short story writer, playwright and theatre director * Hartvig Kiran (1911–1978), an author, journalist, songwriter and composer *

Arnold Eidslott Arnold Olav Eidslott (10 June 1926 – 19 April 2018) was a Norwegian poet. He was born in Ålesund, and worked as a telegraphic engineer for the whole of his working life. From 1986 to 2018 he was the poet laureate. Eidslott's Christian religio ...

(1926–2018), a poet laureate (1986 to 2018) and telegraphic engineer * Harald Grytten (born 1938), a philologist and historian * Oddbjørn Blindheim (born 1944), a jazz pianist and dentist * Geir Rönning (born 1962), a professional singer-songwriter *

Annbjørg Lien Annbjørg Lien (born 15 October 1971) is a Norway, Norwegian musician, playing the hardingfele (Hardanger fiddle), violin, and nyckelharpa. Career She first came to national prominence in 1986. Shortly afterwards got a recording deal with the H ...

(born 1971), a Hardanger fiddler, nyckelharpist, and violinist * Magne Hovden (born 1974), a writer, translator * Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen (born 1982), a guitarist, vocalist and composer * Ingrid Helene Håvik (born 1987), a songwriter and vocalist, lead singer of '' Highasakite'' * Bjørn Johan Muri (born 1990), a Norwegian pop singer * Sigrid Solbakk Raabe (born 1996) known as ''Sigrid'', a singer and songwriter

Sport

* Knud Leonard Knudsen (1879–1954), a gymnast, team gold medallist,

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

* Harald Stenvaag (born 1953), a rifle shooter, silver and bronze medallist at the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Ann Kristin Aarønes Ann Kristin Aarønes (born 19 January 1973) is a Norwegian former footballer. She first played for Spjelkavik IL, then for Trondheims-Ørn and the Norwegian national team. Later she played for the WUSA's New York Power, during the club's fi ...

(born 1973), a former footballer, 111 caps with Norway women * Ingrid Tørlen (born 1979), a beach volleyball player, competed in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

* John Arne Riise (born 1980), a former footballer with 546 club appearances and 110 caps for

* Leni Larsen Kaurin (born 1981), a football midfielder, 98 caps for Norway women *

Bjørn Helge Riise Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise (born 21 June 1983) is a Norwegian former professional association football, footballer. Riise played either a central midfielder or a right winger, and earned 35 international caps for Norway national football team ...

(born 1983), a former footballer with 358 club appearances and 35 caps for

* Olav Lundanes (born 1987), an orienteering competitor, ten times gold medallist at the

World Orienteering Championships The World Orienteering Championships (often abbreviated as WOC) is an international orienteering competition which has been organized by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) since 1966. The World Orienteering Championships is considere ...

* Nina Haver-Løseth (born 1989), a slalom ski racer, team bronze medallist,

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

* Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (born 1990), a long-distance runner; competed at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

* Sebastian Foss Solevåg (born 1991), an alpine ski racer, team bronze medallist,

* Andrea Raaholt (born 1996), a Norwegian tennis player

Twin towns – sister cities

Ålesund is twinned with: *

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

, Iceland (1949) * Borgo a Mozzano, Italy (1979) *

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, Finland (1947) *

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom (1967) *

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, United States (1986) *

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

, Sweden (1947)

Gallery

File:Ålesund-brosundet-2018-a.jpg, Ålesund harbour File:Ålesund-brosundet-2017-h.jpg, File:St. Olavs Plass - Ålesund, Norway 2022-07-03.jpg, Ålesund, 2022 File:00 5555 Ålesund - Norwegen.jpg, The viewpoint Aksla in the summer of 2010 File:Ålesund, Norway 2022-07-01 (01).jpg, File:Ålesund, Norway 20170529 142634.jpg, File:Tueneset Valderøya DSC 0370.jpg, Tueneset in Ålesund File:Summer Night - Alesund, Norway - panoramio.jpg, Ålesund in July 2010

References

External links

Municipality website

Jugendstil Centre/Art Nouveau Centre

Ålesund Hospital
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aalesund Ålesund Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Møre og Romsdal Art Nouveau architecture in Norway Port cities and towns in Norway 1824 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1824

History

Name

Climate

Culture

Education

Transportation

Sea

Air

Bus

Sport

Notable people

Public Service & business

The Arts

Sport

Twin towns – sister cities

Gallery

See also

References

External links