Heimdal is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

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

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

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 ...

. It covers the western and southwestern parts of the municipality. The main centre of the borough is also known as Heimdal and it is located in the central part of the borough, near Heimdal Church and the Tillerbyen neighborhood. This area around the Heimdal Rail Station was until 1964 the center of two separate local

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Tiller Municipality Tiller is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality of Tiller existed from 1899 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed part of the south-central part of what is now Trondheim Municip ...

and

Leinstrand Municipality Leinstrand is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. Leinstrand Municipality encompassed the south-central part of what is now Trondheim Municipality in ...

. The western part of Heimdal borough consists of the rural areas of

Byneset Byneset is a headland located in Trondheim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The area is located just west of the city of Trondheim. The Trondheimsfjorden lies to the north, Orkdalsfjorden lies to the west, and the Gaulosen bay lies t ...

(which was the separate

Byneset Municipality Byneset is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality of Byneset encompassed the western part of what is now Trondheim Municipality in T ...

prior to 1964). Tillerbyen, the eastern part of the village of Heimdal, is a recent development, planned to ease the pressure on central Trondheim from the commercial boom in the inner city.

History

This area south of Trondheim was named after 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 ...

god

Heimdall In Norse mythology, Heimdall (from Old Norse Heimdallr; modern Icelandic language, Icelandic Heimdallur) is a Æsir, god. He is the son of Odin and nine mothers. Heimdall keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök from his dwelling Himi ...

from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. The area has been continuously inhabited since at least the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, and is rich in

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s. The area where Tillerbyen has been built was initially

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

, but it was drained in the 1930s as an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

was planned here. Nazi invaders of 1940 halted these plans, as they rather wanted an airport at

Lade Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE, ) is an airline based in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. It is owned by the government of Argentina and operated by the Argentine Air Force. It provides domestic scheduled services, mainly in Patagonia. Hist ...

. In 1963,

bought the areas, and in 1966 they verified a development plan for a new tertiary and commercial hub that could lighten the development pressure on the crowded downtown areas. These plans met much resistance; many politicians thought the development would be too hard to complete, as the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

was too wet and unstable to support large-scale development. Ever since the first developments, the areas of Tillerbyen and Sjetnemarka have been one of the most booming parts of the city and still, large development projects are launched to meet the growing

population pressure Population pressure, a term summarizing the stress brought about by an excessive population density and its consequences, is used both in conjunction with human overpopulation and with other animal populations that suffer from too many individuals ...

Today

Heimdal proper is a traditional commercial and transportation center; the railway has connections to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

( Nabotåget, literally meaning ''the neighbour train''), to

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 the south of Norway via the

Dovre Line The Dovre Line () is a Norwegian railway line with three slightly different lines which all lead to the historic city of Trondheim (city), Trondheim. Definition *Dovre Line is the main line between Eidsvoll Station and Trondheim Station, used b ...

as well as to the north. Many bus lines also connect here. In addition to the large residential areas, Heimdal houses many of the city's leading enterprises and services.

City Syd City Syd is one of the largest shopping malls, shopping centres in Norway, and the largest in Midt-Norge, with a turnover of Norwegian krone, NOK 1.7 billion in 2004. It is located in Tiller, Norway, Tiller, in the Heimdal area of Trondheim. Cit ...

was at the time of its construction the largest

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

in the country and is still one of the most profitable shopping malls in Northern Europe, as it receives customers not only from the city, but from the surrounding countryside and neighbouring counties as well. Heimdal Stadion is a large sports complex with soccer and handball fields adjacent to the Breidablikk School. Heimdal is today a city within a city. The central areas of Tillerbyen resemble a typical western downtown area with high commercial structures, as opposed to the traditional downtown areas of Trondheim, which are dominated by old, two-storey buildings.

References

External links

Map of the boroughs of Trondheim
{{authority control Geography of Trondheim no:Heimdal (tettsted)

History

Today

See also

References

External links