Holmestrand
Description
Holmestrand is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Holmestrand. The city was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The neighboring rural municipality of Botne was merged into the municipality of Holmestrand on 1 January 1964.
The city lies by the Oslofjord and is built beside the water. It was granted city status in 1752, but had been a harbor for exporting of timber/lumber since around 1550. The city has developed inland in recent years, after the inclusion of Botne.
Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Holmastrand. The first element is the genitive case of holmi which means "(rocky) hill" and the last element is strand which means "shore", "beach", or "strand".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is relatively modern, granted on 14 November 1898. The arms show a silver eagle holding a gold anchor in its left claw and a gold Rod of Asclepius in its right claw all on a red background. The eagle in the arms is derived from the arms of the merchant Johan Heinrich Tordenskiold, who, in 1819, donated all his fortune to build a school in Holmestrand. The eagle also gave its name to the main ship of the merchant, which is shown on the breast-shield, the White Eagle. The anchor symbolises the importance of Holmestrand as a harbour town. The snake on the Rod of Asclepius is the symbol of medicine and symbolises the former health spa in Holmestrand that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Geography
Its islands include Langøya.
Transportation
The European route E18 through Vestfold goes to the west around downtown Holmestrand and secondary roads connect the city to this highway.
The railway line Vestfoldbanen runs through the centre of Holmestrand, and the city is served by the station Holmestrand Station.