Middle Ages: a fortress on the frontier

Hoard of Viking jewellery found in Tromsø dating from 7–8th Centuries AD now in the British Museum.^[5]

The area's rich Norse and Sámi heritage is well documented. The Norse chieftain Ohthere, who lived during the 890s, is assumed to have inhabited the southernmost reaches of today's Tromsø municipality. He described himself as living "furthest to the North of all Norwegians" with areas north of this being populated by Sámi.^[6] An Icelandic source (Rimbegla) from the 12th century also describes the fjord Malangen in the south of today's Tromsø municipality as a border between Norse and Sámi coastal settlements during that part of the Middle Ages. There has also been extensive Sámi settlement on the coast south of this 'border' as well as scattered Norse settlements north of Malangen—for example, both Sámi and Norse Iron Age (0–1050 AD) remains have been found on southern Kvaløya.^[7][8]

The first church on the island of Tromsøya was erected in 1252. Ecclesia Sanctae Mariae de Trums juxta paganos ("The Church of Saint Mary in Troms near the Heathens"—the eponymous "heathens" being the Sámi), was built during the reign of King Hákon Hákonarson.^[9] At the time, it was the northernmost church in the world. Around the same time a turf rampart was built to protect the area against raids from Karelia and Russia.

Tromsø was not just a Norwegian outpost in an area mainly populated by the Sámi, but also a frontier city towards Russia; the Novgorod state had the right to tax the Sámi along the coast to Lyngstuva and inland to the Skibotn River or possibly the Målselv River, whereas Norway was allowed to tax areas east to - and including - the Kola Peninsula.^[7] During the next five hundred years Norway's border with Russia and the limits of Norwegian settlement would be pushed eastwards to Sør-Varanger, making Tromsø lose its character as a "frontier town".

1700s and 1800s: the "Paris of the north"

During the 17th century, while Denmark–Norway was solidifying its claim to the northern coast of Scandinavia and during this period a redoubt, Skansen, was built. Despite only being home to around 80 people, Tromsø was declared a kjøpstad and issued its city charter in 1794 by King Christian VII. This coincided with, and was a direct consequence of, the abolition of the city of Bergen's centuries-old monopoly on the trade in cod. Tromsø quickly rose in importance. The Diocese of Hålogaland was created in 1804, with the first bishop being Mathias Bonsak Krogh.^[10] The city was established as Tromsø Municipality 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt), but at that time it was a very small size in area. Over time the municipality grew much larger in area by merging with neighboring areas (especially during the 1960s).

Arctic hunting, from Novaya Zemlya to Canada, started up around 1820. By 1850, Tromsø was the major centre of Arctic hunting, overtaking the former centre of Hammerfest, and the city was trading from Arkhangelsk to Bordeaux.

In 1848, the teacher training college was also moved from Trondenes (near current-day Harstad) to Tromsø, with part of its mission being to educate Sámi scholars - there was a quota ensuring that Sámi gained access.^[11] The teacher college was followed by the Tromsø Museum in 1872,^[12] and the Mack Brewery in 1877.^[13]

During the 19th century, Tromsø became known as the "Paris of the North". How this nickname came into being is uncertain, but the reason is generally assumed to be that people in Tromsø appeared far more sophisticated than visitors from the south typically expected.^[14]

Early 1900s: exploration and war

Photochrom print from Tromsø, 1900

By the end of the 19th century, Tromsø had become a major Arctic trade centre from which many Arctic expeditions originated. Explorers like Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Fridtjof Nansen made use of the know-how in Tromsø on the conditions in the Arctic, and often recruited their crews in the city. The Northern lights observatory was founded in 1927.

When Germany invaded Norway in 1940, Tromsø served briefly as the seat of the Norwegian government. General Carl Gustav Fleischer arrived in Tromsø on 10 April 1940 after flying in terrible conditions. From Tromsø he issued orders for total civilian and military mobilisation and declared Northern Norway a theatre of war. Fleischer's strategic plan was to first wipe out the German forces at Narvik and then transfer his division to Nordland to meet a German advance from Trøndelag. The Germans eventually captured all of Norway, after allied support had been withdrawn, although they encountered fierce resistance from the Finnmark-based Alta Battalion at Narvik. Tromsø escaped the war unscathed, although the German battleship Tirpitz was sunk by the RAF off the Tromsøy island on 12 November 1944, killing close to 1,000 German sailors.^[15][16]

The German battleship Tirpitz was bombed and sunk off Tromsø island in 1944.

At the end of the war, the city received thousands of refugees from Finnmark county and the northern areas of Troms - areas which had been devastated by German forces using scorched earth tactics in expectation of a Red Army offensive.^[17]

Municipal history

The city of Tromsø was established as an independent municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The city was completely surrounded by the Tromsøe landdistrikt (the rural municipality of Tromsø / later renamed Tromsøysund), but they were governed separately. As the city grew in size, areas were added to the city from the rural district.^[18]

On 1 January 1861, an area of Tromsøysund (population: 110) was transferred to the city of Tromsø. On 1 January 1873, an unpopulated area of Tromsøysund was transferred to the city. On 1 July 1915, another area of Tromsøysund (population: 512) was merged into the city of Tromsø. On 1 January 1955, the Bjerkaker area on Tromsøya (population: 1,583) was transferred from Tromsøysund to the city of Tromsø.^[18]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the city of Tromsø (population: 12,602), the municipality of Tromsøysund (population: 16,727), most of the municipality of Ullsfjord except for the Svendsby area (population: 2,019), and most of the municipality of Hillesøy except for the parts on the island of Senja (population: 1,316) were all merged to form a new, larger Tromsø Municipality.^[18]

Light and darkness

The midnight sun occurs from about 18 May to 26 July, but the mountains in the north block the view of it for a few days, meaning that one can see the midnight sun from about 21 May to 21 July. Owing to Tromsø's high latitude, twilight is long, meaning there is no real darkness between late April and mid-August.

The Northern Lights near Tromsø.

Tromsø in midnight sun in July.

The sun remains below the horizon during the polar night from about 26 November to 15 January, but owing to the mountains, the sun is not visible from 21 November to 21 January. The return of the sun is an occasion for celebration. However, because of the twilight, there is some daylight for a couple of hours even around midwinter, often with bluish light. The nights shorten quickly. By 21 February the sun is above the horizon from 7:45 am to 4:10 pm, and by 1 April it is above the horizon from 5:50 am to 7:50 pm (daylight saving time). If we include astronomical twilight as "not night", then Tromso only has 14 hours of night on the winter solstice.

The combination of snow cover and sunshine often creates intense light conditions from late February until the snow melts in the lowland (usually late April), and sunglasses are essential when skiing. Because of these diametrically different light conditions in winter, Norwegians often divide it into two seasons: Mørketid (polar night) and Seinvinter (late winter).

It is possible to observe aurora borealis (northern lights) from Tromsø, as northern Norway is located in the auroral zone. As it is always light in the summer, no aurora is visible between late April and mid August. Additionally, due to the coastal location, Tromsø is often subject to cloudy conditions which prevents aurora being seen, even if they are present.

Bus and taxi

The public transport service in Tromsø is dominated by bus,^[26] primarily by Troms fylkestrafikk. A private airport shuttle named the Airport Express Coach runs from the airport to the city centre in around 15 minutes. An alternative option is to use the local bus routes 40 and 42, which stop just a few minutes walk from the terminal, and are considerably cheaper.^[27] There is also a taxi rank outside the airport terminal as well as several taxi ranks in downtown Tromsø. The taxi fare from the airport to the city centre during the daytime on weekdays is approximately NOK 200.^[28] Buses run from early morning to late night Mon-Fri, with a less frequent service at weekends. There is also a night bus service on Friday and Saturday nights from the city centre to select parts of the city suburbs. District buses run within the municipality of Tromsø and depart from Prostneset, the main bus station in Tromsø, which is located beside the main Tourist Information Office.^[28]

Flight

Tromsø Airport is approximately 4.5km from downtown. Its most common destination is smaller towns in Troms og Finnmark and Nordland, served by Widerøe; as of December 2023, competing airlines and foreign airlines offer longer direct flights to southern Norway, Longyearbyen, Finland (Helsinki and Rovaniemi), Copenhagen, Luton Airport, and north and central Europe (including Frankfurt and Zürich).^[29]

Boat

3 express boat lines lead to and from Harstad, Skjervøy and Lysnes.^[30] The Norwegian Coastal Express also docks in Tromsø.

Train

Preliminary plans for a Northern Norway Line from Fauske (east of Bodø) to Tromsø have been brought up from time to time since 1968, but none have begun construction. The most common official reasons for not starting construction have been high costs, in part as a result of very difficult terrain; a report in October 2023 estimated a project cost of 281 billion NOK,^[31] approximately 24.1 billion Euros at the time.

Car

Tromsø is served by European route E8, which connects to Norway's main north-south route European route E6 at Nordkjosbotn approximately 80km south of Tromsø.