Editing Stavanger (section)

==History==
The first traces of settlement in the Stavanger region come from the days when the ice retreated after the last ice age c. 10,000 years ago. A number of historians have argued convincingly that North-[[Jæren]] was an economic and military center as far back as the 9th and 10th centuries with the consolidation of the nation at the [[Battle of Hafrsfjord]] around 872. Stavanger grew into a center of church administration and an important south-west coast [[market town]] around 1100–1300.<ref>''Phenomenology and the pioneer settlement on the Western Scandinavian Peninsula''  (Ingrid Fuglestvedt (2009) Lindome : Bricoleur Press) {{ISBN|978-91-85411-07-8}}</ref>

Stavanger fulfilled an urban role prior to its status as city (1125), from around the time the Stavanger bishopric was established in the 1120s. Bishop Reinald, who may have come from [[Winchester]], England, is said to have started construction of [[Stavanger Cathedral]] (''Stavanger domkirke'') around 1100.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Ancient See of Stavanger |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16076a.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305052334/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16076a.htm |archive-date=5 March 2021 |access-date=4 April 2011 |website=newadvent.org}}</ref> It was finished around 1125, and the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UArctic Education – Student Portal |url=http://www.uarctic.org/SingleNewsArticle.aspx?m=668&amid=6229 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707155026/http://www.uarctic.org/SingleNewsArticle.aspx?m=668&amid=6229 |archive-date=7 July 2014 |access-date=7 February 2016 |website=uarctic.org}}</ref>

With the [[Protestant Reformation]] in 1536, Stavanger's role as a religious center declined, and the establishment of [[Kristiansand]] in the early 17th century led to the relocation of the bishopric. However, rich herring fisheries in the 19th century gave the city new life.

Stavanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]]). On 1 January 1867, a small area of [[Hetland]] municipality (population: 200) was transferred to the city of Stavanger. Again on 1 January 1879, another area of Hetland (population: 1,357) was transferred to Stavanger. Then again on 1 January 1906, the city again annexed another area of Hetland (population: 399). On 1 July 1923, part of Hetland (population: 3,063) was moved to the city once again. Finally on 1 July 1953, a final portion of Hetland (population: 831) was moved to Stavanger. In the 1960s, the work of the [[Schei Committee]] pushed for many municipal mergers across Norway. As a result of this, on 1 January 1965, the city of Stavanger (population: 51,470) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of [[Madla (municipality)|Madla]] (population: 6,025) and most of [[Hetland]] (population: 20,861).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune – og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901160307/http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2012 |access-date=5 May 2016 |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no}}</ref>

The city's history is a continuous alternation between economic booms and recessions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stavanger kommune – Byhistorie<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.stavanger.kommune.no/publikum/divsvg.nsf/svgbyhistorie/$first?opendocument&referer=Byhistorie&sub=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928093934/http://www.stavanger.kommune.no/publikum/divsvg.nsf/svgbyhistorie/$first?opendocument&referer=Byhistorie&sub=1 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |access-date=24 July 2007}}</ref> For long periods of time its most important industries have been [[shipping]], [[shipbuilding]], the fish [[canning industry]] and associated subcontractors.

In 1969, a new boom started as oil was first discovered in the North Sea.<ref name="Stavanger kommune - Byhistorie">{{Cite web |title=Stavanger kommune – Byhistorie<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.stavanger.kommune.no/publikum/Divsvg.nsf/SVGbyhistorie/3952B80210417C4EC12568E30035DD1D?OpenDocument&referer=byhistorie&sub=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621024226/http://www.stavanger.kommune.no/publikum/Divsvg.nsf/SVGbyhistorie/3952B80210417C4EC12568E30035DD1D?OpenDocument&referer=byhistorie&sub=3 |archive-date=21 June 2008}}</ref>
After much discussion, Stavanger was chosen to be the on-shore center for the oil industry on the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and a period of hectic growth followed.<ref name="Stavanger kommune - Byhistorie"/>

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of [[Finnøy]] and [[Rennesøy]] merged with Stavanger to form a new, larger municipality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Om nye Stavanger |url=http://nye.stavanger.kommune.no/om-nye-stavanger/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011243/http://nye.stavanger.kommune.no/om-nye-stavanger/ |archive-date=7 November 2017 |access-date=4 November 2017 |language=no}}</ref>

===City development===
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Stavanger is one of [[Norway]]'s [[List of towns and cities in Norway|oldest cities]]. It emerged in the 12th century during a period of population growth and increasing urbanisation throughout [[northern Europe]]. The [[archaeological]] and historical sources about the first city development are sparse. Therefore, there is much we do not know about the first city development. It stands out as an important area from early times, as a desirable foothold for the [[monarchy]] and the church, as both needed a strong foothold in the [[Western Norway|South West coast]] area. In North [[Jæren]], rich archaeological material suggests that the chiefs held considerable power from the early [[Iron Age]]. Stavanger had a natural harbor and was, with Jæren in the south, strategically important to the county of the East as well as to the shipping route along the western coast and the fertile [[Ryfylke]] Islands in the north.

The earliest [[Christianity|Christian]] impulses in [[Norway]] came to Stavanger region through trade connections with Continental Europe and [[Norse activity in the British Isles|Great Britain]]. This flourished during the [[Viking]] era. In the mid 10th century, traditional Norse burial customs ceased in the Stavanger area, at the same time as the first Christian [[priests]] began their work. Big stone crosses are visible memorials of this early Christian age (including the Tjora and Kvitsøy). On the overland approach to Stavanger, a memorial cross of HERS and [[lendmann]] [[Erling Skjalgsson]] was erected after his fall in 1028. Erling controlled power over the South West coast, and the location of the cross indicates that he had a special connection to Stavanger. The inscription on the cross shows a priest was responsible for the inscription, and he may have performed an early service at a church on site.

Archaeological investigations in the current downtown and in the crypt of the [[Stavanger Cathedral|Cathedral]] show that the great fire of 1272 probably left large parts of the city and the cathedral in ruins, including the Romanesque chancel of the cathedral. The reconstruction after the fire led to the cathedral's Western Front being replaced with a vestibule, as well as to the construction (or reconstruction) of [[St. Mary]]'s Church, Bishop's Chapel, the Gothic cathedral and the expansion of the stone cellar at [[Kongsberg]].

Stavanger has a long history of education in [[Western Europe]]. It was the monastery here that first saw the need to train new employees through education. The first organized teaching in the city probably took place at a Benedictine monastery in the town, either Olav's Monastery or Monastery of people from the mid-12th century.

One of the most important events in Stavanger's city history was the gift letter that King [[Magnus Erlingsson]] gave to Stavanger Bishop Eirik Ivarsson in the second half of the 1100s. Exactly when the king made this gift letter, and under what circumstances it happened, is unknown. It may have been in 1163–1164, in connection with the King Magnus's coronation, but could also have been around 1181–1184, in connection with the support Stavanger Bishop Erik gave King Magnus at the end of the king's fight against the late [[King Sverre]].

It is undoubtedly correct to characterize Stavanger as a church city throughout the [[Middle Ages]], up to the [[Reformation]]. The Reformation, however, dealt a hard blow to the Church in specific and Stavanger in general. The cathedral, the bishop and canons of the monastery had been large landowners. Recession of the city began with the loss of people in rural areas, as a result of which the revenues of the cathedral and the bishop fell dramatically due to reduced rental income. In 1537 the bishop's and the monastery's estate and property was confiscated by the king. Kongsberg was plundered by Christoffer Trondsen in 1539, at which time St. Swithun's casket disappeared and Bishop Hoskuld Hoskuldsson may have been executed.

===World War II===
{{More citations needed section|dateMarch 2016|date=March 2016}}
In a prelude to the invasion, on 8 April, the German freighter {{MS|Roda|1928|2}} (6,780 grt.) anchored by Ulsnes. ''Roda'' was reportedly loaded with [[Coke (fuel)|coke]], but customs officials and police authorities became suspicious about other cargo when they observed that the ship was not riding deep in the water. The ship was boarded and was ordered to move to Riska. However, ''Roda'' did not move, and the captain of the {{HNoMS|Æger|1936|2}}, [[Niels Larsen Bruun]], decided on his own initiative to sink the ship. After sending the crew off in lifeboats, ''Æger'' used 25 shots with {{cvt|10|cm|adj=on}} Bofors guns to sink ''Roda''.

Early on the morning of 9 April 1940, explosions and bomb blasts from [[Sola, Norway|Sola]]-edge and news bulletins on radio announced the German attack on [[Norway]]. [[Stavanger Airport, Sola|Sola Airport]] was the Germans' first target on North [[Jæren]]. The airport was attacked by six German Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters at around 8 am. The airport had been built in 1937, and in April 1940 fortifications round the airport were not yet complete. Fortifications consisted of a concrete [[bunker]] still under construction and several open shooting positions. Armament consisted of three heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, three heavy machine guns configured for ground targets, and some light machine guns at the disposal of the approximately 80 soldiers who defended the airport. The bomber wing was transferred to Sola Airport in 1939, but the planes, a total of six Fokker and three Caproni aircraft, were old and outdated. Shortly after the attack began, however, they took off.

The German air attack increased in intensity. The [[bombardment]] lasted for about an hour before 10 slow Ju 52 transport aircraft arrived over the airport. They had taken off from the airport at [[Hamburg Airport|Hamburg]] a few hours earlier. In a parachute assault, the transport planes first dropped yellow containers containing weapons and equipment, then between 10 and 12 paratroopers from each plane. This was only the second ever wartime parachute assault; the first had occurred only three hours earlier, when a bridge south of [[Denmark]] was captured in the same way. At the Sola airport, the concrete bunker held out longest, but was eventually put out of action with a hand grenade. While [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[soldier]]s were badly injured in the attempted defense, there were no fatalities; in contrast, the Germans lost several. Lieutenant Thor Tang, who led the Norwegian defense of the airport, capitulated at 10:00, and the Germans immediately began landing troops, fuel and other supplies. In all, 200 to 300 transport aircraft arrived in Sola during invasion day, and by evening several hundred soldiers and large quantities of materiel had been moved from Germany to Sola.

By around 12:30 on 9 April, the first German troops advanced into Stavanger without resistance. The police station, telephone office, telegraph center, post office, port office, customs house and the gas company were the most important places, and now came under control of the Germans. The city was conquered without conflict, but the first sparks of resistance had been ignited, and several men left the city and made their way to the Norwegian troops inside [[Gjesdal]], there to join the armed struggle against the enemy.

The Germans had placed a high priority to have a good railway connection between the air base at [[Sola, Norway|Sola]] – Stavanger district, and the rest of the [[Norway|country]]. However, it was not until 29 April 1944, that the [[Sørlandsbanen|Southern Railway]] was completed to Stavanger. In 1940, the [[Germans]] had envisioned it to be completed no later than 1 November 1941.

After [[Hitler]]'s death in 1945, Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] took over leadership of the German forces, and on 9 May 1945, gave the head of the German armed forces in Norway, General [[Franz Böhme]], orders that "Reichskommissar" in Norway, Josef Terboven, was deposed and that all his duties were transferred to Böhme. To Böhme, in turn, he gave the task of how the capitulation of Festung Norwegen was to be implemented. There were around 15,000 German soldiers in [[Rogaland]] in 1945, and it was there where the commander of 274 Infantry Division, General Weckman, gave the formal German surrender.

Before repatriation, the Germans were required to remain and clean up after five years of occupation. There were 180 German minefields in [[Rogaland]], with a total of 480,000 mines, all of which the German Wehrmacht were required to clear. Sixty-two Germans were killed and 94 were injured during mine clearance in Rogaland. Mines from this period continue to be uncovered.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 February 2017 |title=Minefunn på Hellestøstranden |url=https://www.aftenbladet.no/lokalt/i/G7aMq/Minefunn-pa-Hellestostranden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826183058/https://www.aftenbladet.no/lokalt/i/G7aMq/Minefunn-pa-Hellestostranden |archive-date=26 August 2018 |access-date=26 August 2018}}</ref>

===Oil capital===
[[File:StatfjordA(Jarvin1982).jpg|thumb|right|The oil platform Statfjord A in 1982. Stavanger today reigns as a center for the [[Petroleum|oil]] industry in Norway]]
In 1969, a new boom started as [[Petroleum|oil]] was first discovered in the [[North Sea]].
<ref name="Stavanger kommune - Byhistorie"/>
After much discussion, Stavanger was chosen to be the on-shore center for the oil industry on the [[Norway|Norwegian]] sector of the North Sea, and a period of hectic growth followed.<ref name="Stavanger kommune - Byhistorie"/>

In March 1965 an agreement was signed between [[Norway]] and the [[United Kingdom]] on the sharing of the continental shelf by the median line principle. That same year a similar agreement was signed between Norway and [[Denmark]]. It was designed as a legal regime for oil exploration. The first licensing round on the Norwegian shelf was announced on 13 April 1965, and in August of that same year the government granted 22 licenses for 78 blocks for oil companies or groups of companies. The production license gave oil companies exclusive rights to exploration, drilling and production in a defined geographical area for a given period at an annual fee. [[Esso]] was the first oil company to start drilling for oil off the coast of Norway. The semi-submersible drilling vessel [[Ocean Traveler]] was towed from [[New Orleans]] to Norway, and the vessel began drilling on 19 July 1966, at block 8/3, about {{cvt|180|km}} southwest of Stavanger.

===Coat of arms===
[[Hallvard Trætteberg]] (1898–1987), a leading specialist in heraldry, was commissioned to design the official [[coat of arms]] of Stavanger, a work that lasted from the end of the 1920s until approved on 11 August 1939. His design is also used as the city's arms, flag, and seal. The coat of arms is based upon a seal which dated from 1591. It shows a branch of [[vine]] (''[[Vitis vinifera]]''). Which leaves and branch type that is depicted on the coat of arms has been hotly debated. The original meaning and representation of the vine remains unknown.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 1964 |title=The Coat of Arms of Norway |journal=The American-Scandinavian Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway – Norske Kommunevåpen |url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Stavanger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806085101/http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Stavanger |archive-date=6 August 2016 |access-date=4 May 2016 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref>

===Origin of the name===
The [[Old Norse]] form of the name was ''Stafangr''. The origin of the name has been discussed for decades, and the most used interpretation is that it originally was the name of the inlet now called Vågen, which was the original site of the city, on the east shore of the bay.<ref name="snl" />

The first element of the name is ''stafr'' meaning 'staff' or 'branch'. This could refer to the form of the inlet, but also to the form of the mountain Valberget (''Staven'' meaning 'the staff,' is a common name of high and steep mountains in Norway). The last element is ''angr'' meaning 'inlet, bay'. Facing the [[North Sea]], Stavanger has always been economically dependent on its access to the sea.<ref name="snl" />