Editing Kristiansand (section)

===Foundation to 1900===
[[File:Monument King Christian IV Kristianssand Noreg.JPG|thumb|right|Monument of King Christian IV, located in the Festningsgaten (The Fortress Street), Kristiansand. The plaque reads: "Christian IV Grunnla Vår By Anno 1641" - "Christian IV Founded Our City Anno 1641".]]
Christian IV (renowned for having founded many towns) visited the location in 1630 and 1635, and on 5 July 1641 formally founded the town of ''Christianssand'' on the "sand" on the opposite bank of the Torridalselva (Otra). The town was laid out in [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] style on a [[grid plan]] (the central section now known as ''Kvadraturen'' = The Quarters), and merchants throughout Agder were commanded to move to the new town. In return, they were to receive a variety of trading privileges and a ten-year tax exemption.

In 1666, Christianssand became a [[garrison]] town and was heavily fortified. In 1682, King [[Christian V]] decided to relocate the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark|bishopric]] there from [[Stavanger]]. Hence, the young city became the main city of the Christiansand Stift.

Christianssand experienced its first fire in 1734, which was devastating to the city. Later in the 18th century, after the [[American Revolutionary War]], the town's shipbuilders experienced an economic boom that lasted until the [[Napoleonic Wars]], which struck a severe blow to Kristiansand's overseas trade. [[Denmark–Norway]] supported France in the conflict, and as a result Norwegian ports including Kristiansand were [[blockade]]d by the [[Royal Navy]], as recounted in [[Henrik Ibsen]]'s ''[[Terje Vigen]]''. By the 1830s, the town's economy began to rebound, and the growth in the Norwegian shipping industry was important for Kristiansand. It was the only part of Norway where oak trees flourished, a major resource for the country's shipbuilding industry. Large numbers of lobsters were collected off the coast and sent to [[London]] during the mid-19th century. The population of Kristiansand was about 12,000 people by 1848.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol IV |date=1848 |publisher=Charles Knight |edition=First |location=London |page=526}}</ref>

On 1 January 1838, the new [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law went into effect. This new law granted municipal self-government throughout Norway. As a city, it formed its own municipal government and it was surrounded by the rural municipality of [[Oddernes (municipality)|Oddernes]].<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

The City of Kristiansand had a quarantine station for maritime traffic and hospital at [[Odderøy Island]] for [[cholera]] patients that opened in 1804. The city had far fewer deaths than the surrounding area, largely attributable to the quarantine station and the hospital. For example, during the period of 1833–1866, [[Drammen]] had 544 cholera patients, of which 336 died. During this same period, Kristiansand only experienced 15 deaths from cholera.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Torstveit |first1=L. |last2=Vesterhus |first2=P. |date=15 December 2005 |title=Kolera og karantene i Kristiansand |trans-title=Cholera and quarantine in Kristiansand |url=http://tidsskriftet.no/2005/12/medisinsk-historie/kolera-og-karantene-i-kristiansand |url-status=live |journal=Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen |language=no, en |volume=125 |issue=24 |pages=3490–3 |pmid=16357901 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830174226/https://tidsskriftet.no/2005/12/medisinsk-historie/kolera-og-karantene-i-kristiansand |archive-date=30 August 2018 |access-date=2 May 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Kart over Kristiansand (1887).jpg|thumb|left|Map of downtown Kristiansand from 1887]]
Another important development during the 19th century was the foundation in 1881 of ''{{Not a typo|E|g}} Sindssygeasyl'', the second central psychiatric institution in Norway (after [[Gaustad]]). The psychiatric hospital drew highly specialized doctors to the city and also provided many jobs for women.

The most recent major fire, in 1892, left half the original section of the city in ashes. It burned buildings as far as [[Kristiansand Cathedral|the cathedral]], which had been rebuilt in brick after a previous fire in 1880.