Important dates in Kragerø’s history

1666: Kragerø is granted a royal charter as a market town.

The 1600s: The origins of the Gunnarsholmen Coastal Fort can be traced back to the 1600s. Three of the cannons on the north bastion date to the 1700s and the others to the first half of the 1800s.

Approx. 1660-1670: Barthebrygga, Kragerø’s oldest existing neighbourhood, is probably built up at about this time.

1783: Kragerø becomes an independent parish.

Approx. 1790-1897: “The Golden Years” – Kragerø’s most prosperous period.

1811: Peter Andreas Heuch, merchant of Kragerø, donates 15,000 riksdaler towards the establishment of a university in Oslo. This is nearly the same amount contributed by the entire city of Bergen.

1857: The artist Theodor Kittelsen is born in Kragerø. His childhood home in the centre of town is now a museum. A bust of the artist has been erected in the grounds of the police station.

1862: Skåtøy Church is built. This is Norway’s third largest wooden church.

1867: Kragerø’s town hall is built in the so-call Swiss Style according to plans drawn up by Emil Victor Langlet, architect for the Parliament Building in Oslo. It is first used as the private home of the Biørn family.

1875: Kragerø is now the country’s sixth largest shipping town. The town’s fleet consists of 170 ships whose crews total 1,614 sailors.

1882: The three municipalities Skaatø, Sandøkedal Parish and Kragerø are created.

1885: Football is introduced to Kragerø by Georg Dahll. This is the first incidence of the game in Norway.

1886: The last great town fire breaks out in Kragerø on 15 June 1886, destroying 192 buildings in three districts and leaving 1,500 people homeless.

1909: The artist Edvard Munch settles in Kragerø. The years he spends in Kragerø are among his most productive.

1916: The fountain in Biørnsborg Park, created by the sculptor Gustav Vigeland, is donated by former Kragerø residents to commemorate the city’s 250th Anniversary.

1998: A statue of Edvard Munch is erected at Skrubben. It was made by Per Elsdorff.

2002: Opening of Nordraak Park in memory of Rikard Nordraak and Bjørnstjerne Bjornson. They wrote the words and music, respectively, to Norway’s national anthem. Both men’s families originally came from Kragerø.