Askim

Askim kommune
Askim kommune
	Municipality
; Coat of arms	; Østfold within; Norway
	; Askim within Østfold
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Country	Norway
County	Østfold
District	Smaalenene
Administrative centre	Askim
Government
• Mayor (2011)	Thor Hals (H)
Area
• Total	69 km2 (27 sq mi)
• Land	66 km2 (25 sq mi)
Area rank	409 in Norway
Population (30. June 2014)
• Total	15,511
• Rank	71 in Norway
• Density	225/km2 (580/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	9.0 %
Demonym(s)	Askiming
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0124
Official language form	Bokmål
Website	www.askim.kommune.no
	Data from Statistics Norway

<phonos file="Askim.ogg">Askim</phonos> is a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Askim. Askim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

Askim is the largest population centre in Indre Østfold with 15 315 inhabitants (2012), and surves as a regional senter for 9 municipalities in Indre Østfold. It lies next to the longest river in Norway, Glomma, which forms the border with Spydeberg to the north and west, and Skiptvet to the south. Askim also borders Trøgstad to the northeast and Eidsberg to the southeast.

Askim produces large amounts of hydroelectricity at three dams. From upstream to downstream: Solbergfoss, Kykkelsrud, then Vamma. There was nickel mining at Kykkelsrud at the turn of the 20th century. These mines are also one of the few places where "kulenoritt" is found.

An industrial city for most of the 20th century, the main employer, Viking, shut down its rubber product manufaction in 1991. Glava is the main employer today.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Askim farm (Old Norse: Askheimr), since the first church was built here. The first element is askr which means "ash tree" and the last element is heimr which means "home", "homestead", or "farm".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 1 November 1963. The arms symbolize the three large waterfalls in the municipality, the Solbergfoss, Kykkelsrudfoss, and Vammafoss. The rivers and waterfalls are also partially harnessed for hydroelectric power.^[3]

Transportation

European route E18 used to go through the city centre, however, since the recent upgrade to four-lane highway in 2005, its route now runs outside the centre. Norges Statsbaner's Eastern Østfold Line serves the municipality with stops at Langnes Station and Næringsparken and Askim Station in between.

History

Askim has always been a strategic point in wars due to its relative easy crossing of the river. The last battle between Norway and Sweden was fought at the crossing over Glomma on 9 August 1814. There is a yearly historical reenactment, as well as a stone monument at Langnes to commemorate this event.

During the Norwegian Campaign of World War II, a battle occurred at Fossum Bridge when the Norwegian Army defended the crossing against invading Germans in April 1940.