Historical and old photos of Ålesund, Møre and Romsdal

A small historical reference Geography: Ålesund is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality, as well as the principle shipping town of the Sunnmøre district. The town is a sea port and is noted for its concentration of Art Nouveau architecture. Although sometimes internationally spelled by its older name Aalesund, this spelling is obsolete in Norwegian. However, the local football club Aalesunds FK still carries that spelling, having been founded before the official change. The 99-square-kilometre (38 sq mi) municipality is the 382nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Ålesund is the 17th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 47,199. The municipality's population density is 506.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,312/sq mi) and its population has increased by 14% over the last decade. Date of foundation: 1 Jan 1838 History: Population: 66 148 Sights:
Air view of city, 1909	Air view of city, 1956	Air view of city	Aspø new school
Borgund Church, 1940s	Corner of Kipervikgata and Rådstugata streets, 1910	Emperor Wilhelm's street, 1910	Gymnasium

Harbor, 1941	Harbor	Harbor, boats, 1957	King's arrival at the Church Garden, 1906
Kongensgate - King's street, 1908	Øvregata - Upper street	Panorama of the city, circa 1890	Panorama of the city, 1952

Panorama of city houses, 1950	Pharmacy Square - Bank and Apotheka	Pharmacy Square - Bridge, Bank and Apotheka	Rutebilstasjonen - Bus station
St Olav's Square, 1940	Storgata - Big street, 1908	Trading of herring, 1920	View from the south side of Aksla, 1953

History

Legend has it that Gangerolf (outside of Norway better known as Rollo), the 10th-century founder of the dynasty of the dukes of Normandy, hailed from the community of Giske, north-west of Ålesund. At least three statues of Rolle exist: in the town park in Ålesund, in the city of Rouen, France, and in Fargo, North Dakota, United States.

In 1835, Ålesund had 482 inhabitants.[6] By 1900, the population had increased to 11,777.

In the night of 23 January 1904, the town was the scene of the Ålesund Fire, one of the most terrible of the many conflagrations to which Norwegian towns, once built largely of wood, have been subjected. Practically the entire town was destroyed during the night, a gale aiding the flames, and the population had to leave the town in the middle of the night with only a few minutes' notice. Only one person died in the fire, the 76-year-old Ane Heen, but more than 10,000 people were left without shelter.

Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had often been on vacation to Sunnmøre. After the fire, he sent four warships with materials to build temporary shelters and barracks. After a period of planning, the town was rebuilt in stone, brick, and mortar in Jugendstil (Art Nouveau), the architectural style of the time. The structures were designed by approximately 20 master builders and 30 Norwegian architects, most of them educated in Trondheim and Charlottenburg, Berlin, drawing inspiration from all over Europe. To honor Wilhelm, one of the most frequented streets of the town is named after him.

The town has an unusually consistent architecture, most of the buildings having been built between 1904 and 1907. Jugendstilsenteret is a national interpretation centre, visitors can learn more about the town fire, the rebuilding of the town and the Art Nouveau style. Ålesund is a partner in the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, safeguards and development of the Art nouveau.

The term "Little London" was often applied to the community during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany due to the Norwegian resistance work that took place here. Among other things, the city was central to the flights to Scotland and England.

Origin: en.wikipedia.org