Berg, Østfold

Berg is a former parish and municipality which now forms part of Halden municipality in Østfold county, Norway.

History

Berg was the main parish in a district which included Rokke and Halden until 1721. Halden subsequently became the main parish in the district. By a royal proclamation in 1769, Berg became the head of its own district with Rokke and Asak as annexes. The parish of Berg was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality was (together with Idd) was merged with the city of Halden on January 1, 1967. Berg Church (Berg kirke) dates from 1100. It is built of stone and has 260 seats. An old pulpit from 1592 is now at the Folkemuseum. Access to the site is via county road 104 and county road 931.

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the farm Berg (Norse Berg), since the first church was built on its ground. The name is identical with the word berg n 'rocky hill; mountain'.

References

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Østfold

Østfold [ˈœstˈfɔl]  ( listen) is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side of Oslofjord. The county's administrative seat is Sarpsborg.

Many manufacturing facilities are situated here, such as the world's most advanced biorefinery, Borregaard in Sarpsborg. Moss (Moss Verft) and Fredrikstad have shipyards. There are granite mines in Østfold and stone from these were used by Gustav Vigeland.

The county slogan is "The heartland of Scandinavia". The local dialect is characterized by its geographical proximity to Sweden.

The name

The old name of the Oslofjord was Fold; Østfold means 'the region east of the Fold' (see also Vestfold). The name was first recorded in 1543; in the Middle Ages the name of the county was Borgarsysla 'the county/sýsla of the city Borg (now Sarpsborg)'. Later, when Norway was under Danish rule, the Danish king divided the area into many baronies. These were merged into one county (amt) in 1662 - and it was then named Smaalenenes Amt 'the amt consisting of small len'. The name was changed back to Østfold in 1919.