Төрсберг: Норвегияның ең көне қаласының тарихы

the city located within Tønsberg Municipality

Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city

Tønsberg is generally regarded as the oldest city in Norway, founded in the 9th century. Snorri Sturluson mentions the town in Harald Hårfagre's saga (written around 1220) before the battle at Hafrsfjord, which historians have traditionally dated to the year 872, therefore the town was in existence by 871 at the latest. This dating is again based on Are Frode's book, Íslendingabók. Using this information, Tønsberg celebrated its one thousandth anniversary in 1871 and its 1100th anniversary in 1971. Archaeological findings confirm that there was a farm settlement in Tønsberg at the end of the 8th century, which likely developed into a town during the early 9th century. The city of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The rural Sem Municipality was merged with the city of Tønsberg on 1 January 1988, creating a much larger Tønsberg Municipality. The neighboring Re Municipality was merged into Tønsberg on 1 January 2020.

For a long time, the city did not have a formal coat of arms, but instead an old medieval seal dating back to 1349 was used in its place. The blue and white circular seal shows the Tønsberg Fortress surrounded by a ring wall on a mountain with the sea in front. There is also a longship in the water in front of the fortress. Around the seal are the Latin words SIGILLVM BVRGENSIVM D'TVNESBER which means "This is the seal of Tunsberg". The seal was also used for Tønsberg Municipality until 2020.

Tønsberg is the oldest city in Norway, founded by Harald Fairhair in the 9th century. It was also an ancient capital of Norway. The first time the town was mentioned by a contemporary writer was in 1130. According to Snorri Sturluson, Tønsberg was founded before the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which, according to Snorri, took place in 871. The year of the battle is disputed and most current historians believe it was closer to 900. If it took place in 871, this makes Tønsberg one of the oldest present Scandinavian cities. It was based upon this that the city's 1000 years jubilee was celebrated in 1871, and 1100 years jubilee in 1971. The archaeological excavations conducted in 1987–88 underneath the monastery ruins revealed several Viking graves which have served to confirm the earlier age of the original settlement. The King or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at Sæheimr, today the Jarlsberg Manor (Jarlsberg Hovedgård), and on the farm Haugar, (from the Old Norse word haugr meaning hill or burial mound), which can be assumed to have been Tønsberg's birthplace. Haugar became the seat for the Haugating, the Thing for Vestfold and Norway's second most important place for the proclamation of kings. The site had probably been named after two Viking Age mounds, which tradition links to two sons of King Harald I, Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, who was king in Vestfold, and his half brother, Sigrød Haraldsson, King of Trondheim. Both are presumed to have fallen in battle at Haugar against their half brother Eric Bloodaxe and to have been buried on the same spot. Slottsfjellet (Castle Mountain), north of the city centre, made for a near impregnable natural fortress. During the civil war era of the 12th century, it was fortified by the Baglers. The Birkebeiners besieged it for 20 weeks in the winter of 1201 before the Baglers surrendered. In the 13th century, King Haakon Haakonson set up a castle in Tønsberg, Tønsberg Fortress. The town was destroyed by fire in 1536, but Tønsberg remained one of the most important harbour towns in Norway. James VI of Scotland stopped in Tønsberg on his way to meet Anne of Denmark in Oslo, and David Lindsay gave a sermon on 16 November 1589. The event was recorded by a painted inscription in the church, which survives in the museum.

The center of the world's modern whaling industry was concentrated in the cities of Tønsberg and neighboring Sandefjord and Larvik, all of which were the dominant whaling towns in Norway. While whalers from Sandefjord established the first whaling station in the Faroe Islands, whalers from Tønsberg initiated whaling in Iceland and the Hebrides. Tønsberg has been called "the cradle of modern whaling". The first whaling ventures to Antarctica was led by engineer Henrik Henriksen of Tønsberg. Henrik Johan Bull was another noted whaler from the city, known for his expeditions to Antarctica. Bull traveled from Australia to Tønsberg in order to learn from local whaler Svend Foyn, who is recognized as the pioneer of the modern whaling industry. One of the city's most prominent residents, Svend Foyn, was a pioneer who embarked on an 1847 expedition to the Arctic, which led to a catch of 6,000 seals. Soon Tønsberg Harbor was home to a large fleet of sealing vessels, and the sealing industry grew further after the 1849 repeal of Britain's Navigation Acts. The hunters turned the seals to near extinction in the Arctic Ocean, and therefore turned to Bottle nosed whales during the 1870s. Norway maintained a monopoly on European whaling until 1883, first and foremost due to Svend Foyn's patent rights to whaling techniques and inventions. Over hunting in the Arctic eventually drove the whalers to Antarctica. By the beginning of the 20th century, Tønsberg had lost its preeminence in the whaling industry to the neighboring city of Sandefjord. Sandefjord, which lies just southwest of Tønsberg, later became known as the world's whaling capital.

During the German occupation of Norway in World War II, the Berg concentration camp was constructed near Tønsberg. In 1948, Tønsberg became the cathedral city of the Diocese of Tunsberg (Tunsberg bispedømme), based at the Tønsberg Cathedral. The diocese was created when the counties of Buskerud and Vestfold were separated from the Diocese of Oslo.

Tønsberg is a city southeastern in Vestfold County, on the western shore of the Oslofjord. Tønsberg lies north of Færder, south of Horten, and north east of Sandefjord. It is the ninth largest city in Norway (by population). The highest point in the city of Tønsberg is the tall Frodeåsen hill on the north side of the city.

FK Tønsberg is the premier football team in Tønsberg, currently playing in the 2. divisjon as of 2017. Tønsberg Vikings is the local hockey team, who play at the Tønsberg Ishall. The club played in the GET ligaen until 2014. The Maier Arena Tønsberg is an outdoor ice skating arena on the same site as the Tønsberg Ishall and is used for speed skating. It once hosted motorcycle speedway, being the venue for the 1950 Norwegian Championship. Tønsberg hosted a round of the powerboating UIM F2 World Championship from 2014 2018.