Molde () is a city in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The city is located along the Moldefjorden and the river Molde. The city is the largest urban and commercial centre of the Romsdal region as well as the administrative centre of Molde Municipality and of Møre og Romsdal county. The Church of Norway's Diocese of Møre is also based at the Molde Cathedral.
Molde has a maritime, temperate climate, with cool-to-warm summers, and relatively mild winters. It is nicknamed The Town of Roses.
The settlement emerged as a shipping port for lumber to the Netherlands in the late 1500s. Formal trading rights were granted at some point before 1604, and the town was incorporated through a royal charter in 1742. Bolsøy Municipality, which later merged with Molde town, was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).
The town continued to grow throughout the 17th to 19th centuries, becoming a centre for the Norwegian textile and garment industry, as well as the administrative centre for the region, and was a major tourist destination until World War I. After World War II, Molde experienced accelerated growth, merging with Bolsøy Municipality and parts of Veøy Municipality and Nord-Aukra Municipality on 1 January 1964, making the municipality much larger than the urban area of the town of Molde. On 1 January 2020, the municipality was expanded again through the incorporation of the neighboring municipalities of Midsund and Nesset.
The town has a population (2019) of 21,103 and a population density of .
Name
The town is named after the original settlement on the farmstead of Molde (). The name is the plural form of either mold which means "fertile soil" or which means "skull" or "mold" (thus in reference to the rounded peaks in Moldemarka).
Pronunciation varies between the standard Molde and the rural Molle. A person from Molde will refer to him/herself as a Moldenser or Moldensar.
History
Human presense in the area can be traced to at least 3000-4500 BC, the age of two petroglyphs found at Bjørset, west of the city centre. The town's current location dates from the lumber trade of the late 1500s, but is preceded by the early medieval settlement on the nearby island of Veøya, an island to the south of present-day town of Molde. The settlement at Veøya probably dates from the Migration Period, but is first mentioned in the sagas by Snorri Sturluson as the location of the Battle of Sekken in 1162, where king Håkon the Broad-shouldered was killed fighting the aristocrat Erling Skakke, during the Norwegian civil wars. During this time, Veøya was the region's commercial and administrative hub.
Veøya's influence was abruptly stopped during the Black Death, and the island was eventually deserted. As Dutch demand for lumber grew in the 16th century, a minor trading port named Moldefjæra (Molde Landing) emerged on the shore of Molde farm. Trading rights were granted at some point before 1604.
In 1672, Molde became the administrative centre of Romsdalen Amt and was incorporated as a kjøpstad through a royal charter in 1742. Molde continued to grow throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, becoming a centre for the Norwegian textile and garment industry. Tourism later became a major industry, and Molde saw notables such as the German emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and the Prince of Wales as regular summer visitors. Molde consisted of luxurious hotels surrounding an idyllic township with quaint, wooden houses, lush gardens and parks, esplanades and pavilions, earning it the nickname the Town of Roses. This was interrupted when one third of the city was destroyed in a fire on 21 January 1916. However, Molde recovered and continued to grow in the economically difficult interbellum period.
During WWII, Molde was bombed by the Luftwaffe in order to deny recently landed British forces a foothold in Central Norway. 217 buildings, two thirds of the town, was destroyed and a further 240 were partially damaged.
Molde was in effect the capital of Norway for a week after King Haakon, Crown Prince Olav, and members of the government and parliament arrived at Molde on April 23, after a dramatic flight from Oslo. They were put up at Glomstua, then at the western outskirts of the town, and experienced the bombing raids personally. The Norwegian gold reserve was also conveyed to Molde, and was hidden in a clothing factory.