___________
Ulf Hjorth-Moritzsen 

Tromsø received trading privileges in 1794 and consequently became a town at the same time. Before that, Tromsø was mostly known, or if known at all, as a parish location with a church serving the surrounding area.

Going further back in time, remnants from settlements in the area can be traced all the way back to the Stone Age. Remnants from that period are however rare, and there are no indications that many people lived in the area at that time. Later during the Viking Age more people moved here, and during the reign of Håkon Håkonsønn so many people lived in the area around Tromsø that the king decided to build a church in order to provide salvage and the word of God for the people. The first church in Tromsø was mentioned in the saga of King Håkon Håkonsønn, which dates the establishment to around 1250. The church was built from wood and unfortunately no traces of the church remains to day. The church was probably located at the same spot as the present City Cathedral.
 
The first Pope mentioning Tromsø was Clemens V. In a letter written in Poitiers and dated February 5. 1308 the Pope refer to the church as “Ecclesia, sanctæ, Mariæ de Trums juxta paganos”, i.e. The holy church of Maria in Troms, close to the heathens”.
 
After that Tromsø is mentioned occasionally by various sources, mostly by the church. The information from this period is scarce and we do not know very much about the daily life of people in this area, who they were and how they lived.

The first census for Tromsø was completed in 1700, showing that few people lived on the island. A few farms together with the rectory constituted the entire population. The situation was not much better when in 1794 Tromsø became a town. A custom house had been raised together with a number of houses providing shelter for churchgoers and other visitors. Beside that the town consisted of the rectory, the church, a school building and some other farms scattered around the island.

Still some years should pass by before the Tromsø started to grow. The turning point took place in 1818 when the Norwegian government granted Tromsø the rights to do business with Russian traders. This led in next order to increased trade with Bremen , Holland and Copenhagen .
In 1818 the number of domestic buildings in Tromsø was 34 in addition to the church. A total of 18 businessmen resided in the town and some of them had also purchased their own ships. In 1819 the population is reported to be 300 – 400 people.

In 1825 has the population increased to 738 and the number of houses is 86. The businessmen of Tromsø established during this period strong ties to trading houses in other countries like Russia , Germany , Holland , Denmark and Italia. In exchange for flour, ropes, tar, salt, and other groceries Tromsø provided fish and fur.

The trade was flourishing and in 1835 the population had increased to 1365 and the number of businessmen was now 30.

The international orientation established during this historical period of Tromsø has in many ways characterized the town all the way up to our own time.
Visitor from other countries expecting to be met by uncivilized savages was surprised that the people of Tromsø not only ate their food cooked, but they were also dressed in the latest fashions from continental Europe . They enjoyed art and other beautiful things in life. The little town could show off a reading society, a theatre group had been established and musical entertainment was available from various sources, and even the world’s first skiing competition took place in Tromsø.

Still today the people of Tromsø seek out, and unlike most other Norwegians they prefer to meet each other over a glass of beer. They are probably more extrovert than people from other places in Norway and they prefer socializing instead of isolation.

This very short story about the first few years of Tromsø, must in order to be short, end now. The rest of the story is history and must be read elsewhere.