Halden

Halden lies where the Tista runs out into the Iddefjord, right on the Swedish border. The first thing you see is Fredriksten fortress, grey walls and towers strung along the bare rock above the south side of town. Below it, the old centre around the harbour was rebuilt in one go after the big fire of 1826, so it all looks much the same age: low Empire-style houses, the old customs house and a row of seaside warehouses. Upriver, the Saugbrugs paper mill still works, and the E6 crosses into Sweden at Svinesund just west of town.

Local knowledge: the name comes from Old Norse hallr, a slope, and points at the steep rock above the river mouth. The town got its charter in 1665 as Fredrikshald, after King Frederik III, and only took the old name back in 1928. On the night of 4 July 1716, Charles XII of Sweden stormed it with about 1.500 men, and the defenders pulled back into the fortress. The king moved into William Walker's house in town. Across the street lived Maria Colbjørnsdatter, who asked to send a bundle of clothes up to her brother Peder. Hidden in it was a note saying which house the king was in, and soon cannonballs were flying over his roof. When the guns couldn't set the town alight, the townspeople did it themselves, Peder Colbjørnsen's own house first, and the Swedes had to pull out. The national anthem still tells Norwegians to remember what happened at Fredrikshald. Charles came back in 1718, and on the evening of 11 December he was shot dead in a trench in front of the fortress. Who fired is still argued about.

Born here: Arnstein Arneberg (1882–1961) drew the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy and, together with Magnus Poulsson, Oslo City Hall. Sven Elvestad (1884–1934) wrote about 100 detective stories as Stein Riverton, and Norway's yearly prize for the best crime novel is named after him.

Visiting: the pin is on Torget, the square by the harbour. From the centre a footpath called Karl XIIs sti climbs to the fortress, where you get the whole town and fjord below you, plus a hotel, restaurants and a Norwegian-Swedish monument from 1938 to Charles XII and the men who held Fredriksten. Halden museum inside the walls tells the story from the 1640s to 1905 and is the place to be when it rains, open in summer and at weekends into September. Back in town, Fredrikshalds Teater from 1838 is still in use. The skerries of Ytre Hvaler National Park lie out beyond the Hvaler islands.

Fact sheet

• People: 26.348 in Halden, 32.082 in Halden municipality
• County: Østfold
• Town since: 1665 (as a trading town)
• Typical industries: nursing and care homes, car sales and repair

Population on 1 January 2026, from Statistics Norway. Typical industries are the ones with a much bigger share of the jobs here than in Norway as a whole (Statistics Norway, 2025).