Brønnøysund

Brønnøysund (ˈbrœ̂nːœʏˌsʉn) is a town and the administrative centre of Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is also a former municipality within Nordland county. The village of Brønnøysund originally was declared a ladested in 1923 which made it an independent municipality. After merging with Brønnøy in 1964, it lost its town status. Then in 2000, it once again received town status. The town lies along the coast and is often called "the coastal town in the middle of Norway." Brønnøysund is also the regional center of Southern Helgeland. The town has a population (2018) of 5,045 and a population density of . During the Viking era, Torgar, by the foot of the legendary mountain Torghatten, was a nationally powerful chieftain seat and an important commercial center along the coast. The original inhabitants were wiped out in an outright massacre by Duke Skule and his men in the Norwegian civil wars that raged around 1240, in the high medieval era of Norway. The region was re-populated by immigrants from Southern Norway, Trøndelag, and Sweden, which could explain the unique dialect with a Swedish-like intonation. In May 1945 "the prisoners [foreign POWs] from Ylvingen" were transported by ship from the harbour at Brønnøysund. ("the song saved my life") documents the farewell to Igor Trapitsin and the other Soviet ex-POWs from the harbour at Brønnøysund. The town (and former municipality) is named Brønnøysund after the small island Brønnøya (Brunnøy) since it is located on the island. The first element is brunnr which means "well" and the second element is øy which means "island". The final element of the name is sund which means "strait", referring to the strait of water that flows alongside the island and town. Islands with freshwater wells were important for seafarers. The village of Brønnøysund was established as a municipality on 1 January 1923 when it was separated from Brønnøy Municipality when it became a ladested (town) and municipality of its own.