Stathelle

Stathelle Church is located in the town. For a long time, Stathelle and the neighboring town of Langesund have been grouped together as part of the Porsgrunn/Skien metropolitan area and because of this, the population and area data for this town has not been separately tracked by Statistics Norway. What is tracked, is the portion of the metropolitan area located in Bamble Municipality. In 2025, the Langesund/Stathelle area in Bamble Municipality measured 6.35 km2 and together they had a population of.

• Official Name — Stathelle • Type — Town/City • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Norway • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Eastern Norway • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Name2 — Telemark • Subdivision Type3 — District • Subdivision Name3 — Grenland • Subdivision Type4 — Municipality • Subdivision Name4 — Bamble Municipality • Time Zone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +01:00 • Time Zone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +02:00 • Established Title — Established as • Established Title1 — Ladested • Established Date1 — 1774–1963 • Established Title3 — Town (By) • Established Date3 — 1997 • Postal Code Type — Post Code • Postal Code — 3960 Stathelle • Elevation M — 4

In Norway, municipalities are the unit of local government. This means that cities and towns are simply designations for urban areas, but under current Norwegian law, they have no actual government authority. The town of Stathelle lies within Bamble Municipality and is therefore governed by the municipal council of Bamble Municipality.

Stathelle is an old trading town and it was granted limited ladested rights (port town status) on 22 February 1774. In the middle of the 1800s, Stathelle was an enterprising seaport, characterized by the trading house established by Albert Blehr on Kjellestad, which was one of the nation's largest timber exporters. (Today there is a marina and a park in the same area.) Brevik bridge was constructed during 1962. Previously travelers along the southern highway between Oslo and Stavanger had to take the ferry between the towns of Brevik and Stathelle. Hansen & Arntzen Co AS is a traditional shipyard in Stathelle that specializes in the restoration of vessels. Hansen & Arntzen AS Ekstrand Co. was established in 1929 as a family business. The company is known for its significant repair and restoration projects. Many famous ships have been restored there, including the Norwegian Royal Yacht HNoMY Norge.

The town is named Stathelle. The first element comes from the word which means "place" or "town". The last element is hella which means "flagstone" or "slab of rock".

The formannskapsdistrikt law of 1837 created a system of local government in Norway by establishing each town or city (ladested or kjøpstad) and each Church of Norway prestegjeld as a civil municipality. On 1 January 1838, the ladested of Stathelle was designated as part of Bamble Municipality since Stathelle did not have full ladested rights. On 21 December 1851, Stathelle was granted full rights as a ladested, which removed it from Bamble Municipality and created it as a municipality of its own. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Stathelle Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form an enlarged Bamble Municipality: • all of Stathelle Municipality (population) • all of Langesund Municipality (population) • all of Bamble Municipality (population)

While it existed, Stathelle Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Bamble District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

The mayor (ordfører) of Stathelle Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position: • 1851–1859: Albert Blehr • 1860–1862: Jacob Knudsen • 1863–1863: Thomas Møller Blehr • 1864–1866: John Petter Johnsen • 1867–1869: Iver Abrahamsen • 1870–1870: Peder Pedersen • 1871–1871: John Petter Johnsen • 1872–1872: Iver Abrahamsen • 1873–1874: Nicolay Nilsen • 1875–1876: J.A. Larsen • 1877–1879: Nicolay Nilsen • 1880–1880: A.C. Andersen • 1881–1881: Nicolay Nilsen • 1882–1883: A.C. Andersen • 1884–1886: Søren O. Høen • 1887–1887: Hans Andreas Grønli • 1888–1888: Søren O. Høen • 1889–1889: Hans Andreas Grønli • 1890–1893: Fredrik Paus • 1894–1896: Rasmus Rasmussen • 1897–1897: Fredrik Paus • 1898–1898: Rasmus Rasmussen • 1899–1899: Fredrik Paus • 1900–1900: Oluf M. Berg • 1901–1903: Fredrik Paus • 1904–1904: Nicolai P. Berg • 1905–1905: Fredrik Paus • 1906–1907: Torjus Christoffersen • 1908–1909: Lars Olsen Vegheim • 1910–1914: Torjus Christoffersen • 1915–1915: Fredrik Paus • 1916–1916: Torjus Christoffersen • 1917–1917: Julius F. Nilsen • 1918–1919: Johan Kristensen • 1920–1921: Hans Østvedt • 1922–1922: Johan Kristensen • 1923–1923: Zakarias Evensen • 1924–1924: Jonas Fjeld • 1925–1925: Nils Larsen • 1926–1928: Johannes Mykelbust (V) • 1929–1929: Samuel Olsen • 1930–1940: Johannes Mykelbust (V) • 1941–1941: Axel Faarlund (NS) • 1942–1943: Ludvig Kraft-Lund (NS) • 1943–1944: Jens Oliver Bjørnsen (NS) • 1945–1945: Johannes Mykelbust (V) • 1945–1946: Aage Tangvold (Ap) • 1946–1947: Paul Solgård (Ap) • 1947–1948: Eilert Eilertsen (Ap) • 1949–1957: Johannes Myklebust (V) • 1958–1961: Aksel Martini (Ap) • 1962–1963: Arnodd Aronsen (V)

The municipal council (Bystyre) of Stathelle was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

• Illustration — Stathelle in the foreground • Illustration — Stathelle on the left • Illustration — Crossing the bridge into Stathelle • Illustration — Stathelle Church

• Knud Karl Krogh-Tonning (1842–1911), a Norwegian theologian who was born in Stathelle • Turid Thomassen (born 1965), a politician • Ella Gjømle Berg (born 1979), a cross country skier