Grimstad is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet.
Grimstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Fjære and Landvik were merged with Grimstad on 1 January 1971.
It is a little maritime town set among many small islands (Skjærgård). There is a harbour, a long pedestrian shopping street, a small market square, a church, and a museum dedicated to the early life of Henrik Ibsen, who served as an apprentice to Grimstad’s local pharmacist Reimann, from 1844 to 1847, before leaving Grimstad in 1850. Ibsen's intimate knowledge of the local people and surroundings can be seen in his poem Terje Vigen. |
