Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Levanger farm (Old Norse: Lifangr) since the first Levanger Church was built there. The first element is Lif which means "sheltered". The last element is angr which means "fjord".^[8]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 25 November 1960 as the arms of the town of Levanger.^[9] In 1962, the town was enlarged when three neighboring municipalities were merged with the town, creating a new, larger municipality of Levanger. The old arms of the town were adopted as the arms of the new municipality on 26 March 1965 (the old arms were chosen since none of the other municipalities had their own coats of arms).^[10] The official blazon is "Gules, a horse at bay Or" (Norwegian: På rød bunn en stående gull hest). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a horse. The horse has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The horse is a symbol for the town as a major trading center between Sweden and Norway for many centuries. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg.^[11][12]

Churches

The Church of Norway has seven parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Levanger. It is part of the Sør-Innherad prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

Town

The town of Levanger was founded by King Charles XIV John of Sweden on 18 May 1836, on the site where the village of Levanger already existed. The village had expanded from the traditional winter fair, known as the marsimartnan (lit. the St. Marcus Market of Levanger), dating back to the 13th century. In October 1836, as the town's borders set, Commissioner Mons Lie proposed that "the town shall bear the name of Carlslevanger, so the name of this ancient soil can be united with that of the new town's glorious founder". Despite the suggestion's being refused, the town protocols spoke of Carlslevanger Stad instead of Kjøpstaden Levanger until 1838. In 1838, the formannskapsdistrikt law classified this town as a ladested or port town.

The inhabitants of Levanger were not prepared for becoming a town, and so it took a long time before the town was constituted. In these early days the town was ruled by the Foged (Royal rural administrator). At that time there were already established a trade organization, "Levangerpatrisiatet", from 1695, based on the market. But only citizens of Trondheim could be members, until Levanger became a town in its own right. In 1839, the first guild of the town was established, and in the following years several new trades and craftsmen settled in the town.

In 1841, the first official elections were held, and Hans Nicolai Grønn was elected the first mayor of the town. Two years later, the town got its first water-pipe system, its first two primitive street lamps and a town hall.

The fire-security report of 1844 clearly confirmed the great risk of disastrous fire in the town's narrow lanes; all houses were wooden houses. Therefore, the mayor hired Major Johannes Mathias Sejersted (1797-1886) to make a general report and draw up a new regulation plan, showing Levanger as a more "continental" town. And already in 1846, two years later the town was nearly totally ruined by a great fire. Sejersted's regulation plan was used when the town was rebuilt. Levanger was damaged by two great fires after that time, in 1877 and 1897, but each time the town has been rebuilt as a wooden town, and still today most houses are wooden houses.^[14]

Throughout the 19th century, the famous market's economical importance faded out, and the ancient arrangement was reduced to a tradition without much content. That was the end of Levanger as an important port of foreign trade between Sweden and Norway. However, in the early 20th century, the town of Levanger was pleased by new establishments such as county hospital and college of education. The German occupation in 1940 was the beginning of a 40-year-long "interregnum" of the traditional "Marsimartnan".

In 1961, the town of Levanger decided to merge with its neighbors. On 1 January 1962, Frol, Skogn, and Åsen were merged with Levanger, and at the same time, it lost its "town status". The municipality of Ytterøy was merged with Levanger two years later.

Over thirty years later, in 1997, as a result of the resurrection of the "Marsimartnan" in 1989, the town of Levanger was re-established, though the town still is part of Levanger municipality. But the center of administration is to be found in the town of Levanger, which is also, in historical terms, the administrative basis for the municipality. And Levanger's town traditions and culture go way back. The town is laid out according to an urban and regulated plot with proper streets such as Kirkegata. It's more than just a town hall and a city square. In fact, Levanger's always been a town, though not always officially, and every inhabitant in the town area carries this piece of knowledge with pride. Thus there does exist a sense of distinction between town people and the people from the countryside.

In 2002, Levanger joined the Cittaslow movement, although there have been some violations of the Cittaslow charter, of which can be mentioned the construction of the unharmonic new mini mall in Sjøgata, down by the seaside. This mini mall includes two grocery stores and several electrical appliances stores ^{[citation needed]}.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Levanger is made up of 35 representatives that are elected every four years. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

Since the municipal merger in 1961 that created the present municipality of Levanger, there have been several people who have served as mayor (Norwegian: ordfører).

Public service and public thinking

• Frederik Heidmann (1777 in Skogn – 1850), a military officer, civil servant and politician
• Oluf Christian Dietrichson (1856 in Skogn – 1942), a polar explorer and military officer
• Peter August Poppe (1870 in Skogn – 1933), an engineer, designer and developer of engines and complete motor vehicles for the British motor industry
• Arne Falstad (1874 at Skjerpengen – 1958), an attorney, banker, and Mayor of Levanger in the 1930s
• Albert Fredrik Eggen (1878 at Østborg – 1966), a farmer, politician, and pre-WWII Mayor of Stod
• Helge Klæstad (1885–1965), a Norwegian judge and Supreme Court Justice from 1929-1946
• Bjarne Skard (1896 in Levanger – 1961), the Bishop of Tunsberg
• Erling Gjone (1898 in Levanger – 1990), an architectural historian and antiquarian
• Henry Rinnan (1915 in Levanger – 1947), a Gestapo agent and Nazi collaborator
• Martin Stavrum (born 1938), a politician and Mayor of Levanger from 1996-1999
• Erling Folkvord (born 1949 in Levanger), a left wing politician and writer
• Per Erik Bergsjø (born 1958 in Levanger), a Supreme Court Justice from March 2012
• Per Sandberg (born 1960 in Levanger), a politician

The Arts

• Martin Aagaard (1863 in Levanger – 1913), a Norwegian painter of marine paintings
• Benny Motzfeldt (1909 in Levanger – 1995), a visual artist, glass designer, and sculptor
• Jens Bolling (1915 in Levanger – 1992), a Norwegian actor and theatre director^[36]
• Sverre Valen (born 1925 in Levanger – 2023), a Norwegian choir conductor
• Eli Rygg (born 1955), a TV personality and children's writer who was brought up in Levanger
• Frode Haltli (born 1975 in Levanger), a Norwegian accordion player

Sport

• Einar Jørum (1924 in Åsen – 1997), a footballer and president of the Football Association of Norway from 1970-1980
• Knut Knudsen (born 1950), a retired track-cyclist and gold medallist at the 1972 Summer Olympics
• Sturla Voll, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1954), a Norwegian soccer coach
• Marit Breivik (born 1955 in Levanger), a former handballer and head coach for the national team
• Tina Svensson (born 1966 in Levanger), a footballer and team bronze medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Stein Berg Johansen (born 1969 in Levanger), a retired Norwegian football striker and coach^[37]
• Jon Olav Hjelde (born 1972 in Levanger), a former footballer with over 250 club caps
• Trond Viggo Toresen (born 1978 in Levanger), a footballer with over 250 club caps
• Eldar Rønning (born 1982 in Levanger), a cross-country skier, competed in two Winter Olympics
• Per Verner Rønning (born 1983 in Levanger), a former footballer with 380 club caps
• Johan Kjølstad (born 1983 in Levanger), a cross-country skier, competed in two Winter Olympics
• Birgit Skarstein (born 1989), a paraplegic competitive rower and cross-country skier
• Dardan Dreshaj (born 1992 in Levanger), a football striker with over 250 club caps

Expatriates

• Zakarias Toftezen (1821 in Levanger - 1901), an early settler in the State of Washington^[38]
• Bernt Julius Muus (1832 in Levanger – 1900), a Lutheran minister and church leader in Northfield, Minnesota
• Bernt B. Haugan (1862 in Skogn – 1931), a Lutheran minister, politician, and temperance leader
• Edin Cornelius Alfsen (1896 in Skogn – 1966), a Lutheran missionary who founded the Norwegian Tibet Mission