Arbeideren (Hamar)
Encyclopedia
Arbeideren was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Hamar
, Hedmark
county. It was started in 1909 as the press organ of the Labour Party in Hedemarken and its adjoining regions, and was called Demokraten ("The Democrat") until 1923. It was issued three days a week between 1909 and 1913, six days a week in 1914, three days a week again between 1914 and 1918 before again increasing to six days a week. It was renamed to Arbeideren in 1923, and in the same year it was taken over by the Norwegian Communist Party
. The Communist Party incorporated the newspaper Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad
into Arbeideren in 1924, and until 1929 the newspaper was published under the name Arbeideren og Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad. After Arbeideren had gone defunct, the name was used by the Communist Party for other newspapers elsewhere.
The chief editors of the newspaper were Olav Kringen
(1909–1913), Ole Holmen (1912–1913), Fredrik Monsen (1913–1916), Paul O. Løkke
(1916–1919), Alfred Aakermann (1919–1920), Olav Larssen
(1920–1927), and finally Trond Hegna
, Ingvald B. Jacobsen
, Olav Scheflo
, Eivind Petershagen
, and Jørgen Vogt
(between 1927 and 1929). Fredrik Monsen, Evald O. Solbakken
and Knut Olai Thornæs
were acting editors from 1924 to 1925.
movement. Rasmussen started a second newspaper, Oplands-Posten, in Hamar later in 1852, to compete with his own Demokraten. An organ for the social liberal
labour movement in the district, Arbeiderbladet existed from 1889 to 1892 and was published out of different cities, including in Hamar in the year 1890.
A countywide chapter of the Labour Party was established in Hedmark in mid-November 1904. After the countywide party convention in Stange
in 1906, the convention summary had to be printed in the Kristiania
-based newspaper Social-Demokraten
, as it lacked its own local newspaper. The county board thus decided to buy 1,500 copies of the Social-Demokraten to distribute to its members. There was a growing notion that the party needed its own newspaper. In the same year, the labour movement in Solør
(south of Hedmark) bought the paper Solungen
, which had existed since 1904. The takeover came into effect on 1 January 1907, and publishing began the following year. Solungen pretended to be the labour movement organ for the whole of Hedmark, and outside of Solør it was published as Hedemarkens Amts Socialdemokrat (Solungen). However, the rest of Hedmark county was not satisfied with this solution.
-based newspaper Demokraten ("The Democrat") was started on 15 September 1909. The initiator and first editor was Olav Kringen
, who had ample experience as the editor of Social-Demokraten from 1903 until 1906. Demokraten was the Labour Party organ for the Mjøsa Cities
and Hedemarken, but in its first years it also covered Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen
, two northern regions. The name Østoplandenes Socialistiske Partiblad was considered for the newspaper, but the historical name Demokraten prevailed. The name was suggested by local Labour MP Karl Amundsen
. Demokraten' s coverage of Gudbrandsdalen soon ended, and in southern Østerdalen a new labour newspaper, Østerdalens Arbeiderblad
, was set up in 1915. In northern Østerdalen, Arbeidets Rett
was popular among the labour movement. According to reports in Demokraten the newspaper again began to cover news from a part of Gudbrandsdalen, namely the city Lillehammer
, in 1912.
When it came to building up a new newspaper, Kringen had a certain personal drive, as he ran for parliament in 1909
. When he lost the election, he also lost interest to a certain degree. He resigned in 1912 and Ole Holmen, a member of the Vang
municipal council, took over as chief editor. However, he ran afoul of other people involved with the newspaper and was fired in 1913.
The newspaper originally had the tagline ("Socialist Paper for Oplandene"), but in 1910 this was changed to ("Spokesman for the Labour Movement"). It was printed by the company A. Sæther. The newspaper was issued three times a week until 1 July 1913, from which point it was increased to six times a week. As part of this ambitious increase, Demokraten also had 3,000 copies in circulation, unprecedented in its history.
started his journalist career as a subeditor in the same year. In the newspaper's supervisory council vote, Monsen edged out Waldemar Carlsen
with 22 to 4 votes, and also prevailed over other applicants who were seasoned editors, such as Ingvald Førre
and Eugène Olaussen
. Larssen prevailed over Carlsen and Førre in the vote for the new subeditor.
Only Monsen and Larssen were employed in the newspaper to work with editorial content. In 1913, Monsen managed to contract known personalities from the labour movement as "regular contributors". These were the nationally known figures Olav Kringen, Gunnar Ousland
and Johan Falkberget
, in addition to Lillehammer
politician Petter Nilssen
and the locally known politicians Arne Juland
(later MP) and Andr. Juell. Danish expatriate Alfred Kruse joined in the autumn of 1913. However, according to Larssen, the prominent writers contracted to Demokraten "seldomly wrote" anything.
In his memoirs, Larssen wrote that Monsen was "often aggressive" as editor-in-chief, especially when writing editorials. He got several adversaries in the city's conservative community, especially after donning a badge with the broken rifle, a well-known anti-war symbol. The newspaper competed with the old and popular conservative Hamar Stiftstidende
, the liberal left Oplandenes Avis
, and the liberal Oplandet
.
The practice of issuing the newspaper six days a week became harder after the outbreak of the First World War. The war caused a general rise in prices, and newspaper subscriptions and advertisements both declined. Demokraten had to revert to being issued three times a week starting 1 September 1914. In December 1914 it adopted a new tagline, ("Organ for the Labour Party in Hamar and the Hamlets of Hedemarken").
, who served from 1916 to 1919, and Alfred Aakermann, from 1919 to 1920. Larssen returned in 1920 as editor-in-chief. Georg Svendsen
was the subeditor from 1918 until 1921, when Evald O. Solbakken
started in the newspaper as subeditor. Still, there were only two people to deliver the editorial content.
As the war years went, the newspaper's finances gradually improved. The Norwegian state became more active in production and trade and contributed many advertisements. Demokraten acquired its own type-setting machine in October 1918 and a printing press in 1917, which it used from 1 January 1918. From 1 July 1918, circulation once again increased to six days a week.
. The change followed a letter in 1922 from the Comintern
Executive
, which stated that no newspaper belonging to a Comintern member organization should have "Social Democrat" or "Democrat" as a part of its title. The printing press of the party changed its name accordingly, to Arbeiderens trykkeri.
In the same year, 1923, the Labour Party broke out of the Comintern. Subsequently the Communist Party
broke away from the Labour Party. The local chapter of the Labour Party in Hamar decided to side with the Communist Party in November 1923, in a 123–22 vote. Arbeideren was then taken away from Labour, as the supervisory council decided by a 65 to 5 vote that it should follow the Communists. Arbeideren was one of thirteen Labour newspapers that broke away from the party and followed the Communists (one, Nordlys
, later returned to Labour). Since 15 February 1924 the newspaper was published under the name Arbeideren og Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad, as the Communist Party had seen fit to merge Arbeideren with Lillehammer-based Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad
.
Editor Larssen and subeditor Solbakken both joined the Communist Party in 1923 and continued running the newspaper. As Olav Larssen was asked by the party to be the acting editor of Norges Kommunistblad
in the winter of 1924–1925, Fredrik Monsen, Evald Solbakken, and Knut Olai Thornæs
were acting editors between 1924 and 1925. Larssen eventually drifted away from the mainstream of the Communist Party. In late 1926 and early 1927 he voiced his opinion in columns that the Communist Party should contribute to the imminent merger of the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Labour Party
. A local party convention strongly rebuked this opinion. Larssen was thus replaced in January 1927 and left the Communist Party, and Solbakken soon followed suit. Fredrik Monsen left the party at the same time.
Information differs as to who replaced Larssen. According to Evald Solbakken, and also to the reference bibliography Norske aviser 1763–1969, the replacement was Olav Scheflo
, who needed a stand-in, Ingvald B. Jacobsen
, for the first period. According to the encyclopaedia Arbeidernes Leksikon
and historian Einhart Lorenz
, Trond Hegna
was the editor in 1927, before he took over Norges Kommunistblad in the summer of 1927. Hegna's main job was to edit the periodical Mot Dag
, but in this period the people of Mot Dag had an informal influence on the Communist Party and several of their newspapers. Scheflo formally edited the newspaper from 1927 to 1928, with Eivind Petershagen
as acting editor from late 1927. In 1928 Petershagen formally took over, only to have Jørgen Vogt
become acting editor later that year. Vogt took over in 1929.
As many newspapers belonging to the dwindling Communist Party, Arbeideren would cease to exist before the end of the 1920s. It was still published six times a week, but had to give up its printing press in 1929, switching to Samtrykk in Oslo
. The last ever issue of Arbeideren og Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad was published on 4 October 1929.
, which was set up as the new main newspaper of the Communist Party in 1930. This new paper was based in Oslo as the replacement of Norges Kommunistblad, which had been liquidated as well. Olav Larssen and Evald Solbakken found a new outlet in Hamar Arbeiderblad
, which had been set up as the new Hamar organ of the Labour Party in 1925. The Communist Party later tried to create a weekly newspaper in Hamar, Rød Front
, but it was short-lived and existed only between 1932 and 1933. The Oslo version of Arbeideren went defunct in 1940, and many years after that, the name was used from 1951 to 1953 for a third newspaper
, published in Brumunddal
, not far from Hamar city.
Hamar
is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
, Hedmark
Hedmark
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...
county. It was started in 1909 as the press organ of the Labour Party in Hedemarken and its adjoining regions, and was called Demokraten ("The Democrat") until 1923. It was issued three days a week between 1909 and 1913, six days a week in 1914, three days a week again between 1914 and 1918 before again increasing to six days a week. It was renamed to Arbeideren in 1923, and in the same year it was taken over by the Norwegian Communist Party
Communist Party of Norway
The Communist Party of Norway is a political party in Norway without parliamentary representation. It was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. The party played an important role in the resistance to German occupation during the Second World War, and experienced a brief...
. The Communist Party incorporated the newspaper Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad
Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad
Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Lillehammer in Hedmark county. From 1919 to 1923 it was named Gudbrandsdalens Social-Demokrat....
into Arbeideren in 1924, and until 1929 the newspaper was published under the name Arbeideren og Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad. After Arbeideren had gone defunct, the name was used by the Communist Party for other newspapers elsewhere.
The chief editors of the newspaper were Olav Kringen
Olav Kringen
Olav Kringen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was born at a croft in Sel, and was a manual laborer in Norway before emigrating to the United States in 1887. There, he studied and took a teacher education. He worked as a teacher in Minnesota and Dakota. For the next two years he worked in the...
(1909–1913), Ole Holmen (1912–1913), Fredrik Monsen (1913–1916), Paul O. Løkke
Paul O. Løkke
Paul Olsen Løkke was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties.He was born in Vågå...
(1916–1919), Alfred Aakermann (1919–1920), Olav Larssen
Olav Larssen
Olav Larssen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was a typographer by education. He edited the Labour Party newspapers Demokraten in Hamar from 1920 to 1927, and Hamar Arbeiderblad from 1927 to 1935. In 1935 he was hired as a journalist in Arbeiderbladet...
(1920–1927), and finally Trond Hegna
Trond Hegna
Trond Hegna was a Norwegian journalist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party and the Communist Party of Norway....
, Ingvald B. Jacobsen
Ingvald B. Jacobsen
Ingvald B. Jacobsen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was born in Alstahaug, and in his early career he worked as a fisher and seaman, then a typographer. He edited the newspaper Rjukan, but was fired in 1912 for political reasons. He was first active in a trade union and the Norges...
, Olav Scheflo
Olav Scheflo
Olav Scheflo was a Norwegian Communist politician and journalist.Olav Scheflo was a member of the Norwegian Labour Party from 1905...
, Eivind Petershagen
Eivind Petershagen
Eivind Petershagen was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Communist Party.He was a smallholder and forest worker by profession. He was a member of the Labour Party since 1916, but joined the Communist Party in 1923. He was a member of Åmot municipal council for 28 years, and...
, and Jørgen Vogt
Jørgen Vogt
Jørgen Herman Vogt was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician representing the Communist Party. He edited the newspapers Ny Tid and Friheten, served four terms in Trondheim city council and one term in the Norwegian Parliament.-Personal life:He was born in Kristiania as the son of professor...
(between 1927 and 1929). Fredrik Monsen, Evald O. Solbakken
Evald O. Solbakken
Evald O. Solbakken was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Communist parties.He joined the Labour Party through membership in the youth association Freidig in Storhamar in 1917. His first political position was to be secretary here. He was hired as secretary in the trade...
and Knut Olai Thornæs
Knut Olai Thornæs
Knut Olai Thornæs was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician. He was a member of the Labour Party from 1900, and represented the party politically, but joined the Communist Party upon the split in 1923. He was the editor-in-chief of several newspapers, most notably Ny Tid.-Career:He hailed...
were acting editors from 1924 to 1925.
Pre-history
Demokraten was originally the name of a short-lived newspaper in Hamar started by Leopold Rasmussen in 1852, connected to the Marcus ThraneMarcus Thrane
Marcus Møller Thrane was a Norwegian author, journalist, and the leader of the first Norwegian labor movement, later known as the Thrane movement .-Early life:...
movement. Rasmussen started a second newspaper, Oplands-Posten, in Hamar later in 1852, to compete with his own Demokraten. An organ for the social liberal
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
labour movement in the district, Arbeiderbladet existed from 1889 to 1892 and was published out of different cities, including in Hamar in the year 1890.
A countywide chapter of the Labour Party was established in Hedmark in mid-November 1904. After the countywide party convention in Stange
Stange
is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen.-Name:...
in 1906, the convention summary had to be printed in the Kristiania
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
-based newspaper Social-Demokraten
Dagsavisen
Dagsavisen is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999, and it is now fully independent...
, as it lacked its own local newspaper. The county board thus decided to buy 1,500 copies of the Social-Demokraten to distribute to its members. There was a growing notion that the party needed its own newspaper. In the same year, the labour movement in Solør
Solør
Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of the county of Hedmark, and includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes and Grue.-Glomma valley :...
(south of Hedmark) bought the paper Solungen
Solungen (defunct newspaper)
Solungen was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Åsnes in Hedmark county.Solungen was started in Flisa on 8 September 1904 by Evald Bosse . As indicated by its name, it covered the district Solør and had the subtitle Organ for Solørdistrikterne. It was an apolitical, or non-partisan, newspaper...
, which had existed since 1904. The takeover came into effect on 1 January 1907, and publishing began the following year. Solungen pretended to be the labour movement organ for the whole of Hedmark, and outside of Solør it was published as Hedemarkens Amts Socialdemokrat (Solungen). However, the rest of Hedmark county was not satisfied with this solution.
1909–1913
The HamarHamar
is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
-based newspaper Demokraten ("The Democrat") was started on 15 September 1909. The initiator and first editor was Olav Kringen
Olav Kringen
Olav Kringen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was born at a croft in Sel, and was a manual laborer in Norway before emigrating to the United States in 1887. There, he studied and took a teacher education. He worked as a teacher in Minnesota and Dakota. For the next two years he worked in the...
, who had ample experience as the editor of Social-Demokraten from 1903 until 1906. Demokraten was the Labour Party organ for the Mjøsa Cities
Mjøsa Cities
Mjøsa Cities is the name of a metropolitan region around the lake Mjøsa in the counties of Oppland and Hedmark , Norway. Usually the name Mjøsbyene refers to Gjøvik, Hamar and Lillehammer but it is also used as a reference to the area in general. The largest of those cities is Hamar.1/ km²2/...
and Hedemarken, but in its first years it also covered Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen
Østerdalen
Østerdalen is a valley and traditional district in Hedmark County, in Eastern Norway. It consisting of the municipalities Rendalen, Alvdal, Folldal,Tynset, Tolga and Os in the north, Elverum, Stor-Elvdal, Engerdal, Trysil and Åmot in the south.-Geography:...
, two northern regions. The name Østoplandenes Socialistiske Partiblad was considered for the newspaper, but the historical name Demokraten prevailed. The name was suggested by local Labour MP Karl Amundsen
Karl Amundsen
Karl Amundsen was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.He was born at Sjøndem in Brandval as a son of Amund Johannesen and Karen Hansdatter. He took carpenter education in Kristiania, and worked as such until 1911...
. Demokraten
Østerdalens Arbeiderblad
Østerdalens Arbeiderblad was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Elverum in Hedmark county. It was named Østerdalens Social-Demokrat from 1915 to 1919 and Hedmark Fylkes Arbeiderblad from 1923 to 1925.-Pre-history:...
, was set up in 1915. In northern Østerdalen, Arbeidets Rett
Arbeidets Rett
Arbeidets Rett is a local newspaper published in Røros, Norway. It was first published as Mauren on 16 January 1907, but has been published under the current name since 4 January 1912. The newspaper is owned by A-Pressen, and had a circulation of 8441 in 2007....
was popular among the labour movement. According to reports in Demokraten the newspaper again began to cover news from a part of Gudbrandsdalen, namely the city Lillehammer
Lillehammer
is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...
, in 1912.
When it came to building up a new newspaper, Kringen had a certain personal drive, as he ran for parliament in 1909
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1909
-Results: Liberal Left Party is part of coalition with Conservative Party-References:***...
. When he lost the election, he also lost interest to a certain degree. He resigned in 1912 and Ole Holmen, a member of the Vang
Vang, Hedmark
Vang is a former municipality in Hedmark county, Norway.Vang was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 . The city of Hamar was separated from Vang in 1849. Furnes was separated from Vang in 1891...
municipal council, took over as chief editor. However, he ran afoul of other people involved with the newspaper and was fired in 1913.
The newspaper originally had the tagline ("Socialist Paper for Oplandene"), but in 1910 this was changed to ("Spokesman for the Labour Movement"). It was printed by the company A. Sæther. The newspaper was issued three times a week until 1 July 1913, from which point it was increased to six times a week. As part of this ambitious increase, Demokraten also had 3,000 copies in circulation, unprecedented in its history.
1913–1916
In 1913 the newspaper's supervisory council hired school teacher Fredrik Monsen to be the new editor. Olav LarssenOlav Larssen
Olav Larssen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was a typographer by education. He edited the Labour Party newspapers Demokraten in Hamar from 1920 to 1927, and Hamar Arbeiderblad from 1927 to 1935. In 1935 he was hired as a journalist in Arbeiderbladet...
started his journalist career as a subeditor in the same year. In the newspaper's supervisory council vote, Monsen edged out Waldemar Carlsen
Waldemar Carlsen
Waldemar Carlsen was a Norwegian novelist, newspaper editor and politician.He was born in Kristiania, and moved to Solør at a young age. He was the editor-in-chief of local labour newspaper Solungen from 1910 to 1913, and then applied for jobs in other newspapers, such as the editorship in...
with 22 to 4 votes, and also prevailed over other applicants who were seasoned editors, such as Ingvald Førre
Ingvald Førre
Ingvald Severin Johannessen Førre was a Norwegian newspaper editor, civil servant and politician for the Labour Party, who left the party in 1938....
and Eugène Olaussen
Eugène Olaussen
Ansgar Eugène Olaussen was a Norwegian newspaper editor, educated as a typographer, and politician. As a politician he started in Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund, and notably edited Klassekampen from 1911 to 1921...
. Larssen prevailed over Carlsen and Førre in the vote for the new subeditor.
Only Monsen and Larssen were employed in the newspaper to work with editorial content. In 1913, Monsen managed to contract known personalities from the labour movement as "regular contributors". These were the nationally known figures Olav Kringen, Gunnar Ousland
Gunnar Ousland
Gunnar Ousland was a Norwegian editor, writer, trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He started out as a temperance activist and trade unionist before serving as a politician and in the party press. He edited several magazines and newspapers, including an illegal newspaper during...
and Johan Falkberget
Johan Falkberget
Johan Falkberget, born Johan Petter Lillebakken, was a Norwegian author.-Life and career:Johan Falkberget was born on the Falkberget farm in the Rugldal valley in the Norwegian copper mining municipality of Røros.In 1891, he began to write his Christianus Sextus trilogy, though it was not...
, in addition to Lillehammer
Lillehammer
is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...
politician Petter Nilssen
Petter Nilssen
Petter Nilssen was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.He was born in Lillehammer. Nilssen was an active socialist already in the 1880s, and was involved in the early labour movement as a founder of worker's associations . He founded worker's associations, and later social democratic...
and the locally known politicians Arne Juland
Arne Juland
Arne Johansen Juland was a Norwegian educator and politician for the Labour Party and later Nasjonal Samling.He was born at Juland in Lom as a son of farmers Johan Johansen Juland and Eldri Hansdotter...
(later MP) and Andr. Juell. Danish expatriate Alfred Kruse joined in the autumn of 1913. However, according to Larssen, the prominent writers contracted to Demokraten "seldomly wrote" anything.
In his memoirs, Larssen wrote that Monsen was "often aggressive" as editor-in-chief, especially when writing editorials. He got several adversaries in the city's conservative community, especially after donning a badge with the broken rifle, a well-known anti-war symbol. The newspaper competed with the old and popular conservative Hamar Stiftstidende
Hamar Stiftstidende
Hamar Stiftstidende is a former Norwegian daily newspaper, published in Hamar, Norway from 1847 to 1971. Its original name was Hamar Budstikke, later Hamar Budstikke og Stiftstidende, then Hamar Stiftstidende. In 1872 editor Olaus Arvesen was forced to leave after disagreements with the owners, and...
, the liberal left Oplandenes Avis
Oplandenes Avis
Oplandenes Avis was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Hamar in Hedmark county.It started on 3 July 1872 by Olaus Arvesen, who had been fired as editor of the conservative newspaper Hamar Stiftstidende. He remained editor until 1906, and supported the Liberal Party...
, and the liberal Oplandet
Oplandet
Oplandet was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Hamar in Hedmark county. From 1923 to 1928 it was published as Oplandet & Glomdølen....
.
The practice of issuing the newspaper six days a week became harder after the outbreak of the First World War. The war caused a general rise in prices, and newspaper subscriptions and advertisements both declined. Demokraten had to revert to being issued three times a week starting 1 September 1914. In December 1914 it adopted a new tagline, ("Organ for the Labour Party in Hamar and the Hamlets of Hedemarken").
1916–1923
Monsen and Larssen both left Demokraten in 1916. The next editors were Paul O. LøkkePaul O. Løkke
Paul Olsen Løkke was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties.He was born in Vågå...
, who served from 1916 to 1919, and Alfred Aakermann, from 1919 to 1920. Larssen returned in 1920 as editor-in-chief. Georg Svendsen
Georg Svendsen
Georg "Mr. George" Svendsen was a Norwegian journalist and crime novelist.He was born in Eidanger, and started his journalistic career in Bratsberg-Demokraten before moving on to Demokraten where he was a subeditor. In 1921 he was hired in Fremtiden and replaced in Demokraten by Evald O....
was the subeditor from 1918 until 1921, when Evald O. Solbakken
Evald O. Solbakken
Evald O. Solbakken was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Communist parties.He joined the Labour Party through membership in the youth association Freidig in Storhamar in 1917. His first political position was to be secretary here. He was hired as secretary in the trade...
started in the newspaper as subeditor. Still, there were only two people to deliver the editorial content.
As the war years went, the newspaper's finances gradually improved. The Norwegian state became more active in production and trade and contributed many advertisements. Demokraten acquired its own type-setting machine in October 1918 and a printing press in 1917, which it used from 1 January 1918. From 1 July 1918, circulation once again increased to six days a week.
Communist Party period
In 1923, the newspaper was renamed Arbeideren ("The Worker"), and the first issue with this name was released on 1 May 1923, the International Workers' DayInternational Workers' Day
International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries...
. The change followed a letter in 1922 from the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
Executive
Executive Committee of the Communist International
The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI, was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body...
, which stated that no newspaper belonging to a Comintern member organization should have "Social Democrat" or "Democrat" as a part of its title. The printing press of the party changed its name accordingly, to Arbeiderens trykkeri.
In the same year, 1923, the Labour Party broke out of the Comintern. Subsequently the Communist Party
Communist Party of Norway
The Communist Party of Norway is a political party in Norway without parliamentary representation. It was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. The party played an important role in the resistance to German occupation during the Second World War, and experienced a brief...
broke away from the Labour Party. The local chapter of the Labour Party in Hamar decided to side with the Communist Party in November 1923, in a 123–22 vote. Arbeideren was then taken away from Labour, as the supervisory council decided by a 65 to 5 vote that it should follow the Communists. Arbeideren was one of thirteen Labour newspapers that broke away from the party and followed the Communists (one, Nordlys
Nordlys
Nordlys is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. Chief editor is Anders Opdahl. Nordlys was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-chief. Among the later editors are Ivan Kristoffersen, who...
, later returned to Labour). Since 15 February 1924 the newspaper was published under the name Arbeideren og Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad, as the Communist Party had seen fit to merge Arbeideren with Lillehammer-based Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad
Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad
Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Lillehammer in Hedmark county. From 1919 to 1923 it was named Gudbrandsdalens Social-Demokrat....
.
Editor Larssen and subeditor Solbakken both joined the Communist Party in 1923 and continued running the newspaper. As Olav Larssen was asked by the party to be the acting editor of Norges Kommunistblad
Norges Kommunistblad
Norges Kommunistblad was a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway.It was started on 5 November 1923 as the official party newspaper from the Communist Party, which was established that year after a split from the Labour Party. The first editor was Olav Scheflo...
in the winter of 1924–1925, Fredrik Monsen, Evald Solbakken, and Knut Olai Thornæs
Knut Olai Thornæs
Knut Olai Thornæs was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician. He was a member of the Labour Party from 1900, and represented the party politically, but joined the Communist Party upon the split in 1923. He was the editor-in-chief of several newspapers, most notably Ny Tid.-Career:He hailed...
were acting editors between 1924 and 1925. Larssen eventually drifted away from the mainstream of the Communist Party. In late 1926 and early 1927 he voiced his opinion in columns that the Communist Party should contribute to the imminent merger of the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Labour Party
Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway
The Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway was a Norwegian political party in the 1920s. Following the Labour Party's entry into the Comintern in 1919, its right wing left the party to form the Social Democratic Labour Party in 1921...
. A local party convention strongly rebuked this opinion. Larssen was thus replaced in January 1927 and left the Communist Party, and Solbakken soon followed suit. Fredrik Monsen left the party at the same time.
Information differs as to who replaced Larssen. According to Evald Solbakken, and also to the reference bibliography Norske aviser 1763–1969, the replacement was Olav Scheflo
Olav Scheflo
Olav Scheflo was a Norwegian Communist politician and journalist.Olav Scheflo was a member of the Norwegian Labour Party from 1905...
, who needed a stand-in, Ingvald B. Jacobsen
Ingvald B. Jacobsen
Ingvald B. Jacobsen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was born in Alstahaug, and in his early career he worked as a fisher and seaman, then a typographer. He edited the newspaper Rjukan, but was fired in 1912 for political reasons. He was first active in a trade union and the Norges...
, for the first period. According to the encyclopaedia Arbeidernes Leksikon
Arbeidernes Leksikon
Arbeidernes Leksikon is a Norwegian encyclopedia published in six volumes in the 1930s.It was the first reference book in Norwegian to have a pronounced class bias, and the first encyclopedia outside of the Soviet Union to be directed specifically at the working class...
and historian Einhart Lorenz
Einhart Lorenz
Einhart Lorenz is a German / Norwegian historian, a professor at the University of Oslo. Among his publications are his thesis from 1978, in , in from 1989, and in from 1991.-References:...
, Trond Hegna
Trond Hegna
Trond Hegna was a Norwegian journalist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party and the Communist Party of Norway....
was the editor in 1927, before he took over Norges Kommunistblad in the summer of 1927. Hegna's main job was to edit the periodical Mot Dag
Mot Dag
Mot Dag was a Norwegian periodical and a communist organization with the same name.It was established in 1921 under the initiative of Erling Falk, partly with origins in the debate forum in the Social Democratic student government in Oslo ; partly from a Falk-led study circle which from 1919...
, but in this period the people of Mot Dag had an informal influence on the Communist Party and several of their newspapers. Scheflo formally edited the newspaper from 1927 to 1928, with Eivind Petershagen
Eivind Petershagen
Eivind Petershagen was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Communist Party.He was a smallholder and forest worker by profession. He was a member of the Labour Party since 1916, but joined the Communist Party in 1923. He was a member of Åmot municipal council for 28 years, and...
as acting editor from late 1927. In 1928 Petershagen formally took over, only to have Jørgen Vogt
Jørgen Vogt
Jørgen Herman Vogt was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician representing the Communist Party. He edited the newspapers Ny Tid and Friheten, served four terms in Trondheim city council and one term in the Norwegian Parliament.-Personal life:He was born in Kristiania as the son of professor...
become acting editor later that year. Vogt took over in 1929.
As many newspapers belonging to the dwindling Communist Party, Arbeideren would cease to exist before the end of the 1920s. It was still published six times a week, but had to give up its printing press in 1929, switching to Samtrykk in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. The last ever issue of Arbeideren og Gudbrandsdalens Arbeiderblad was published on 4 October 1929.
Aftermath
A month after Arbeideren went defunct, the Communist Party gave its name to a new newspaperArbeideren
Arbeideren was a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway.It was started on 2 November 1929 as the official party newspaper from the Communist Party. It lent its name from a Hamar-based newspaper of the same name, which had gone defunct on 4 October. More directly, it replaced Norges...
, which was set up as the new main newspaper of the Communist Party in 1930. This new paper was based in Oslo as the replacement of Norges Kommunistblad, which had been liquidated as well. Olav Larssen and Evald Solbakken found a new outlet in Hamar Arbeiderblad
Hamar Arbeiderblad
Hamar Arbeiderblad is a local newspaper published in Hamar, Norway. It is part of the media company Hamar Media. The newspaper was first published on 30 March 1925, in 1,200 copies. It was the local branches of the Labour Party that took the initiative to start up the publication. It is no longer a...
, which had been set up as the new Hamar organ of the Labour Party in 1925. The Communist Party later tried to create a weekly newspaper in Hamar, Rød Front
Rød Front (newspaper)
Rød Front was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Hamar in Hedmark county.Rød Front was started as a weekly newspaper in 1932 as the Communist Party of Norway organ in the vicinity. It went defunct already in October/November 1933. It had a predecessor in Arbeideren, which had stopped in 1929....
, but it was short-lived and existed only between 1932 and 1933. The Oslo version of Arbeideren went defunct in 1940, and many years after that, the name was used from 1951 to 1953 for a third newspaper
Arbeideren (Brumunddal)
Arbeideren was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Brumunddal in Hedmark county.Arbeideren was started on 16 March 1951 as the Communist Party organ in Hedmark county. It lent its name from two former newspapers called Arbeideren, one in neighboring Hamar and one in Oslo...
, published in Brumunddal
Brumunddal
Brumunddal is the largest settlement in the Ringsaker municipality of Hedmark, Norway. It is a small, densely populated area surrounded by scenic countryside and farms on the eastern shore of Norway's largest lake: Mjøsa...
, not far from Hamar city.