The medieval township on Ve�ya, an island outside present day Molde, was first mentioned by the historian Snorri Sturluson as the location of the Battle of Sekken in 1162, where king H�kon the Broad-shouldered was killed fighting the aristocrat Erling Skakke, during the Norwegian civil wars.
However, settlement in the area can be traced much further back in time�evidence given by two rock slabs carved with petroglyphsfound at Bj�rset, west of the city centre.
At the eve of the 15th century, Ve�y had lost most of its influence, and the island was eventually deserted. However, commercial life in the region was not dead, and originating from the two settlements at Reknes and Molde (later Moldeg�rd), a minor port called Molde Fj�re (Molde Landing) emerged, based on trade with timber and herring to foreign merchants.
The town gained formal trading rights in 1614. During the Swedish occupation of Middle Norway, 1658�1660, after Denmark-Norway's devastating defeat in the Northern Wars, the town became a hub of resistance to the Swedes. After the rebellion and liberation in 1660, Molde became the administrative headquarter of Romsdalen Amt and was incorporated through a royal charter in 1742. Molde continued to grow throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries, becoming a center for Norwegian textile and garment industry. Tourism later became a major industry, and Molde saw notabilities such as the German emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and the Prince of Wales as regular summer visitors. Molde consisted of luxurious hotels surrounding an idyllic township with quaint, wooden houses, lush gardens and parks, esplanades and pavilions, earning it the nickname the Town of Roses. This was interrupted when one third of the city was destroyed in a fire on 21 January 1916. However, Molde recovered and continued to grow in the economically difficult interbellum period.
A second fire, or series of fires, struck from the German air-raids in April and May 1940, and
