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Ringerike (municipality)

Ringerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hønefoss.

The municipality of Ringerike was created on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the town of Hønefoss and the rural municipalities of Hole, Norderhov, Tyristrand, and Ådal. However, the area of Hole was removed from the municipality of Ringerike on 1 January 1977 to become a separate municipality once again. The historic area of Ringerike included not just the modern municipality of Ringerike but also Hole and Krødsherad, Modum, and Sigdal.

Etymology
The Old Norse form of this name was Hringaríki. The first element is (probably) the genitive plural of hringir, the name of an old Germanic tribe. The last element is ríki n 'kingdom, reich'. (See also Romerike.)

Coat of arms
The coat of arms were granted on 16 June 1967. The arms show a gold ring on a red background. The colours red and gold represent royalty and are the royal colors of Norway. The ring is a canting symbol and at the same time symbolises the unity of the area, which has been a separate entity (even considered a petty kingdom) since medieval times.

Geography
The municipality of Ringerike is bordered on the north by the municipalities of Sør-Aurdal and Søndre Land; on the east by Gran, Jevnaker, Lunner, and Oslo; in the south by Bærum, Hole, and Modum; and in the west by Krødsherad and Flå.

Lakes in the region include:
 * Samsjøen
 * Øyangen
 * Sperillen
 * Ullerentjernet
 * Vestre Bjonevatnet

It is also home to mountain ranges, including Ådalsfjella.

Climate
Ringerike has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with relatively warm summers and cold winters, often with snow on the ground lasting for weeks. The all-time high 33.7 C was recorded July 2018. The all-time low -25.7 °C was recorded January 2010.

Economy
Billions of Norwegian kroner has been invested (as of 2022) in infrastructure, as a result of a government order (oppdragsbrev) in 2015; the municipality had to do their part in regard to the project "Ringerike Line"; the national budget is not final yet (as of October 2022) and government money for the project has not yet been allocated.

Ringerike is famous for two agriculture products; Ringerike potato (Ringerikspotet) and Ringerike pea (Ringeriksert). Jens Aabel first started production of Ringerike potato around 1867. The Ringerike pea has obtained PDO (protected designation of origin). In June 2007, the Ringerike potato got "protected geographical indication" (PGI) under the name Ringerikspotet fra Ringerike. Six farmers are now producing and packing this special potato at Ask in Ringerike. Most of the potatoes are sold in the Oslo area.

The town was also home to the commercial operations of the Norwegian Mapping Authority which in 2004 divested these to the then Ugland IT Group, later renamed Nordeca. The offices were closed in 2010 with all operations moving to Lysaker due to increasing computerization of map-making.

Notable residents
Covers people in the wider Municipality,
 * Helge Ellingsen Waagaard (1781 in Norderhov – 1817) a farmer and non-commissioned military officer, a rep. at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly
 * Michael Færden (1836 in Norderhov – 1912) a Norwegian priest and author
 * Andrea Gram (1853 in Ask – 1927) a Norwegian painter of landscapes and portraits
 * Rolf Bull-Hansen (1888 in Norderhov – 1970) a Norwegian educator and author
 * Elling M. Solheim (1905 in Norderhov – 1971) a poet, playwright and short story writer
 * Olav Brænden (1919 in Norderhov – 1989) a Norwegian pharmacist, drug expert and inventor
 * Olav Aspheim (1921 in Ringerike – 1948) a member of the WWII fascist party Nasjonal Samling
 * Eyvind Fjeld Halvorsen (1922 in Ringerike – 2013) a Norwegian philologist
 * Arild Hiim (born 1945 in Ringerike) politician and former member of parliament
 * Bjørn Kjos (born 1946 in Sokna) founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle.
 * Bjørn Skogmo, (Norwegian Wiki) (1948 in Jevnaker - 2020)  writer
 * Kjell B. Hansen (1957–2020) a politician, Mayor of Ringerike 2007-2019
 * Bård frydenlund (born 1972 in Ringerike) an author and historian, CEO at Eidsvoll 1814

Sport

 * Randi Thorvaldsen (1925 in Øvre Eiker – 2011) speedskater
 * Erik Hagen (born 1975 in Veme) footballer with 360 club caps and 28 for Norway
 * Rune Hagen (born 1975 in Veme) a Norwegian former footballer with 280 club caps
 * Tor Øyvind Hovda (born 1989 in Ringerike) a Norwegian footballer with 250 club caps

Twin towns — Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Ringerike:
 * Aabenraa, Region of Southern Denmark, Denmark
 * 🇫🇮 Lohja, Southern Finland, Finland
 * 🇳🇱 Emmeloord, Flevoland, Netherlands
 * 🇮🇸 Skagaströnd, Iceland
 * 🇸🇪 Växjö, Kronoberg County, Sweden
 * 🇪🇸 Vera, Almería, Spain in 1989

title: Ringerike (municipality)


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Hole, Norway

Hole is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vik. Hole is located around lake Tyrifjorden and extends to the woodland around Oslo. The soil is fertile and suited to growing fruit, berries and other agricultural products.

The municipality of Hole was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The annex of Tyristrand was separated from Hole on 1 July 1916 to become a municipality of its own. The municipality of Hole was merged into the neighboring municipality of Ringerike in 1964, however, this merger ended in 1977 when Hole was restored as a separate municipality.

Infrastructure: the road (E16) between Sandvika and Hønefoss has been Norway's most deadly, for the ten-year period that ended in 2021; nine people died.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hole farm (Old Norse: Hólar), since the first church was built there. The name is the plural form of hóll which means "round (and isolated) hill".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times, as they were granted on 24 May 1985. The arms show four gold crowns on a red background. They are a symbol for the four Norwegian Kings who lived in the municipality in the 9th-11th centuries:

 * Halfdan the Black lived during the 9th century married Ragnhild, the daughter of Sigurd Hart. Berserkers killed Sigurd Hart and subsequently kidnapped his daughter Ragnhild.  Halfdan the Black saved Ragnhild and married her.  King Halfdan the Black ended his life in 860 by going through the ice on Randsfjorden with his men, his horse, and sledge.  His body-or some part thereof-was possibly buried at the Stein farm on Halvdanshaugen ("The Mound of Halvdan").
 * Sigurd Syr lived during the 11th century. He was the great-great-grandchild of Harald Hårfagre (900-940).  Although a king, Sigurd Syr was mainly interested in agricultural matters, which was quite exceptional for a king at that time.  His nickname Syr meant:  "The one who is digging in the field".  He was known as a peaceful and very wise man.  Sigurd Syr married the widow Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, who had a little son, Olav, today known as St. Olaf.  Åsta and Sigurd Syr were the parents of Harald Hårdråde.
 * St. Olav (or Olav Haraldsson) reigned from 1015 to 1030. His mother was the above-mentioned Åsta and his stepfather was King Sigurd Syr.  However, Olaf Haraldsson's real father was Harald Grenske, who had been killed in 995.  His widow, Åsta, gave birth to Olaf at the same year, but we do not know for sure if Olaf was born at Harald Grenske's place in Vestfold or in Hole.  Olaf Haraldsson is one out of four saints in Norwegian history and world known.
 * Harald Hårdråde reigned from 1046 to 1066 and was the half brother of Olaf Haraldsson. He was born at King Syr's farm.  As a king he was known for his tough rule.  He was only 15 years old when he fought in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and experienced the death of his half brother.

History
Hole has an extensive and important role in Norwegian history. Archeological finds from the Roman and Migration periods are numerous. Hole is also known as one of the traditional landscapes from the Viking Age and plays a prominent role in the Norse sagas.

King Halfdan the Black of Vestfold conquered the Ringerike traditional district, including Hole, in about 830 AD. According to saga, when he died he was so popular that every district wanted his body. As a result, his body was quartered; his head was buried in the mound at the Stein estate in Hole. Halfdan the Black's second wife, Ragnild from Hole, was the mother of the first king of Norway, Harald I of Norway (also known as Harald Fairhair).

Saint Olaf (king of Norway from 1015 to 1028) was born in Hole, near where the 12th century Bønsnes Church (Bønsnes kirke) is located, to Harold Grenske (a grandson of Harald I of Norway) and his wife Asta. Asta later remarried to Sigurd Syr, chieftain of Hole, and had a son born there named Harold, (Harald Hårdråde) who later became Harald III Sigurdsson (king of Norway from 1046 to 1066).

Ringerkike's famous poet, Jørgen Moe, was brought up on the Mo (or Moe) farm in Hole. Many of the fairy tales gathered by Asbjørnsen and Moe were collected in this area. Frognøya and Størøya are also important historical places in Hole.

On July 22, 2011, the Workers' Youth League summer camp, which took place on Utøya in Hole, was attacked as part of the 2011 Norway attacks.

Geography
The municipality of Hole is bordered on the north by Ringerike municipality, in the east by Bærum municipality and in the south by Lier municipality. South of the lake Tyrifjorden it also borders on Modum municipality. Most of the residents live in the villages of Sundvollen, Vik, Kroksund, Helgelandsmoen, Steinsåsen, Røyse, and Sollihøgda.

From the viewpoint "Kongens utsikt" which lies on Krokskogen, there are views of the landscape of Hole. The main road between Oslo and Bergen, European route E16, runs through the community.

Government
The current mayor is Per Ragnvald Berger (born 18 October 1952), representing Høyre, the Conservatives, reelected for 2011–2015. Berger is in for his fourth term and was first elected in 1999.

Stein Church Ruins
Stein Church Ruins (Stein kirkeruin) are located at Steinsfjorden. Originally constructed in the latter half of the 1100s, it was built of sandstone and limestone from the area. The chapel had a rectangular nave and narrower, very short choir area. The sanctuary had portals in the west and south. By the second half of the 1500s, the chapel was no longer in use. In the 1570s, the inventory had been transferred Hamar Cathedral.

Bønsnes Church
Bønsnes church (Bønsnes Kirke) is a small medieval era church. It is built of brick and was built in 1100. The church has rectangular plan and 80 seats. The church has conservation status protected. Bønsnes church has a later added wooden tower in front of the west gable. The tower is probably built in connection with repairs to the roof and masonry in the 1850s. In 1500s and 1600s the church decayed. It was only after it was enabled in 1728, it was brought back into use.

In 1790 the interior was given a new decor. Painted clouds are on the ceiling, the pulpit and the gallery. The altarpiece is probably from the 1700s, featuring the Crucifixion and the Last Supper, surrounded by leaf ornaments, columns and sculptures. The medieval interior has a Madonna sculpture from the 1200s and a crucifix from the 1400s.

Hole Church
Hole Church (Hole kirke) probably stems from approximately 1200. It is located in a hilly landscape around 5 km southwest of Norderhov Church on a peninsula in Tyrifjord. The edifice is of stone and has 350 seats. The altarpiece in the Rococo style. It was largely destroyed by fire in 1736. The church was rebuilt in 1737. Repairs, restorations and remodeling occurred during 1827 and 1909. The old church burned to the ground after  a lightning strike in 1943. The restored church is built by sandstone from the district and consists of a long, rectangular nave and a narrower, almost square choir in the east.

Notable residents

 * Frederik Wilhelm Stabell (1763–1836) a military officer and politician
 * Christopher Simonsen Fougner (1795–1869) a politician, Mayor of Hole from 1840 to 1848
 * Morten Ludvig Sundt (1809–1891) a farmer and politician, Mayor of Hole from 1850 to 1866
 * Jørgen Moe (1813–1882) a folklorist, poet, author and Bishop of the Diocese of Kristianssand from 1874
 * Anders Castus Svarstad (1869–1943) a painter of urban landscapes

Sport

 * Gabriel Rasch (born 1976) a former road bicycle racer
 * Tord Asle Gjerdalen (born 1983) a cross-country skier
 * Kenneth Di Vita Jensen (born 1990) a soccer player with over 100 club caps

Twin towns — sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Hole:
 * Faaborg-Midtfyn, Denmark
 * 🇮🇸 Hólmavík, Iceland
 * 🇫🇮 Kustavi, Finland
 * 🇸🇪 Tanum, Sweden

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hole, Norway


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Flå

Flå is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flå. The municipality of Flå was established when it was separated from the municipality of Nes on 1 January 1905. The municipality lies at the most southeasterly point in the valley and traditional region of Hallingdal.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Flóða sokn (sokn means parish). This is the plural genitive case of flœð meaning "flood" (probably because flooding has been a problem for many farms in the river valley). Prior to 1921, the name was written "Flaa".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 1 March 1985. The arms show a black bear on a gray/silver background. This was chosen because there used to be many bears in the Vassfaret area. Prior to 1985, the municipality used a logo with a bear walking through the area.

History
Ancient routes went to Vestlandet through Valdres and Hallingdal and down Røldal to Odda. Reflecting this route, Hallingdal and its neighboring valley of Valdres in Oppland to the north were originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet and spoke a western dialect. In recognition of this, Cardinal Nicholas Breakespear, who was in Scandinavia as papal legate in 1153, included Hallingdal in the diocese of Stavanger.

Geography
Flå is the southernmost municipality within Hallingdal and forms the gateway to Hallingdal from the south. Flå is bordered in the north by Sør-Aurdal, in the east by Ringerike, in the south by Krødsherad and Sigdal, in the west by Nore og Uvdal, and in the northwest by Nes. Travelers from the south pass through the 65 m long tunnel Hallingporten on Norwegian National Road 7 (Riksvei 7) just located north of Gulsvik.

Vassfaret is a forested mountain valley bordering Flå. The Norefjell mountain range also includes parts of Flå as well as Nes, Ringerike and Sør-Aurdal municipalities. Lake Krøderen (Krøderfjord) stretches about 41 km north from the village of Krøderen and reaches to Gulsvik. The Hallingdalselva river flows into the lake from the north. The area includes the Vassfaret and Vidalen Conservation area which includes Festningen Nature Reserve and Bukollen Nature Reserve as well as the Inner Vassfaret Conservation area which includes Bringen Nature Reserve. .

Notable people

 * Kolbjørn Buøen (1895–1975) a Norwegian actor
 * Fredrik Gulsvik (born 1989) a Norwegian former footballer with over 100 club caps

Attractions
Bjørneparken is located on Vikberget in Flå. The park is a sanctuary featuring various animals including bears, elk, deer, wolf, and lynx.

Protected areas

 * Bringen Nature Reserve, established 28 June 1985
 * Bukollen Nature Reserve, established 28 June 1985
 * Festningen Nature Reserve, established 28 June 1985
 * Flenten Nature Reserve, established 24 September 1993
 * Stavnselva Nature Reserve, established 13 December 2002

title: Flå


text:
Nes

NES commonly refers to the Nintendo Entertainment System, a video game console.

Nes or NES may also refer to:

Education

 * National Education Service, a proposal for the United Kingdom
 * New Economic School, in Russia
 * New English School (Jordan)
 * New English School (Kuwait)
 * NHS Education for Scotland, the educational wing of NHS Scotland

Faroe Islands

 * Nes, Eysturoy, a village in Nes Municipality on the island of Eysturoy
 * Nes Municipality, a municipality on the island of Eysturoy
 * Nes, Vágur, a village in Vágur municipality on the island of Suðuroy

Norway

 * Nes, the former name of Nesbyen (municipality), a municipality in Buskerud county
 * Nes, Bjugn, a village in Ørland municipality in Trøndelag county
 * Nes, Fosen, a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county
 * Nes, Innlandet, a former municipality in the old Hedmark county
 * Nes, Hole, a village in Hole municipality in Buskerud county
 * Nes, Vest-Agder, a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county
 * Nes, Vestland, a village in Luster municipality in Vestland county
 * Nes, Akershus, a municipality in Akershus county
 * Nes, Ådal, a village in Ringerike municipality in Buskerud county
 * Nes Church (disambiguation)

Netherlands

 * Nes, Ameland, a village in the municipality of Ameland
 * Nes (Amsterdam), an old street in central Amsterdam
 * Nes, Heerenveen, a village in the municipality of Heerenveen
 * Nes, Dongeradeel, a village in the municipality of Dongeradeel
 * Nes (Schagen), a village in the municipality of Schagen
 * Nes aan de Amstel, a village in the municipality of Amstelveen
 * De Nes, a village in the municipality of Texel

Russia

 * Nes, Russia, a village in Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Syria

 * Rojava, officially the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), a de facto autonomous region

Science and technology

 * Nes (fish), a genus of gobies in subfamily Gobiinae
 * Natural evolution strategies, a method for numerical optimization
 * Natural Earth satellite, a natural satellite of Earth, such as the moon
 * Nestin (protein), a human gene and protein
 * Nuclear export signal, an amino acid sequence causing a protein to be exported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm
 * Night eating syndrome, an eating disorder
 * Netscape Enterprise Server, the former name of the Sun Java System Web Server

Organisations

 * Nashville Electric Service, power provider for Nashville, Tennessee
 * National Energy Systems, a former name of Eco Marine Power
 * Neurootological and Equilibriometric Society, a German medical society
 * New England Southern Railroad, which formerly used reporting mark NES, now NEGS
 * Voter News Service, also known as News Election Service

People

 * Aert Jansse van Nes (1626–1693), Dutch naval commander, brother of Jan
 * Eeke van Nes (born 1969), Dutch rower
 * Hadriaan van Nes (born 1942), Dutch rower
 * Jan Jansse van Nes (1631–1680), Dutch admiral, brother of Aert
 * Johan van Nes (died 1650), Dutch Golden Age painter
 * Nuno Espírito Santo (born 1974), Portuguese footballer and coach

Other uses

 * National Election Studies, an academic survey performed after every US election by the University of Michigan
 * National Equality Standard, an initiative created by EY
 * New Economic System, East German economic policy

title: Nes


text:
Nesbyen (municipality)

Nesbyen is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Nesbyen.

The parish of Næs was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Flå was separated from Nes on 1 January 1905 to become a separate municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Nes farm (Old Norse: Nes—now the village of Nesbyen), since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word nes which means headland. Prior to 1889, the name was spelled "Næs".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 29 June 1979. The arms show a yellow-gold triangle pointing to the left on a red background. This represents a sandy peninsula or headlands (yellow triangle) formed by the confluence of two rivers: Rukkedøla and Hallingdalselva. The design is canting because this is what the name of the municipality means (see above under the name).

History
Ancient routes went to Vestlandet through Valdres and Hallingdal and down Røldal to Odda. Reflecting this route, Hallingdal and its neighboring valley of Valdres were originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet and spoke a western dialect. In recognition of this, Cardinal Nicholas Breakespear, who was in Scandinavia as papal legate in 1153, included these two valleys in the diocese of Stavanger.

Geography
The municipality lies in the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal. It is bordered on the north by the municipality of Gol, on the east by Sør-Aurdal, on the southeast by Flå, on the southwest by Nore og Uvdal, and to the west by Ål.

The majority of the residents live in the villages of Nesbyen, Espeset, Eidal, Sjong, Børtnes, Bromma, Svenkerud, and Liodden.

Climate
Nesbyen has a boreal climate, bordering on a humid continental climate, with fairly warm and pleasant summers and cold winters. On 20 June 1970, Nesbyen recorded the all-time high for Norway 35.6 °C; the record low -38 °C was recorded 13 January 1914. The weather station Nesbyen-Todokk started recording in 2003; there have been weather stations in Nesbyen recording temperature since 1897.

Attractions
Hallingdal Museum (Hallingdal Folkemuseum) is located in Nesbyen. Hallingdal Folk Museum, founded in 1899, is one of the oldest open air museums in Norway. It has a large and unique collection of buildings and artifacts from farms in Hallingdal. Special mentions is houses like Staveloftet, built around 1340, from the Stave farm and Trøymstua from about 1645, coming from Hemsedal.

There is an old meteor crater just north of Nesbyen (about 6 kilometres north and then 4 kilometres into the woods). About 650 million years ago, a 200 to 300 m meteorite struck this area. This resulted in a 5 km impact crater and an enormous amount of outpouring of energy by the impact.

Notable residents

 * Hans Gude (1825-1903) painter, mainstay of Norwegian romantic nationalism
 * Eilif Peterssen (1852-1928) a Norwegian painter of landscapes and portraits
 * Marcelius Haga (1882–1968) Mayor from 1919 to 1934 and during the war
 * Margarete Bonnevie (1884—1970) a Norwegian author, feminist and politician
 * Olaf Øen (1925-2009) politician, Mayor of Nes 1963-1977
 * Odd Bakkerud (1931–1989) a Norwegian fiddle player
 * Lars Roar Langslet (1936–2016) politician, Minister of Education and Church Affairs
 * Kristin Hille Valla (born 1944) teacher, school director and politician
 * Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass (born 1961) a cross-country skier, silver medallist at the 1988 Winter Olympics

title: Nesbyen (municipality)


text:
Gol, Norway

Gol is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Gol which is also the population center. Gol was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Hemsedal was separated from Gol in 1897 to become a separate municipality. The municipality of Gol is bordered to the north by the municipality of Nord-Aurdal (in Oppland county), to the east by Sør-Aurdal (in Oppland county), to the south by Nes, and to the west by Ål and Hemsedal.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Gǫrð. This is probably an old river name (for the lower part of Hemsil river). The name of the river maybe derived from the word garðr m 'fence; border' - and the meaning is then 'the border river'.

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 13 September 1985. The arms are gold with three black keys in the center. The keys are derived from the key for Gol stave church.

Transport
The Bergen Line from Bergen to Oslo runs through Gol Station which opened in 1907. Gol is connected to Norwegian National Road 7, 50 and 52 as well as  Norwegian county road 51. There are daily bus connections to Gjøvik and Lillehammer.

Gol Church
Gol Church (Gol kirke) was constructed during 1882 based upon a design by architect Henrik Nissen. The church is characterized by neo-Gothic style with gables and small towers with crosses. It was built of wood and has 500 seats.

The mediaeval Gol stave church (built ca. 1216) was due for demolition after the construction of the larger and new church. Gol stave church was saved from destruction by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments (Fortidsminneforeningen), which bought the materials with the intention of re-erecting the church elsewhere. Financial problems were solved when King Oscar II decided to pay for its relocation and restoration as the central building of his private open-air museum near Oslo.

The restoration was overseen by architect Waldemar Hansteen. It was completed in 1885. In 1907, the royal museum was merged with the Norsk Folkemuseum, which now manages the stave church, still nominally belonging to the reigning monarch.

Attractions

 * Gordarike Familiepark is a theme park located in downtown Gol. The theme and environment are built to reflect  the Viking Age and Middle Ages.  A modern replica of Gol stave church has been built as a tourist attraction at the park.  The replica was built in the 1980s and consecrated in 1994.
 * Gol Bygdetun is an open-air museum located in the village of Gol. It was built around the old Skaga farm. It is dedicated to the cultural history of Gol, and contains farm buildings of nearly all types. Barns, lofts and wooden stables  are all  featured together with a millhouse, a school house  and a log cabin.  The oldest building dates back to 17th century. Gol Bygdetun is a subsidiary of Hallingdal Museum which operating in association with Buskerudmuseet.

Notable residents

 * Bjørn Frøysåk (1634 in Gol – 1709) a Norwegian farmer and merchant
 * Johan Willoch Erichsen (1842–1916 in Gol) a Norwegian Bishop of Bjørgvin
 * Lilly Heber (1879 in Gol – 1944) Norwegian literary critic and historian
 * Hans Johan Jensen (1882–?) a Norwegian politician, farmer and carpenter
 * Sigrun Eng (born 1951 in Sør-Fron) a Norwegian politician, member of Gol municipal council 1983 to 1991
 * Pål Golberg (born 1990 in Gol) is a Norwegian cross-country skier

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Gol:
 * 🇸🇪 - Årjäng, Värmland County, Sweden
 * - Fanø, Region Syddanmark, Denmark
 * 🇫🇮 - Virrat, Pirkanmaa, Finland
 * 🇨🇦 - Bracebridge, Ontario

title: Gol, Norway


text:
Hemsedal

Hemsedal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym. Hemsedal lies on the Norwegian National Road 52 (Rv 52). Hemsedal is located 220 km northwest of Oslo and 273 km from Bergen. In 1897, Hemsedal was separated from the municipality of Gol to become a municipality of its own.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Hemsudalr. The second element is dalr, which means "dale" or "valley"; the first element is usually taken as the genitive case of the river name Hemsa (now Hemsil) of unknown derivation, although Sophus Bugge believed that it might derive from the Old Norse hemsa, hefnsa or hofn, meaning "going to pasture". The Norwegian word hems ("bed built in a small loft room") is named after the valley of Hemsedal.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms is from modern times. The arms were granted on 2 October 1992 and were designed by Stein Davidsen. The arms show a gold lynx head on a red background.

Early history
Hemsedal stave church (Hemsedal stavkyrkje) is believed to have been built between 1207 and 1224, and is first mentioned, as Ecclesia Aamsodal, in the accounts and diaries of the Papal nuncios sent to Scandinavia to collect tithes in 1282–1324. In 1327 it was also mentioned under the name Skodvinar Kirkja i Hemsudali; this refers to alternate names of the farm where it stood, Kyrkjebøen: Skodvin and Skadengård. The church was dismantled in 1882.

Hemsedal Church (Hemsedal kyrkje) was built during 1882 as a replacement for Hemsedal stave church. It was constructed of wood on the basis of plans by architect Johannes Henrik Nissen. It has 500 seats. The organ was built in 1888 by Olsen & Jørgensens orgelfabrikk and was restored in 1976. The church is associated with the Hallingdal deanery of the Diocese of Tunsberg. Hemsedal's economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. The valley had small and medium-sized farms that were widely scattered on the valley bottom on both sides of the river and along the slopes. Because of the high altitude, farming has concentrated for the most part on livestock and dairy, and use of summer shielings has been important for the farms, which could not find sufficient pasturage in the valley bottom. Most therefore had milking stations on the shielings.

In the 1647 cadastre there was only one farm in Hemsedal large enough to pay full taxes; there were 24 liable for half taxation and 15–16 assessed as disused. In addition, there were a number of enterprises that were not assessed tax. The estimated population was about 400 (the exact number is unknown). Until the mid-19th century, the population increased steadily. In 1845 there were 1,775 people in the village. However, the population declined again over the next 75 years. In 1920 it had fallen to 1,358, before once more starting to increase.

Recent history

Skogstad Hotell was completed in 1905 as the first hotel in the village. Before that, in the latter half of the 19th century, a road had been built through the village with the hope that it would become a major route to Western Norway. However, things changed dramatically with the opening of the Bergen Railway in 1909. Hemsedal once more became a detour, while upper Hallingdal took over as the main route.

After the World War II, new places to stay were established in the valley, such as Vangen Pensjonat (inn) at Tuv (1947) and Lykkjaheim Pensjonat (1953). A tourist agency was established in 1939 and in 1952 suggested building a ski lift in Hemsedal, but this did not happen until 1959, when Fossheim Pensjonat created the Tottenheisen, a 350 m ski lift behind the inn at Ulsåk, serving the first piste in the village, Tottenløypa. However, this lift was torn down in 1961.

Hemsedal Skisenter opened at Holdeskaret in 1961, and a few years later, planning began for tourist development. Over the five years beginning in 1980, a series of new businesses aimed at tourists were established. The first chairlift, Olaheisen, opened in 1983. Tourism has continued to grow in economic significance for Hemsedal. More than half of visitors come from abroad. Hemsedal is now also popular in the summer season, due to opportunities for fishing, hiking, climbing, cycling, golf and other activities.

Geography
The municipality is bordered to the north by Vang and Vestre Slidre (both in Oppland county), to the east by Nord-Aurdal (in Oppland county) and Gol, to the south by Ål and Hol, and to the west by Lærdal (in Vestland county). Lakes in the region include Juklevatnet.

Mountains

 * Hydalsberget
 * Langebottfjellet
 * Leinenosi

Tourism
One of the first tourists in Hemsedal was the Norwegian polar explorer Fritjof Nansen, who visited in 1898 and stayed at the Bjøberg Fjellstue. Today Hemsedal is a popular destination, with Hemsedal Skisenter the main attraction. About 70% of all visitors come in the winter season (December–May) and most of the remaining 30% in the summer months.

Hemsedal Skisenter is the second largest ski resort in Norway, with 44 km slopes. The ski centres in Hemsedal and Grøndalen were bought in 2000 by the Swedish company Sälenstjärnen, which changed its name the following year to SkiStar. Skistar also owns Trysil Ski Centre, Sälen and Åre, Vemedalen and Hammarbybacken in Sweden.

Attractions

 * Hemsedal Bygdetun is located at Øvre Løkji in the village of Ulsåk. Øvre Løkji is a museum farm from which there are several trails up into the mountains. Hemsedal's cross-country stadium is located at Gravset and is the starting point for a large network of trails to Lykkja and Gol, including 10 km of lighted trails. The museum has houses and artifacts from the early 18th century.
 * Rjukandefossen waterfall is located in the vicinity of the village of Tuv
 * Hemsedal Top 20 offers mountain climbing during summer months.

Notable residents

 * Josef Monsrud (1922-2009) was a Norwegian forester and resistance member during World War II. At the age of twenty he joined the resistance Osvald Group. He went through some initial training and was hired as a guard for the strictly illegal Communist Party of Norway which had a secret base in Hemsedal.
 * Kjell Venås ( 1927-2018) born in Hemsedal, was a Norwegian philologist. He spent most of his career at the University of Oslo as a lecturer and as a professor (1971 to 1997), specializing in research about the Nynorsk language form.
 * Ingrid Wigernæs (born in Hemsedal 1928) is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier who won a silver medal in the 3×5 km relay at the 1966 World Championships.
 * Sigrun Slapgard (born in Hemsedal 1953) a Norwegian journalist and non-fiction writer.
 * Erik Wøllo (born in Hemsedal 1961) is a Norwegian composer and musician, guitarist and synthesist. As a solo recording artist, he is most known for his electronic and ambient musical soundscapes.
 * Hege Nerland (1966–2007) was a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party. In 2003 she helped found the local party chapter in her native Hemsedal.
 * Geir Skeie (born 1980) is a Norwegian chef and restaurateur, who worked at the Skarsnuten Hotel in Hemsedal.
 * Eirik Markegård (born in Hemsedal 1984) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a striker for the Norwegian fifth Division side Jardar.
 * Erik Solbakken (born in Hemsedal 1984) is a Norwegian television presenter. Solbakken was one of the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Hemsedal:

 * 🇸🇪 - Essunga, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
 * 🇫🇮 - Kalvola, Southern Finland, Finland
 * 🇪🇪 - Tõrva, Valga County, Estonia

title: Hemsedal


text:
Ål

Ål is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The parish of Aal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Hol was separated from the municipality of Aal in 1877 to become a separate municipality.

Geography
80% of Ål municipality is at least 900 m above sea level. The highest point is Raudbergnuten at 1819 m. Reineskarvet, the significant mountain of Ål has a summit of 1791 m. In the winter, Ål has over 400 km of maintained cross country ski trails.

Ål borders the municipalities of Hol, Gol, Hemsedal, Nes, Nore og Uvdal, and Lærdal.

The Bergen Line, the rail line between Oslo and Bergen runs through Ål. Ål Station has an elevation of 436 m and is the halfway station on the Bergen Line.

Hallingdalselva runs in the bottom of the main valley, forming Strandafjorden, a long, narrow lake for several kilometers. Ål has several hydroelectric dams. Hallingdalselva runs partly in a tunnel from here to Nes municipality, where it drives a large turbine power plant.

Mountains

 * Djupeskardnosi
 * Fossebreen
 * Haldalshøgdi
 * Langebottfjellet
 * Lysebottnuten
 * Mellomnuten

General information
Approximately 5,000 inhabitants spread over several smaller villages including Ål, Torpo, Leveld, Vats, Trillhus, Granhagen, Breie and Strand. There is a strong cultural tradition, with folk music being a big part of people's identity. Folkemusikkveka is held every May for a week.

The traditional industry of Ål is mostly small-farming. Many livestock farms are still in operation with small herds of sheep, dairy cattle, and goats. Crop growing is difficult because of the steep valley walls, but wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes have all been grown in the past.

The award-winning local paper Hallingdølen has offices in the village of Ål. It comes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Ål has a Videregående school and a Folkehøyskole for deaf students.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Áll. The name is identical with the word áll which means "ditch" or "gully". In 1921, the spelling of the name was changed from "Aal" to "Ål".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. The arms were granted on 30 November 1984 and show three silver diamond shapes in a vertical line on a red background. The designs are taken from an old and common pattern used in hand-woven tapestries in the area. They also symbolize the three churches in the municipality: Ål, Torpo, and Leveld.

Attractions

 * Torpo Stave Church (built around 1190–1200) is located in Torpo
 * Ål Bygdamuseum is built around the old Leksvol farm, and is typical of the area. The buildings go back to the 17th century. In later years the museum gained additional buildings, Øvre tunet, Stølen, and Husmannsplassen, where a stone cottage has been reconstructed, similar to those used in the mountain sæter.
 * Hallingdal feriepark, camping with high ropes course and activities
 * Ål Skisenter, downhill skiing facility

Notable people from Ål

 * Hallgrim Berg (born 1945), folk musician and politician
 * Lars T. Bjella (1922–2013), politician, active in Ål local politics for 25 years
 * Stein Torleif Bjella (born 1968), songwriter, singer, and guitarist
 * Nils Terje Dalseide (1952–2018), judge and civil servant
 * Kristian Hefte (1905–1977), actor
 * Trond Helleland (born 1962), politician
 * Odd Hoftun (born 1927), engineer and missionary to Nepal
 * Eldbjørg Løwer (born 1943), politician
 * Mikkel Ødelien (1893–1984), scientist, educator and soil researcher
 * Einfrid Perstølen (1917–2017), psychiatrist and Nynorsk language proponent
 * Olle Eksell (born Carl Olof Lennart 1918–2007), graphic designer
 * Ambjørg Sælthun (1922–2012), farmer and politician
 * Ole Larsen Skattebøl (1844–1929), judge and politician
 * Embrik Strand (1876–1947), entomologist and arachnologist
 * Olav Thon (born 1923), real estate developer and billionaire

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Ål:
 * 🇬🇹 - Sololá, Sololá Department, Guatemala

title: Ål


text:
Hol, Norway

Hol is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.

Administrative history
The area of Hol was separated from the municipality Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants moved to Hol municipality. The area was transferred from Uvdal to Hol in 1944. Uvdal was reunited with Nore to form the new municipality of Nore og Uvdal.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hol farm (Old Norse: Hóll), since the first church was built here. The name is identical with the word hóll, which means 'round (and isolated) hill'.

Villages and hamlets in Hol municipality

 * Dagali
 * Geilo
 * Hagafoss
 * Hol (village)
 * Hovet
 * Kvisla
 * Myrland
 * Strønde
 * Sudndalen
 * Vedalen

Geography
Hol is bordered to the north by Lærdal, to the north and east by Ål, to the south by Nore og Uvdal, and to the west by Eidfjord, Ulvik and Aurland. Hol is a mountainous area, where over 90% of the area is at an altitude exceeding 900 meters above sea level. The Hallingskarvet mountain range is the highest point in the municipality, at 1933 meters above sea level. The Usta or Usteåne River flows northeast from Lake Ustevatn traveling down the Ustedalen valley. The Hallingdalselva River is formed by the confluence of the Usta River and the Holselva River from Lake Strandavatnet.

Lakes

 * Ustevatn – in the municipality of Hol
 * Nygardsvatnet – in the municipality of Hol
 * Strandavatnet –  in the municipality of Hol
 * Ørteren – in the municipality of Hol
 * Nyhellervatnet – on the border between Hol and Aurland, Vestland county
 * Pålsbufjorden – in the municipalities of Hol and Nore og Uvdal
 * Øvre Hein – in the municipalities of Hol and Nore og Uvdal
 * Djupsvatnet – in the municipalities of Hol and Ål
 * Flakavatnet – in the municipalities of Hol and Ulvik, Hordaland county

Mountains

 * Galdene
 * Haldalshøgdi
 * Julsennosi
 * Kyrkjedørsnuten
 * Miljonuten
 * Storefjellsnuten

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms of Hol is from modern times; the arms were granted on 5 July 1991. They show three silver anvils on a blue background and were designed by Trond Andersson. The three anvils are stacked one above the other, with the top one being largest and the bottom one smallest. The anvil was chosen to symbolize the former smithies in the municipality, which were famous for the production of axes, blades, and knives. Iron mining was already practiced in the area in the Viking Age.

(See also coat-of-arms of Trøgstad)

Hol Old Church
Hol Old Church (Hol gamle kirke) is presumed to date from the 13th century, but the exact dating is unknown. The church is the oldest parish in Hol and is first mentioned in a letter from 1328 as a small stave church with covered side porches (svalganger). The church has been expanded several times, in the 16th century, in 1697 and in 1798–99. It was rebuilt in 1888 and 1938. It is believed that the floor of the church was made using columns from the old stave church. The pulpit and baptismal font are from the Renaissance period (1697) and the altarpiece from 1703. The pulpit is placed above the altar.

Notable residents

 * Knut Henriksen Dybsjord (1809–1866), mayor and temperance movement activist
 * Pål Olson Grøt (1813–1906), Rosemåling painter
 * Olav Sletto (1886–1963), novelist and educator
 * Knut Bry (born 1946 in Hovet), fine-art photographer and film director
 * Terje Isungset (born 1964), musician, percussionist and composer

Sport

 * Margit Hvammen (1932 in Geilo – 2010) alpine skier
 * Aud Hvammen (born 1943 in Geilo), alpine skier
 * Anne Brusletto (born 1951 in Geilo), alpine skier
 * Martin Hole (born 1959), former cross country runner
 * Ådne Søndrål (born 1971), former speed skater and gold medallist at the 1998 Winter Olympics
 * Håvard Bøkko (born 1987 in Hovet), speed skater
 * Roger S. Kleivdal (born 1988), snowboarder
 * Christoffer Fagerli Rukke (born 1988), speed skater
 * Hege Bøkko (born 1991 in Hovet), speed skater
 * Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen (born 1992 in Geilo), biathlete
 * Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen (born 1995 in Geilo), freestyle skier

Attractions

 * Hallingskarvet National Park – national park in the municipalities of Hol (Buskerud), Ulvik (Hordaland) and Aurland (Sogn og Fjordane)
 * Hol Bygdemuseum – located along the road from Ål to Geilo in the small village of Hagafoss. The museum is built as an old farm (holingsgard) with buildings of the local type. There are a total of 17 buildings, of which two, Nestegardsstugu and Raunsgardsstugu, have decorative wall paintings on the walls.
 * Dagali Museum – museum with ten buildings located in the middle of Dagali, on the edge of Hardangervidda. The buildings came from Dagali, Skurdalen, Tunhovd, and Uvdal; the oldest dates to the 18th century.
 * Dagali Skisenter – alpine resort in Dagali, also offering sled-racing, with one of Norway's longest sled-racing hills.
 * Dr Holms Hotel – resort hotel in the ski resort town of Geilo

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Hol:
 * 🇪🇪 – Halinga Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia
 * 🇫🇮 – Mäntyharju, South Savo, Finland
 * 🇸🇪 – Säffle, Värmland County, Sweden

title: Hol, Norway


text:
Sigdal

Sigdal is a municipality in Buskerud County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestfoss.

The municipality of Sigdal was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Krødsherad was separated from Sigdal on 1 January 1901. The municipality has common borders with the municipalities of Flå, Krødsherad, Modum, Øvre Eiker, Flesberg, Rollag, and Nore og Uvdal.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Sigmardalr or Sigmudalr. The first element is the genitive case of a river name Sigm(a) (now called the Simoa) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The Simoa river runs through Sigdal, flowing in a south-easterly course until it flows into Drammenselva at Åmot in Modum. The meaning of the river name is unknown, but is maybe derived from síga which means to "ooze" or "slide".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 18 November 1983. The arms show a heraldic image of the mountain that dominates the view around the village, the Andersnatten. The profile of the mountain is yellow with a blue-colored sky above.

Geography and population
Most of the citizens live in the village of Eggedal or the administrative centre of Prestfoss. Sigdal is densely populated, dominated by mountains and valleys.

About 72% of the area is covered with forest, 20% is mountain areas, and 4% of the area is cultivated. Agriculture, forestry, and the kitchen-producing enterprise of Sigdal Kjøkken are still important industries.

Climate
Sigdal has a humid continental (Dfb), near subarctic climate (Dfc), Dsb, and Dsc (the dry-summer versions, respectively) at once. The average summer high is 69 F, and the average winter low is 20 F. Snowfall in winter is fairly reliable, at 68 days per year on average, and rainfall peaks in summer and early fall. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in Sigdal are 93 F (34 C) in July and-11 F (-24 C) in February, respectively.

Local Attractions

 * Folk Music Center (Folkemusikksenteret) is a cultural heritage museum offering a good image of the building style and traditions of the district. The Folk Music Center is principally responsible for collecting, storing and promoting local folk music and dance.
 * Sigdal-Eggedal Museum is a regional museum for Krødsherad, Modum and Sigdal. This museum dedicated to the region's culture and history is arranged particularly authentically.
 * Vatnås Church (Vatnås kirke) is a historic church dating from  1660.
 * Lauvlia is the former home of Theodor Kittelsen, one of the most popular artists in Norway, who settled near Prestfoss during 1899. Today Lauvlia is a private museum featuring an exhibition of Kittelsen’s original work
 * Andersnatten is a well-known mountain and landmark. The mountain has inspired painters visiting or living in Sigdal, notably Theodor Kittelsen and Christian Skredsvig. It is recognized by mountain climbers as a tough challenge.

Protected areas in Sigdal Municipality

 * Heimseteråsen nature reserve, established on 13 December 2002, 2,515 acres
 * Solevatn nature reserve, established 20 June 1986, 538 acres
 * Trillemarka nature reserve, established on 13 December 2002, 43,285 acres

Notable residents

 * Christian Skredsvig (1854 - 1924) Norwegian artist and painter
 * Theodor Kittelsen (1857 - 1914) Norwegian artist and painter
 * Erik Ramstad (1860 - 1951) Norwegian-American founder of Minot, North Dakota
 * Eileif Kolsrud (1873 – 1953) a Norwegian educator and politician, Mayor of Kristiansund
 * Gulbrand Hagen (1864 - 1919) Norwegian-American newspaper editor and writer
 * Olaf Solumsmoen (1896 - 1972) a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician
 * Olaf Knudson (1915 – 1996) politician, deputy mayor of Sigdal in 1950's
 * Erling Kroken (1928-2007) a Norwegian ski jumper
 * Dag Aabye (born 1941) an endurance runner in British Columbia, "Father of Freeride Skiing"
 * Anne-Lise Berntsen (1943-2012) a Norwegian soprano
 * Grete Kummen (born 1952) a cross-country skier, competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics
 * Josefine Frida Pettersen (born 1996) actress, played Noora Amalie Sætre in NRK drama series Skam

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Sigdal:
 * 🇫🇮 Äänekoski, Central Finland, Finland
 * 🇮🇸 Hveragerði, Iceland
 * 🇸🇪 Örnsköldsvik, Västernorrland County, Sweden

Other sources

 * Mørch, Andreas & Thormod Skatvedt Sigdal og Eggedal (Sigdal og Eggedal, 1914)
 * Mørch, Andreas Frå gamle dagar. Folkeminne frå Sigdal og Eggedal (Norsk Folkeminnelag: 1932)

title: Sigdal


text:
Krødsherad

Krødsherad (Krødsherad kommune) is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Noresund. The municipality of Krødsherad was established when it was separated from the municipality of Sigdal on 1 January 1901.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Krœðisherað. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the lake Krøderen, the last element is herað meaning "district". Prior to 1918, the name was spelled Krødsherred.

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 September 1981. The arms are supposedly canting arms. In older times, the name, Krødsherad, was commonly misunderstood as the word kross meaning "cross" or the area where two valleys crossed. Thus the saltire cross was taken as a symbol in the arms. New insights, however, derive the name from Krøderen, or a lake with a sharp curve (hooked-lake).

Geography
The district lies on the Krøderfjord in Hallingdal, and borders on the municipalities of Ringerike, Flå, Sigdal and Modum. The municipality lies only 10 old Norwegian miles from Oslo. Settlement is scattered, with some concentration around the municipality's two principal centers, Noresund situated on the east side of Lake Krøderen and Krøderen at the southern end of Lake Krøderen.

Economy
Agriculture is the primary industry with most agricultural land arable and mostly used for grain cultivation. The forestry industry also has historically been important. With the shoreline at Krøderen and the high mountains at Norefjell, the municipality enjoys a spectrum of natural environments from lake to mountain. As a result, there are many vacation homes in the municipality and tourism, especially winter sports in the Norefjell area, is an important contribution element in the economy.

Villa Fridheim
Villa Fridheim, a manor house which houses a folk museum, is one of Norway's largest timber buildings. The style is representative of romantic nationalism. The building was erected in 1890-92 as the country house of Drammen based timber merchant Svend Haug(1832-1891) and his wife Anne Marthea (Thea) Sveaas (1839-1924). The architect was Herman Major Backer (1856–1932), whose other commissions included Skaugum in Asker, Klemetsrud Church in Oslo, Sollihøgda Chapel in Hole and  St John's Church in Bergen.

The building functioned as a hotel and boarding house between 1914-60. The building was restored and opened as a folktale museum in the summer of 1986. In 1996 the museum opened a section dedicated to the great collectors of Norwegian fairy tales, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe and to noted illustrators Theodor Kittelsen and Christian Skredsvig.

Krøderbanen
Krøderbanen Museum (Museet Krøderbanen) is a railroad museum headquartered in the former Krøderen Railroad Station at Krøderen. Krøderbanen was opened in 1872 as a narrow gauge line. It was converted to standard gauge in connection with the Bergen Railway opening in 1909 and remained in operation until 1985. Both rolling stock and fixed installations along the line is kept in running condition. Krøderbanen is also a center for the restoration and maintenance of railway equipment.

Norefjell Ski Resort
Norefjell Ski Resort was host to the downhill and giant slalom competitions of the 1952 Winter Olympics. Norefjell is only a 90-minute drive away from Oslo, making the ski resort the closest high mountain area to the Norwegian capital.

Olberg Church
Olberg Church (Olberg kirke)  dates from 1859. Jørgen Moe, who was the chaplain from 1853 to 1863, committed himself to having a new church built at Krødsherad. It was constructed based upon designs by architect Gustav Adolph Lammers. The building was built of wood and has 600 seats. The new church was dedicated on October 19, 1859. It is part of the Church of Norway and belongs to Eiker Prosti in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Notable people

 * Niels Schultz (1780 in Krødsherad – 1832) a Norwegian cleric, author and politician
 * Amund Ringnes (1840 in Krødsherad – 1907) brewery owner, founded Ringnes AS in 1876
 * Moltke Moe (1859 in Krødsherad - 1913) a Norwegian folklorist
 * Sigurd Moen (1897 in Krødsherad – 1967) speed skater, bronze medallist at the 1924 Winter Olympics
 * Tormod Skagestad (1920 in Krødsherad – 1997) poet, novelist, playwright, actor and theatre director
 * Otto Tschudi (born 1949 near Krødsherad) alpine skier, participated at the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics

title: Krødsherad


text:
Modum

Modum is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

The area has a long tradition of skiing with several famous skiers. Modum is home to one of the largest ski jumping hills in the world, Vikersundbakken which is situated in Heggen, outside Geithus. The hill record, established in 2017 is a jump of 253.5 m.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Modum farm (Old Norse: Móðheimr), since the first church was built here. The first element is móða which means "river" (here the Drammenselva river) and the last element is heimr which means "home", "homestead", or "farm". The name of the farm was later changed to Buskerud.

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 March 1985. The arms show three wavy silver lines “party per bend sinister” on a blue background. They represent the three main rivers in the municipality: Drammenselva, Snarumselva, and Simoa and the colour blue represents Blaafarveværket.

Geography
The municipality is bordered in the north by Krødsherad and Ringerike, in the east by Hole and Lier, in the south by Øvre Eiker, and in the west by Sigdal.

Communities
The municipality has three main villages: Åmot, Geithus, and Vikersund.

Åmot is the starting point of Kunstnerdalen, which was frequently visited by of several Norwegian 19th and 19th century painters: Christian Krohg, Adolph Tidemand and Hans Gude. It also was home to Theodor Kittelsen and Christian Skredsvig. Edvard Munch also painted in Modum. This is also the site of Blaafarveværket whichnow includes a museum and art gallery.

Geithus is the location of two hydroelectric powerplants; Geithusfoss kraftverk and Gravfoss kraftverk.

Vikersund is the municipality administrative center of Modum and the site of the Modum City Hall. It is also the site of Vikersundbakken.

Public service & business

 * Hans Gulbranson (1787 in Modum – 1868) pioneer developer of the textile industry
 * Gudbrand Gregersen de Saág (1824 in Modum – 1910) Norwegian-Hungarian bridge engineer
 * Anders Sveaas (1840 in Modum – 1917) founded the Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill
 * Albert Collett (1842 at Buskerud Manor – 1896) timber merchant, sawmill owner, founded Firma Albert Collett
 * Nils P. Haugen (1849 in Modum – 1931), member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
 * Charles E. Hanson (1855 in Modum – 1932), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
 * Christopher Hornsrud (1859 in Skotselv, Øvre Eiker – 1960), Norwegian Prime Minister in 1928
 * Christian Hansen Tandberg (1872 at Nykirke – 1951) farmer, deputy mayor of Modum 1920's
 * Hjalmar Steenstrup (1890 in Modum – 1945) insurance agent and Milorg pioneer
 * Erling Diesen (born 1932 in Geithus) a Norwegian engineer and civil servant

The Arts

 * Maurits Hansen (1774 in Modum – 1843), author, contributor to the Romantic Movement
 * Thorvald Lammers (1841 in Modum – 1922) baritone singer, choral conductor & composer
 * Andreas Edvard Disen (1845 in Modum – 1923) a mountain landscape painter
 * Hans Andersen Foss (1851 in Modum – 1929) Norwegian-American author, newspaper editor
 * Christian Skredsvig (1854 in Modum – 1924) painter and writer, style reflected naturalism
 * Arild Formoe (1912 in Modum – 2006), accordion player and orchestra conductor
 * Thure Erik Lund (born 1959 in Vikersund) author and cabinet maker

Sport

 * Arndt Jorgens (1905 in Modum – 1980) catcher in Major League Baseball for New York Yankees
 * Knut Østby (1922 in Modum – 2010) sprint canoeist, silver medallist, 1948 Summer Olympics
 * Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl (born 1960), ski jumper team bronze medallist at the 1988 Winter Olympics, works in Vikersund
 * Tom Gulbrandsen (born 1964) retired footballer with almost 300 club caps and 17 for Norway
 * Ole Einar Bjørndalen (born 1974 in Simostranda), ski biathlete with 13 Winter Olympic Games medals

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Modum:
 * 🇫🇮 Laukaa, Western Finland, Finland
 * Stevns, Region Sjælland, Denmark
 * 🇸🇪 Östra Göinge, Skåne County, Sweden

title: Modum


text:
Øvre Eiker

Øvre Eiker is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Eiker. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hokksund. The old municipality of Eiker was divided into Øvre Eiker (upper Eiker) and Nedre Eiker (lower) on 1 July 1885.

As of 2015, more employees worked for the [municipal] government and in the service sector, than in any other field of employment; even fewer—16 %—are employed in construction or in [electrical] power companies and water companies; [13%] work in the manufacturing sector.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Eikjar. The name is the plural form of eiki which means "oak wood". The meaning of Øvre Eiker is "(the) upper (part of) Eiker". (The municipality of Eiker was divided in 1885.)

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 24 October 1981. The arms show three silver oak leaves and two acorns on a blue background. The oak is a canting element, since Eik means oak in the Norwegian language.

(See also coat-of-arms of Eigersund, Nedre Eiker, Songdalen and Tingvoll)

Geography
Øvre Eiker is a lush valley along Drammenselva with Modum to the north and Drammen to the east. To the south flows Eikeren watercourse, which is dominated by the contiguous Lakes Eikeren and Fiskumvannet. Eikeren is 156 Meters deep and is partly located in Holmestrand municipality in the south. The municipality's highest point, Myrehogget, 707 meters above sea level. is located west, between Øvre Eiker and Flesberg municipality.

About half of the municipality's inhabitants live in the municipal center Hokksund, which in 2021 had 9,514 inhabitants, the rest live mainly in the settlements Vestfossen, Skotselv, Ormåsen, and Darbu.

The municipality is part of the Drammen region and Buskerudbyen, which is a collaboration within transport, environment and health.

Energy
Hakavik Power Station, startpoint of 55 kV single phase AC grid for traction current.

Hellefoss Power Station, was put into operation in 1952.

Skotselv Power Station started production in 1992.

Notable residents

 * Christopher Borgersen Hoen (1767 in Eiker – 1845) farmer and rep. at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814
 * Jonas Lie (1833 at Hokksund – 1908) novelist, poet, and playwright
 * Olaf Mørch Hansson (1856 in Øvre Eiker – 1912) an actor, theatre director and journalist
 * Christopher Hornsrud (1859 in Skotselv – 1960) Prime Minister of Norway in 1928
 * Henny Dons (1874 at Aker – 1966) a Norwegian educator and inner missionary
 * Hans Dons (1882 in Øvre Eiker – 1940) Navy officer, first manned flight in Norway
 * Thina Thorleifsen (1885 in Hokksund – 1959) a politician, active in the women's movement
 * Else Halling (1899 in Øvre Eiker – 1987) a Norwegian textile artist
 * Harald Henschien (1902 at Øvre Hoen – 1968) accordionist, accordion manufacturer, editor
 * Aage Møst (1923 in Skotselv – 2011) a journalist and sports official
 * Thorleif Enger (born 1943 in Øvre Eiker) former CEO of Yara International
 * Per Olaf Lundteigen (born 1953) farmer and Øvre Eiker municipal councillor 2003/07
 * Nikolai Hængsle (born 1978 in Skotselv) a Norwegian bass guitarist, member of BigBang
 * Masud Gharahkhani (born 1982) an Iranian-Norwegian politician, brought up in Skotselv

Sport

 * Randi Thorvaldsen (1925 in Fiskum – 2011) a champion speedskater in the early 1950s
 * Jorunn Horgen (born 1966 in Hokksund) a windsurfer, world champion in 1980s & 90s
 * Mona Bollerud (born 1968 in Fiskum) former biathlete, World Championship medallist
 * Gustav Wikheim (born 1993 in Hokksund) a Norwegian footballer with over 200 club caps

Twin towns — Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Øvre Eiker:
 * Kerteminde, Region of Southern Denmark, Denmark
 * 🇫🇮 Lempäälä, Western Finland, Finland
 * 🇸🇪 Ulricehamn, Västra Götaland County, Sweden

title: Øvre Eiker


text:
Nedre Eiker

Nedre Eiker was a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Eiker. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mjøndalen. The old municipality of Eiker was divided into Nedre Eiker (lower Eiker) and Øvre Eiker (upper) on 1 July 1885.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Eikjar. The name is the plural form of eiki which means "oak wood". The meaning of Nedre Eiker is "(the) lower (part of) Eiker". (The municipality of Eiker was divided in 1885.)

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms was granted on 26 June 1970. The arms show three gold-colored oak leaves on a red background. The arms are canting because the meaning of the name (Eik) comes from the word for oak.

(See also coat-of-arms of Eigersund, Songdalen, Tingvoll and Øvre Eiker)

Geography
The municipality is located in the southern part of Buskerud county. It borders the municipalities of Lier, Drammen, Hof, and Øvre Eiker. The majority of the residents live in the villages of Mjøndalen, Krokstadelva, Solbergelva, and Steinberg.

The Drammenselva River flows through the municipality of Nedre Eiker. It is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a course running from Tyrifjorden in the north to Drammensfjord in the south.

Churches in Nedre Eiker

 * Mjøndalen Church
 * Nedre Eiker Church
 * Solberg Chapel
 * Tabor Chapel

Notable residents

 * Lars Korvald, former Prime Minister of Norway
 * Herman Wildenvey (1886–1959), poet and author
 * Svein Johannessen (1937–2007), international master of chess
 * Jørn Hurum (b. 1967), paleontologist
 * Ragnar Christiansen (born 1922), former Minister and Member of Parliament

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Nedre Eiker:
 * 🇸🇪 Enköping, Uppsala County, Sweden

title: Nedre Eiker


text:
Lier, Norway

Lier is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lierbyen. The municipality of Lier was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area Åssiden was transferred from Lier to the neighboring municipality of Drammen on 1 July 1951.

Norway's longest indoor shopping center, Liertoppen, is located in Lierskogen. The newspaper Lierposten is published in Lier.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Líðir. The name is the plural form of líð which means "hillside".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms and was designed by Hallvard Trætteberg and granted on 14 August 1970. The arms show five silver-colored apple blossoms on a red background. The area is well known for the production of various types of fruit, berries, vegetables, and flowers, so this was chosen as a symbol of the area's lush scenery and agriculture.

Geography
Lier borders to the municipalities of Asker, Bærum, Drammen, Modum and Hole. It includes the villages of Lierbyen, Sylling, Sjåstad, Nøste, Gullaug, Lierskogen, and Tranby.

Lier is thought of as a "green lung" for Norway's capital, Oslo, with its vast number of fields and apple trees. It is also famous for its agricultural products as strawberries and vegetables.

The Gilhusodden Nature Preserve is home of many different bird species. The area is also used for recreation, especially swimming and sunbathing, with its long, shallow beach.

Notable residents

 * Hallvard Vebjørnsson (c. 1020 in Lier – 1043) or St. Hallvard, Oslo's patron saint
 * Hans Christian Heg (1829 at Haugestad – 1863) Norwegian American abolitionist
 * Cæsar Peter Møller Boeck (1845 in Lier – 1917) a Norwegian dermatologist
 * Harald Saue (1876 at Saue – 1958) Mayor of Lier in the 1920s and politician for Nasjonal Samling
 * Sæbjørn Buttedahl (1876 in Lier – 1960) a Norwegian stage and film actor and sculptor
 * Alf Wollebæk (1879 in Lier – 1960) a Norwegian zoologist and curator
 * Viggo Brun (1885 in Lier – 1978) a professor, mathematician and number theorist
 * Thorleif Haug (1894 in Vivelstad – 1934) skier/ski jumper, he won three Nordic skiing events at the 1924 Winter Olympics
 * Kirsten Brunvoll (1895 in Lier – 1976) playwright and resistance member in WWII
 * Knut Tvedt (1906 in Lier – 1989) jurist and acting CEO of the NRK 1946 to 1948
 * Ole Ivar Lovaas (1927 in Lier – 2010) a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and pioneering behaviorist
 * Gert Nygårdshaug (born 1946) author of poems, children's books and novels; lives in Lier
 * Martin Kolberg (born 1949) Norwegian Labour Party secretary 2002/2009; lives in Lier
 * Karin Fossum (born 1954) crime fiction author, "Norwegian queen of crime", lives in Sylling
 * Frode Kjekstad (born 1974 in Lier) a Norwegian jazz guitarist
 * Mads Hansen (born 1984 in Lier) singer and former footballer with over 230 club caps

Twin towns – sister cities
Lier is twinned with:
 * 🇸🇪 Falköping, Sweden
 * 🇫🇮 Kokemäki, Finland
 * Mariagerfjord, Denmark

title: Lier, Norway


text:
Røyken

Røyken is a district and village (bygd) and a former municipality in Buskerud in Viken County, Norway. In 2020 Røyken was merged with the municipalities of Hurum and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality (informally called "Greater Asker") located in the newly formed Viken county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda. The parish of Røken was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

Oslo ATCC, the Area Control Center for the controlled airspace above Østlandet is located here.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Røyken farm (Norse Raukvin), since the first church was built there. The first element is raukr which means "pile, stack; mountain" and the last element is vin which means "meadow" or "pasture".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 December 1967. The figure shows a yellow fire on a blue background. It was chosen as a semi-canting symbol to represent smoke (which cannot be depicted in heraldry). The background for the motif is a common misunderstanding of the name as røyken the definite form of røyk meaning "smoke".

Geography
Røyken is located south of Lier and Asker, on the northern part of the Hurum peninsula north of Hurum municipality. It lies between Oslofjord and Drammensfjord. It is connected to the eastern side of the Oslofjord via Hurum municipality and the Oslofjord Tunnel. The tunnel is 7.2 km long and connects Hurumhalvøya to Akershus county.

The district includes large amounts of residential zones with beautiful sights of the sea. The administration is situated in the village of Midtbygda. The main population centers are the villages of Hyggen, Hallenskog, Midtbygda, Nærsnes, Røyken, Slemmestad, Spikkestad, and Åros. Many people live in the northern part of Bødalen and its vicinities, which is a continuous residential area that continues throughout Asker and Bærum to Oslo.

Municipality Reform
As part of the municipality reform process instigated by Minister of Local Government Jan Tore Sanner the municipalities of Asker, Hurum and Røyken evaluated if they should merge into a new common municipality during the first half of 2016. A tentative agreement was reached and on 16 June 2016 the Municipal Council of Røyken approved the merger with Asker and Hurum with 24 votes for and 3 against. The merger date was 1 January 2020 and the chosen name was Asker.

Notable people

 * Einar Jansen (1893 in Røyken – 1960) a Norwegian historian, genealogist and archivist
 * Jonas Fjeldstad (1894 in Røyken – 1985) a prize-winning oceanographer and mathematician
 * Ove Bang (1895 in Røyken – 1942) a Norwegian architect, advocated functionalism in architecture
 * Eberhart Jensen (1922 in Røyken – 2003) a Norwegian astrophysicist
 * Bjørge Lillelien (1927 in Slemmestad – 1987) a sports journalist and commentator for NRK
 * Kate Gulbrandsen (born 1965 in Slemmestad) one of Norway's former Eurovision singers
 * Melissa Wiik (born 1985 in Slemmestad) a footballer with 200 club caps and 63 for Norway women
 * Torbjørn Bergerud (born 1994 in Åros) a handball player for Kolstad Håndball and the Norwegian national team.

title: Røyken


text:
Hurum

Hurum was a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. As of 1 January 2020 Hurum has merged with the municipalities of Røyken and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality located in the newly formed Viken county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village Sætre. The municipality of Hurum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The small village of Holmsbu was granted town status in 1847, but it did not become a municipality of its own. It lost its town status on 1 January 1964.

Hurum was once suggested as the location for the new national airport of Norway. The plan was, however, abandoned, due to fears of too much fog in Hurum, and the main airport is now situated at Gardermoen in Akershus.

Name
The Old Norse form of the name was Húðrimar. The meaning of the first element (Húð) is unknown and the last element is the plural form of rimi which means "ridge".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 2 February 1979. The arms show two blue wavy lines on a silver background. This was chosen because the municipality is on a peninsula between two fjords: Oslofjord and Drammensfjord. At the same time the arms are based on the arms of the Huitfeldt family, who played a major role in the local history. The family used a single bend as arms.

History
Hurum was the site of the Hurum air disaster on 20 November 1949.

Geography
The municipality borders Røyken to the north. To the west the coastline is located close to the eastern coast of Vestfold with Svelvik. It is connected to the eastern side of the Oslofjord via Oslofjordtunnel, one of the longest undersea tunnels of its kind in Northern Europe. The tunnel is 7.2 km long and connects Hurumhalvøya to Akershus county.

Hurum is located on the southern part of Hurumhalvøya, which is the peninsula between the Oslofjord and Drammensfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Sætre, which together with Tofte are one of the two most populated villages in Hurum.

Churches in Hurum

 * Filtvet Church
 * Holmsbu Church
 * Kongsdelene Church
 * Hurum Church

Hurum Church
Hurum Church (Hurum kirke) is the parish church for Hurum. This is a medieval era church dating from ca. 1150. The edifice is constructed of stone and has 150 seats. The original church was ravaged by fire the night after Christmas Day 1686. The following year the church received a new roof and turret. In 1849 the church was extensively rebuilt. The interior has undergone a number of changes in the course of time. The cemetery is surrounded by stone wall and has a chapel from 1938. Naval hero and native son, Ivar Huitfeldt (1665-1710) was buried in the church yard. The pulpit was received as a gift from his wife, Kirsten Røyem Huitfeldt (1671–1750).

Merging and dissolution
On 9 May 2016, a referendum on the status of the municipality was held, with a majority of voters voting to merge Hurum with Røyken and Asker to create a new and larger Asker. Subsequently, on 21 June the same year, a majority of municipal councillors voted in favor of applying for the merger, which was subsequently accepted by the local councils of both Røyken and Asker. It was determined that the municipalities would officially merge on 1 January 2020. During the 2019 Norwegian local elections, voters in the three municipalities voted on who they wanted to govern the new municipality rather than their three original municipalities, the newly elected councillors took their seats on the same day as the municipalities merged.

Notable people

 * Gustav Peter Blom (1785 in Hurum – 1869) civil servant, historian and rep. at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814
 * Andreas Tofte (1795 in Hurum – 1852) businessman, first Mayor of Oslo in 1837
 * Thomas Fredrik Olsen (1857 in Filtvet – 1933) ship company owner of Fred. Olsen & Co.
 * Odd Børresen (1923 in Sætre – 2010) a linguist, preacher, and missionary in the DR Congo
 * Reiulf Steen (1933 in Hurum – 2014) a Norwegian author, ambassador and politician
 * Morten Harket (born 1959) the voice of the Norwegian band a-ha, lives in Sætre

title: Hurum


text:
Jeanne Julia Bartet

Julia Bartet was the stage name of Jeanne-Julie Regnault (28 October 1854 – 18 November 1941),  a French actress. After training at the Paris Conservatoire she began her professional career in 1872, and from 1880 to her retirement in 1920 she was a leading member of the Comédie-Française. Her range was wide, and she appeared in classic plays and modern drama, in comedy and tragedy.

Early years
Bartet was born Jeanne-Julie Regnault on 20 October 1854 in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire under the prominent actor and teacher François-Joseph Regnier. She won the conservatoire's second prize for comedy in 1872 and made her first professional stage appearance in October of that year, adopting the stage name Bartet to avoid confusion with the established star actress Alice Regnault. Her first role was Vivette in the first production of Daudet 's L'Arlesienne at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, Paris.

During the 1870s her other roles included Marguerite in Sardou's Les Ganaches (1874); Manon in Manon Lescaut (1875); Fanny Merson in Émile Augier's Madame Caverlet (1876); Comtesse Zicka in Dora (1877) and leading parts in Les Bourgeois de Pont-Arcy (1878); Montjoye (1879) and Les Tapageurs (1879). Her portrait was painted by Aimé Morot in 1881 and is at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris.

Comédie-Française
In 1879 Bartet was engaged by the Comédie-Française, where she made her début on 16 February 1880, as Léa in Sardou's Daniel Rochat; later in that year she took over from Sarah Bernhardt as the Queen in Ruy Blas. On 24 December 1880 she was appointed as a sociétaire. Over the next forty years she played ninety roles at the Comédie-Française, ranging from comedy to tragedy, gaining the nickname "La Divine". In her entry in Who's Who in the Theatre she listed more than forty plays that she considered particular successes, including Adrienne Lecouvreur, Andromaque, Antigone, Antigone, Bérénice, Hernani, Iphigénie, Le Roi s'amuse and Les Femmes savantes.

Le Figaro said that Bartet served the Comédie-Française with incomparable nobility, and commented that her "scholarly and understated elegance … her refined grace, her restrained and profound pathos" were "one of the models of the French woman". Her retirement from the stage in 1920 was international news. In London The Times called it a loss that all French people would feel; The New York Herald praised Bartet's generosity in stepping down to make way for younger members of the Comédie-Française, but asked, "Who among the younger actressess is capable of filling Mme. Bartet's place?" On her retirement she was made an Officier of the Legion of Honour.

Bartet died at her home in the 8th arrondissement of Paris on 18 November 1941, at the age of 87 and was interred in the Passy Cemetery.

title: Jeanne Julia Bartet


text:
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

Ernst Wilhelm Theodor Herrmann Hengstenberg (20 October 1802, in Fröndenberg – 28 May 1869, in Berlin), was a German Lutheran churchman and neo-Lutheran theologian from an old and important Dortmund family.

He was born at Fröndenberg, a Westphalian town, and was educated by his father Johann Heinrich Karl Hengstenberg, who was a famous minister of the Reformed Church and head of the Fröndenberg convent of canonesses (Fräuleinstift). His mother was Wilhelmine then Bergh. Entering the University of Bonn in 1819, Hengstenberg attended the lectures of Georg Wilhelm Freytag for Oriental languages and of Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler for church history, but his energies were principally devoted to philosophy and philology, and his earliest publication was an edition of the Arabic Mu'allaqat of Imru' al-Qais, which gained for him a prize at his graduation in the philosophical faculty. This was followed in 1824 by a German translation of Aristotle's Metaphysics.

Finding himself without the means to complete his theological studies under Johann August Wilhelm Neander and Friedrich August Tholuck in Berlin, he accepted a post at Basel as tutor in Oriental languages to Johann Jakob Stähelin (1797–1875), later a professor at the university. It was there that he began to direct his attention to a study of the Bible, which led him to a conviction, not only of the divine character of evangelical religion, but also of the unapproachable adequacy of its expression in the Augsburg Confession. In 1824 he joined the philosophical faculty of the University of Berlin as a privatdozent, and in 1825 he became a licentiate in theology, his theses being remarkable for their evangelical fervour and for their emphatic protest against every form of "rationalism", especially in questions of Old Testament criticism.

In 1826 he became professor extraordinarius in theology; and in July 1827 took on the editorship of the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung, a strictly orthodox journal, which in his hands acquired an almost unique reputation as a controversial organ. It did not become well known until in 1830 an anonymous article (by Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach) appeared, which openly charged Wilhelm Gesenius and Julius Wegscheider with infidelity and profanity, and on the ground of these accusations advocated the interposition of the civil power, thus giving rise to the prolonged Hallischer Streit. In 1828 the first volume of Hengstenberg's Christologie des Alten Testaments passed through the press; in the autumn of that year he became professor ordinarius in theology, and in 1829 doctor of theology.

Main works
Of minor importance are:
 * Christologie des Alten Testaments (1829–1835; 2nd ed., 1854–1857; Eng. trans. by R Keith, 1835–1839, also in Clark's Foreign Theological Library, by T Meyer and J Martin, 1854–1858), a work of much learning the estimate of which varies according to the hermeneutical principle of the individual critic.
 * English translation in (Google Books)
 * Beiträge zur Einleitung in das Alte Testament (1831–1839); Eng. trans., Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel, and the Integrity of Zechariah (Edin., 1848), and Dissertation on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch (Edin., 1847), in which the traditional view on each question is strongly upheld, and much capital is made of the absence of harmony among the negative.
 * English translation in (Google Books for Vol. 1) (Google Books for Vol. 2)
 * English translation in (Internet Archive)
 * Die Bücher Moses und Aegypten (1841).
 * English translation in (Internet Archive)
 * Die Geschichte Bileams u. seiner Weissagungen (1842; translated along with the Dissertations on Daniel and Zechariah).
 * Commentar über die Psalmen (1842–1847; 2nd ed., 1849–1852; Eng. trans. by P Fairbain and J Thomson, Edin., 1844–1848), which shares the merit and defects of the Christologie.
 * English translation in (Internet Archive for Vol. 1) (Internet Archive for Vol. 2) (Internet Archive for Vol. 3)
 * Die Offenbarung Johannis erläutert (1849–1851; 2nd ed., 1861–1862; Eng. trans. by P. Fairbairn also in Clark's " Foreign Theological Library," 1851–1852)
 * English translation in (Internet Archive for Vol. 1) (Internet Archive for Vol. 2).
 * Das Hohelied Salomonis ausgelegt (1853).
 * Der Prediger Salomo ausgelegt (1859).
 * English translation in (Internet Archive)
 * Das Evangelium Johannis erläutert (1861–1863; 2nd ed., 1867–1871 English translation, 1865).
 * Die Weissagungen das Propheten Ezechiel erläutert (1867–1868).
 * English translation in (Google Books)

 * De rebus Tyrioruz commentatio academica (1832).
 * Uber den Tag des Herrn (1852).
 * Da Passe, ein Vortrag (1853).
 * Die Opfer der heiligen Schrift (1859).

Several series of papers also, as, for example:

 * "The Retentio of the Apocrypha".
 * "Freemasonry" (1854).
 * "Duelling" (1856).
 * "The Relation between the Jews and the Christian Church" (1857; 2nd ed., 1859), which originally appeared in the Kirchenzeitung, were afterwards printed in a separate form.

Posthumously published:

 * Geschichte des Reiches Gottes unter dem Alten Bunde (1869–1871).
 * Das Buch Hiob erläutert (1870–1875).
 * Vorlesungen über die Leidensgeschichte.

title: Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg


text:
Rollag

Rollag is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rollag, although the most populated area in the municipality is Veggli. Rollag is bordered in the north by Nore og Uvdal, in the east by Sigdal, in the south by Flesberg, and in the west by Tinn in Telemark.

History
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Rollag farm (Old Norse: Roll(u)lag), since the first church was built here. The first element is probably (the genitive case of) a river name Rolla (now called the Troelva river) and the last element is lag which means "fishing place".

The municipality of Rollag was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Nore og Uvdal was separated from Rollag in 1858. The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted in 1993. The arms show two gold-colored lines on a red background. The lines represent an old warning cairn made of timber.

Geography
The municipality lies in the heart of the Numedal traditional region and valley, the westernmost valley in southeastern Norway. The river Numedalslågen flows through Rollag and into the Ytre Oslofjord at Larvik. In the northwest of the Rollag lie the Vegglifjell mountains, which are an entryway into the Hardangervidda. The municipality's highest point is Storegrønut at 1289 m located in the Vegglifjell mountains.

Rollag stave church
Rollag stave church (Rollag stavkirke) was built around 1150–1200. It is located a few kilometres north of the centre of Rollag. It was extended and windows were added in 1652. A new Apse was added in 1666. The transept was constructed in 1697–1698. A gallery was added in 1702. The sacristy was built in 1739. A Baroque pulpit was added in 1763.

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Rollag:
 * 🇫🇮 Jokioinen, Southern Finland, Finland

Notable people

 * Niels Andreas Vibe (1759 in Rollag – 1814) a Norwegian military officer, civil and royal servant
 * Ole Knudsen Nattestad (1807 in Veggli – 1886) a Norwegian-American pioneer immigrant settler
 * Christian Sparre (1859–1940) a Commanding Admiral and politician; brought up in Rollag
 * Herbrand Lofthus (1889 in Veggli 1972) a lightweight Greco-Roman wrestler, competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics
 * Kittill Kristoffersen Berg (1903 in Rollag – 1983) a labourer, log driver, farmer and politician
 * Halvor Kongsjorden (1911 in Veggli – 1990) a sport shooter, Olympic competitor in 1948 and a Norwegian resistance member
 * Ragnar Tveiten (born 1938 in Veggli) a former Norwegian biathlete

title: Rollag


text:
Flesberg

Flesberg is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lampeland.

The economy of Flesberg is dominated by forestry and agriculture, as well as the cluster of high-tech industries in neighbouring Kongsberg.

Etymology
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Flesberg farm (Old Norse: Flesberg), since the first church was built here. The first element is fles which means "rock" and the last element is berg which means "mountain".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 10 March 1989. The arms show two tømmerklaver to represent forestry – and also the letter F.

History
Flesberg Stave Church was built around the year 1250. After reconstruction in 1735, the church conformed with cruciform plan. The municipality of Flesberg was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Jondalen was transferred from Flesberg to the neighboring municipality of Kongsberg on 1 January 1964.

Geography
The municipality is divided into the parishes Flesberg, Lyngdal, and Svene. Most of the population lives in the four villages of Svene, Lampeland, Flesberg, and Lyngdal. The municipal area is 560 km². In the western part of Flesberg, the landscape rises steeply to the mountain area of Blefjell, a popular tourist destination.

Notable people

 * Finn Qvale (1873–1955) a military officer, cartographer and sports official
 * Jul Låg (1915-2000) a scientist and soil researcher
 * Hallvard Bakke (born 1943) a Norwegian politician

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Flesberg:
 * 🇸🇪 - Falkenberg, Halland County, Sweden
 * 🇺🇸 - Fosston, Minnesota, United States
 * - Lejre, Region Sjælland, Denmark
 * 🇫🇮 - Savitaipale, Etelä-Suomi, Finland

title: Flesberg


text:
Heinrich Barth

Johann Heinrich Barth (16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.

Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and write Arabic, learning African languages, and character meant that he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. He was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and collected many. He established friendships with African rulers and scholars during his five years of travel (1850–1855). After the deaths of two European companions, he completed his travels with the aid of Africans. Afterwards, he wrote and published a five-volume account of his travels in both English and German. It has been invaluable for scholars of his time and since.

Early life and education
Heinrich Barth was born in Hamburg on 16 February 1821. He was the third child of Johann Christoph Heinrich Barth and his wife Charlotte Karoline née Zadow. Johann had come from a relatively poor background but had built up a successful trading business. Both parents were orthodox Lutherans and they expected their children to conform to their strict ideas on morality and self-discipline. From the age of eleven Barth attended the prestigious high school, the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums, in Hamburg. He was very studious but not popular with his classmates. He excelled at languages and taught himself some Arabic. Barth left school aged 18 in 1839 and immediately enrolled at the University of Berlin where he attended courses offered by the geographer Karl Ritter, the classical scholar August Böckh and the historian Jakob Grimm. After his first year, he interrupted his studies and went on a tour of Italy visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Sicily, returning to Germany in the middle of May 1841. In the vacation of the following year, he visited the Rhineland and Switzerland. He defended his doctoral thesis on the trade relations of ancient Corinth in July 1844.

Visit to North Africa and the Near East
Barth formed a plan to undertake a grand tour of north Africa and the Middle East which his father agreed to fund. He left his parents' home at the end of January 1845 and first visited London where he spent two months learning Arabic, visiting the British Museum and securing the protection of the British consuls for his trip. While in London, he met the Prussian ambassador to Britain, Christian von Bunsen, who would later play an important role in his trip to central Africa. He left London and travelled across France and Spain. On 7 August he caught a ferry from Gibraltar to Tangiers for his first visit to Africa. From Tangier, he made his way overland across North Africa. He also travelled through Egypt, ascending the Nile to Wadi Halfa and crossing the desert to the port of Berenice on the Red Sea. While in Egypt, he was attacked and wounded by robbers. Crossing the Sinai peninsula, he traversed Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey and Greece, everywhere examining the remains of antiquity. He returned to his parents' home in Hamburg on 27 December 1847 after a trip of almost three years. For a time he was engaged there as Privatdozent. He described some of his travels in the first volume of his book, Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres, (Walks through the coastal states of the Mediterranean) which was published in 1849. The intended second volume never appeared.

Expedition to the Sudan, the Sahara and Western Africa
Christian Bunsen, the Prussian ambassador to Westminster, encouraged the appointment of scholars, including Barth and Adolf Overweg, a Prussian astronomer, to the expedition of James Richardson, an explorer of the Sahara. Richardson had been selected by the British government to open up commercial relations with the states of the central and western Sudan. The party left Marseilles in late 1849, and departed from Tripoli early in 1850. They crossed the Sahara Desert with great difficulty. He arrived in the city of Agadez in October 1850 where he stayed for several days. Today a memorial tablet honours him as the first European to have ever entered the city.

The deaths of Richardson (March 1851) and Overweg (September 1852), who died of unknown diseases, left Barth to carry on the scientific mission alone. Barth was the first European to visit Adamawa in 1851. When he returned to Tripoli in September 1855, his journey had extended over 24° of latitude and 20° of longitude, from Tripoli in the north to Adamawa and Cameroon in the south, and from Lake Chad and Bagirmi in the east to Timbuktu (September 1853) in the west – upward of 12000 mi. He studied minutely the topography, history, civilizations, languages, and resources of the countries he visited. His success as an explorer and historian of Africa was based both on his patient character and his scholarly education.

Barth was interested in the history and culture of the African peoples, rather than the possibilities of commercial exploitation. Due to his level of documentation, his journal has become an invaluable source for the study of 19th-century Sudanic Africa. Although Barth was not the first European visitor who paid attention to the local oral traditions, he was the first who seriously considered its methodology and use for historical research. Barth was the first true European scholar to travel and study in West Africa. Earlier explorers such as René Caillié, Dixon Denham and Hugh Clapperton had no academic knowledge.

Barth was fluent in Arabic and several African languages (Fulani, Hausa and Kanuri) and was able to investigate the history of some regions, particularly the Songhay Empire. He established close relations with a number of African scholars and rulers, from Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin in Bornu, through the Katsina and Sokoto regions to Timbuktu. There his friendship with Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti led to his staying in his house; he also received protection from al-Kunti against an attempt to seize him.

After his return to London Barth wrote and published accounts of his travels simultaneously in English and German, under the title Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord- und Centralafrika (Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa; 1857–1858, 5 volumes., approx. 3,500 pages). The volumes included coloured plates of pictures produced by Martin Bernatz based on Barth's original sketches. The work was considered one of the finest of its kind, being cited by Darwin. It is still used by historians of Africa, and remains an important scientific work on African cultures of the age. It also provided the first evidence by a European that the Sahara had once been a savanna.

Later life
Barth returned from Great Britain to Germany, where he prepared a collection of Central African vocabularies (Gotha, 1862–1866). In 1858 he undertook another journey in Asia Minor, and in 1862 visited the Turkish provinces in Europe. He wrote an account of these travels that was published in Berlin in 1864.

In the following year he was granted a professorship of geography (without chair or regular pay) at Berlin University and appointed president of the Geographical Society. His admission to the Prussian Academy of Sciences was denied, as it was claimed that he had achieved nothing for historiography and linguistics. They did not fully understand his achievements, which have been ratified by scholars over time.

Barth died in Berlin on 25 November 1865 aged 44. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof III der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. III of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.

Legacy and honours

 * 1856 Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his African journeys
 * 1862 Companionship of the Bath from the British government

Barth is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of African venomous snake, Polemon barthii.

Selected publications
For a full list see Wilhelm Koner (1866).
 * Only the first volume was published.
 * Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5
 * . Google Books: Volume 1 (1857), Volume 2 (1857), Volume 3 (1857), Volume 4 (1858), Volume 5 (1858). US-edition with fewer pictures. 3 volumes. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857. Google Books: Volume 1 (1857), Volume 2 (1857),Volume 3 (1859), Project Gutenberg: Volume 1 (1857).
 * Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
 * Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
 * Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
 * Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.

title: Heinrich Barth


text:
Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler

Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler, KH (3 March 1792 – 8 July 1854) was a Protestant German church historian.

Biography
He was born at Petershagen, near Minden, where his father, Georg Christof Friedrich, was preacher. In his tenth year he entered the orphanage at Halle, from which he duly passed to the university, his studies being interrupted in October 1813 by a period of military service, during which he was enrolled as a volunteer in a regiment of chasseurs. On the conclusion of peace (1815) he returned to Halle, and, having in 1817 taken his degree in philosophy, he became assistant head (Conrector) of the Minden gymnasium, and in 1818 was appointed director of the gymnasium at Cleves.

Here he published his earliest work (Historisch-kritischer Versuch über die Entstehung u. die frühesten Schicksale der schriftlichen Evangelien), a treatise which had considerable influence on subsequent investigations as to the origin of the gospels. In 1819 Gieseler was appointed a professor ordinarius in theology in the newly founded University of Bonn, where, besides lecturing on church history, he made important contributions to the literature of that subject in Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller's Repertorium, KF Stäudlin and HG Tschirner's Archiv, and in various university "programs."

The first part of the first volume of his well-known Church History appeared in 1824. In 1831 he accepted a call to Göttingen as successor to GJ Planck. He lectured on church history, the history of dogma, and dogmatic theology. In 1837 he was appointed a Consistorialrath, and shortly afterwards was created a knight of the Royal Guelphic Order. The fifth volume of the Kirchengeschichte, embracing the period subsequent to 1814, and Dogmengeschichte, sometimes regarded as a sixth volume of the Church History, were published posthumously in 1855 by ER Redepenning (1810–1883), followed finally by the fourth in 1857. Less vivid and picturesque in style than Karl Hase, lacking August Neander's deep and sympathetic insight into the more spiritual forces by which church life is pervaded, he excels these and all other contemporaries in the fulness and accuracy of his information. His Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, with its copious references to original authorities, is of great value to the student: "Gieseler wished that each age should speak for itself, since only by this means can the peculiarity of its ideas be fully appreciated." (Otto Pfleiderer, Development of Theology, p. 284).

Works

 * Historisch-kritischer Versuch über die Entstehung und die frühesten Schicksale der schriftlichen Evangelien, Leipzig 1818
 * (full text here)

 * Ueber die Nazaräer und Ebioniten, in Archiv für alte und neue Kirchengeschichte vol. IV part II, Leipzig 1819
 * Etwas über den Reichstag zu Augsburg im Jahre 1530, Hamm 1821
 * Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte vol. I-III, Bonn 1824–35, vol. V, VI 1855, vol. IV 1857 (English: Text-Book of Ecclesiastical History, vol. I-III, Philadelphia 1836. New translation: A Compendium of Ecclesiastical History, vol. I-III, Edinburgh 1848. Revised translation: A Text-Book of Church History, vol. I-III, New York 1857–58, vol. IV 1862, vol. V 1880)

title: Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler


text:
Gottlieb Jakob Planck

Gottlieb Jakob Planck (15 November 1751 – 31 August 1833) was a German theologian and church historian. He was the great-grandfather of physicist Max Planck.

Biography
Planck was born at Nürtingen in Württemberg, where his father was a notary. Educated for the Protestant ministry at Blaubeuren, Bebenhausen and Tübingen, he became a lecturer at Tübingen in 1774, a preacher at Stuttgart in 1780, and a professor of church history at the University of Göttingen in 1784.

At Tübingen he wrote Das Tagebuch eines neuen Ehemannes. In 1781 he published the first volume of Geschichte des protestantischen Lehrbegriffs (History of the Protestant teaching concept); the second volume appeared in 1783, and it was eventually completed in six volumes in 1800. It was followed by an extensive Geschichte der christlich-kirchlichen Gesellschaftsverfassung (History of the Christian church's social constitution) in five volumes (1803–1809).

He died in Göttingen on 31 August 1833. His son Heinrich Ludwig Planck (1785–1831), also professor of theology at Göttingen, published Bemerkungen über den ersten Paulinischen brief an den Timotheus (1808) and Abriss der philosophischen Religionslehre (1821).

title: Gottlieb Jakob Planck