Ørje is the administrative centre of Marker municipality,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, not far from the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

border. Its population (2013) is 1,881. Ørje was founded in the 1880s around a timber-processing mill.

Engebret Soot Engebret Olsen Soot (26 May 1786 – 3 March 1859) was a Norwegian engineer. He was one of Norway's first canal builders and joined the timber channels at Otteid and Mangen-Grasmo. He is known as the father of the Fredrikshald Canal (now known a ...

had built the first Norwegian canal locks at Ørje in the years 1857-1860 ( :no:Ørje sluser). The total lift of the locks are 10 meters (30 feet) divided on 3 steps. The locks are situated between the lakes "Rødenessjøen" and "Øymarksjøen" as a part of the Halden Canal Waterway System. In the decades following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Ørje developed substantial industry and commerce. Today, the service sector, including tourism have partly replaced manufacture and agriculture/forestry as the most important economic sectors. Ørje is known for its canal museum (''Haldenvassdragets Kanalmuseum'') and steamboat club, military fortifications from 1905 and locks. Ørje has also become well-known due to a pedestrian crossing sign installed in the village by the Swedish artists' collective Kreativiteket. The sign is based on a character from Monty Python's "

Ministry of Silly Walks "The Ministry of Silly Walks" is a sketch from the Monty Python comedy troupe's television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', series 2, episode 1, which is entitled "Face the Press". The episode first aired on 15 September 1970. A shortene ...

" sketch, and instructs pedestrians to cross the street in a silly manner.

References

Villages in Østfold Marker, Norway {{Østfold-geo-stub

See also

References