Eivind Heiberg (29 November 1870 – 2 November 1939) was a Norwegian engineer and railway director. He is known as the chairman of Skabo Jernbanevognfabrik from 1899 to 1924, the

Federation of Norwegian Manufacturing Industries The Federation of Norwegian Manufacturing Industries ( no, Teknologibedriftenes Landsforening, TBL) was an employers' organisation in Norway, organized under the national Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. On 1 January 2006 it was merged with th ...

from 1906 to 1912, the

Norwegian Employers' Confederation The Norwegian Employers' Confederation ( no, Norsk Arbeidsgiverforening, NAF) was an employers' organisation in Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comp ...

from 1912 to 1917, the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

from 1924 to 1938 and Standards Norway from 1924 to 1934.

Personal life

He was born in Christiania as a son of Colonel Axel Wulfsberg Heiberg (1832–1904) and his wife Emma Sejersted (1840–1930). He was a first cousin of Gustav,

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

Gunnar Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

and Inge Heiberg, a first cousin once removed of Hans Heiberg and an uncle of Axel, Bernt and

Edvard Heiberg Edvard Heiberg (11 June 1911, in Oslo – 10 June 2000, in Oslo) was a Norwegian director and engineer. Heiberg was the youngest son of barrister Axel Heiberg (1875–1952) and his wife Ragnhild Krohg (1879–1947). He had two brothers, ...

. In November 1895 he married Gudrun Møller (1872–1945). The couple had three sons, who all became engineers. He was the paternal grandfather of Karin Heiberg, who married Thorvald Stoltenberg and is the mother of Camilla, Nini and

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...

Career

After graduating in

machine engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

in 1890, he was hired as a draftsman in the

. In 1895 he was promoted to constructor. In 1899 he left the State Railways to become managing director of the manufacturing company Skabo Jernbanevognfabrik. As indicated by the name, the company produced

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

cars, but also

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

for buses and trucks, as well as the first Norwegian-built

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

. From 1906 to 1912 he chaired the

. In 1907 the Federation negotiated Norway's first

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

agreement with the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers The Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers ( no, Norsk Jern- og Metallarbeiderforbund, NJMF) was a trade union representing workers in the metal industry, workshops, and shipbuilding in Norway. The union was founded in 1891, and in 1905 it joine ...

. Heiberg became a member of the central committee of the

. He later chaired the organization from 1912 to 1917. He was also a member of

Aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

from 1901 to 1903. In 1924 Heiberg left Skabo to become director-general of the Norwegian State Railways, a position he held until 1938. From 1924 to 1934 he also chaired Standards Norway. The State Railways were haunted by economic problems during his time as director, owing to the general economic hardships of the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, and for the first time in its history the State Railways had to discontinue parts of its service. Passenger traffic were closed at the Vestmarka Line in January 1931, and in July 1933 the

Sperillen Line The Sperillen Line ( no, Sperillbanen) is an abandoned railway which ran through Ringerike in Viken county, Norway. The long line had five stations, starting at Hen Station on the Randsfjord Line and continuing to Lake Sperillen where it con ...

and the Randsfjorden Line followed (passenger traffic at the Randsfjorden Line would return between 1944 and 1968). In addition, several private lines became defunct altogether. Heiberg was decorated as a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, the Swedish Order of the Polar Star, the Danish

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

and the Finnish

Order of the White Rose The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. T ...

. He died in November 1939 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiberg, Eivind 1870 births 1939 deaths Norwegian engineers Norwegian businesspeople Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996) people Politicians from Aker Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star