Holmen, formerly also Møllerholmen, is an 0.6 km²

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

at the mouth of the river

Drammenselva Drammenselva ( en, Drammen River) is a river in Buskerud county, southeastern Norway. Location Drammenselva is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a drainage basin of about and a discharge of per second. Drammen River's total length is m ...

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

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 t ...

, and the only remaining island in downtown Drammen.

History

Historical records from 400 years ago reveal that the island was just a sand bank, but over the years since, it has grown substantially, first due to the post-glacial rebound, but foremost due to artificial mass deposits. Some of the mass comes from infrastructure projects (tunnel excavations) near Drammen. Future deposits will increase the island's area to 0.9 km². The western tip of the island, called Holmenokken, is a public park where midsummer bonfires have been lit in later years. The tallest building on the island, the 45 m grain elevator, was built in 1971. During construction, a secret room was added at the top, for the police ( PST). The vantage point was used throughout the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

for surveillance of the Soviet-owned car import companies Konela and Koneisto, who had mostly Russian employees. PST believed that at least some of these employeees were

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

agents.

Usage

Drammen havn is located mainly on the island. It is the largest port for car imports in Norway. Over 70% of all cars imported to Norway come through here as of 2021, and in the second half of 2020, this amounted to 70,000 cars. Kraner Drammen havn

The location of Holmen, at the mouth of the river, makes it crucial for the transport infrastructure of Drammen. National road RV291 connects

Bragernes Bragernes is one of the central areas of the city of Drammen in Viken, Norway. Location Bragernes is located on the northern side of the Drammen River (''Drammenselva'') and contains the famous town square Bragernes square (''Bragernes Torg''), ...

and

Strømsø Strømsø is a borough of Drammen, Viken, Norway. Strømsø is located at the southern side of the river Drammenselva. Until about 1600, Stømsø was an island surrounded by the Drammenselva, but was later made landfast. In 1728 Strømsø was gr ...

with road bridges to Holmen. Furthermore, the pillars of Norway's longest bridge,

Drammen Bridge The Drammen Bridge ( no, Drammensbrua) is a motorway box girder bridge that crosses Drammenselva river in the town of Drammen in Norway. It is the longest road bridge in Norway, long. The bridge has 41 spans; the longest span is . The maximum cle ...

(

European route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jour ...

), rest on the island. Finally, the railroad artery

Drammensbanen The Drammen Line ( no, Drammenbanen) is a railway line between Oslo and Drammen, Norway, which was opened on 7 October 1872. It serves all trains west of Oslo Central Station and is owned by Bane NOR. The line opened as a narrow gauge railway, ...

crosses Holmen, with side tracks leading to the docks. The dual railroad bridges are also the longest in

, and the first was built in 1872.

Gallery

File:Drammen_havn_blue_cranes_(2).jpg, Docks at night File:Elveparken1.jpg, Western end of the island, Holmenokken, is a public park File:16004_amt2_buskerud-amt-21-soera_1854_jpg300dpi.jpg, This historical map from 1854 shows Holmen as being much smaller than today, and an archipelago. File:Holmen_1870.jpg, This 1870 map shows the planned railroad bridge (finished in 1872) and various industry on the island. File:Holmen_1888.jpg, This 1888 map reveal an increased area of the island due to mass deposits, as well as increased industry, and the finished railroad with side tracks to the ports. File:Holmen 1966.jpg, Holmen, 1966, with new car road to the mainland in the north

References

Drammen {{Norway-island-stub