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Modum is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
in Buskerud in Viken
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 Janu ...
). The area has a long tradition of
skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...
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 .


General information


Name

The municipality (originally the
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
) is named after the old ''Modum'' farm (
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
: ''Móðheimr''), since the first church was built here. The first element is ''móða'' which means "
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
" (here the Drammenselva river) and the last element is ''heimr'' which means "
home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...
", " homestead", or "
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is use ...
". The name of the farm was later changed to '' Buskerud''.


Coat-of-arms

The
coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...
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 Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
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 Christian Krohg (13 August 1852 – 16 October 1925) was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist. Krohg was inspired by the realism art movement and often chose motifs from everyday life. He was the director and s ...
, 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.


Notable residents


Public service & business

*
Hans Gulbranson Hans Gulbranson (1787–1868) was a Norwegian businessperson. He was a pioneer in the development of textile industry in Norway in the mid-1800s. Gulbranson was from Modum in Buskerud, Norway. He was a wholesaler in Christiania and was one of ...
(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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
* Charles E. Hanson (1855 in Modum – 1932), member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, e ...
* 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 Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport ...
pioneer * Erling Diesen (born 1932 in Geithus) a Norwegian engineer and civil servant


The Arts

* Maurits Hansen (1774 in Modum – 1843),
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, contributor to the Romantic Movement *
Thorvald Lammers Thorvald Lammers (15 January 1841 – 8 February 1922) was a Norwegian baritone singer, choral conductor, composer, and biographer. Lammers was born in Modum, and made his stage début in Oslo in 1873. He founded the choir A choir ( ...
(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

*
Art Jorgens Arndt Ludwig "Art" Jorgens (May 18, 1905 – March 1, 1980) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played from through for the New York Yankees. Biography Jorgens was born in Modum, Buskerud County, Norway. His family moved to the Unit ...
(1905 in Modum – 1980) catcher in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
for
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
* Knut Østby (1922 in Modum – 2010) sprint canoeist, silver medallist,
1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ...
*
Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl (born 21 March 1960) is a Norwegian former ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along wi ...
(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 Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...
*
Ole Einar Bjørndalen Ole Einar Bjørndalen () (born 27 January 1974) is a retired Norwegian professional biathlete and coach, often referred to by the nickname, the "King of Biathlon". With 13 Winter Olympic Games medals, he is second on the list of multiple medal ...
(born 1974 in Simostranda), ski biathlete with 13 Winter Olympic Games medals


Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Modum: *
Laukaa Laukaa (; sv, Laukas) is a municipality of Finland. It is located next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...
,
Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
* Stevns, Region Sjælland,
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
* Östra Göinge,
Skåne County Skåne County ( sv, Skåne län, link=no ), sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the most southern county, or , of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Krono ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...


Gallery

File:Gulsrud Kirke.jpg, Gulsrud Church File:Heggen kirke TRS 070429 022.jpg, Heggen Church File:Nykirke Modum TRS 1.jpg, Nykirke Church File:Rud kirke Modum.jpg, Rud Church File:Snarum kirke TRS 1.jpg, Snarum Church File:Vestre Spone kapell TRS 2.jpg, Vestre Spone Chapel


References


External links


Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway *
Blaafarveværket
Cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...
mines
Culture in Modum on the map
from Kulturnett.no {{Buskerud Municipalities of Buskerud Municipalities of Viken (county) Ringerike (traditional district)