Notodden () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Notodden. Notodden was separated from the municipality of Heddal in 1913 to become a separate city and municipality. On 1 January 1964, the rural municipalities of Heddal and Gransherad were merged into Notodden to form a new enlarged municipality. Notodden is on the shore of

Heddalsvatnet Heddalsvatnet ( en, Lake Heddal) is a lake in the municipalities Notodden and Sauherad in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The main influx comes from the rivers Tinnelva and Heddøla. The lake covers an area of 11.9 km2 or 13.2 km2 according to NVE. T ...

lake, and the Tinn River runs through the town into the lake. Norway's biggest stave church, Heddal Stave Church, can be seen a few kilometres from the city centre.

Notodden Airport, Tuven Notodden Airport ( no, Notodden lufthavn; ) is a municipal regional airport at Heddal in Notodden, a municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The airport is mostly used for general aviation, and has extensive sailplane activity. B ...

, is located west of the city centre. Norsk Hydro was founded in this town. Notodden is well known for the annual Notodden Blues Festival, which is considered one of the best blues festivals in Europe. It also has a well-known metal festival called ''Motstøy Festivalen''. The

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club Notodden FK is headquartered here.

Name

Rjukan-Notodden_Industrial_Heritage_Site

The name "Notodden" comes from the

cotter Cotter may refer to: * Cotter pin (disambiguation), a pin or wedge used to fix parts rigidly together * Cotter (farmer), the Scots term for a peasant farmer formerly in the Scottish highlands * Cotter (surname), a surname (including a list of peopl ...

's place (''husmannsplass'') Notodden that belonged to the farm

Tinne gård Tinne may refer to: * Tinne (letter), the Irish name of the eighth letter of the Ogham alphabet * 16676 Tinne, minor planet * Tinne (name), Germanic female given name * Tinne (surname), Dutch surname {{dab ...

—near the mouth of the river

Tinnelva Tinnelva is a river in Notodden, Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. It flows from Lake Tinn to Heddalsvatnet. The waterfalls Årlifossene, Grønvollfoss, Svelgfoss and Tinnfoss are exploited, and the hydroelectric power stations have a combined installe ...

close to the lake

. The first element of the name is ''not'' which means "to fish using a seine" and the last element is the definite form of ''odde'' meaning "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

". Thus the general meaning of the name is "the fishing place".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 August 1939. The arms show a silver-colored river and four lightning strikes. One of the first hydroelectric power stations in Norway was established in the late 19th century at the Tinnfoss waterfall on the Tinn River.

Twin towns

In 2008, Notodden city council decided to end the twin city agreements with Ilisalmi, Nyköping and Stelle. At the same time Suwałki was approved as a new twin city. The following cities are twinned with Notodden: *

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he establishe ...

, United States * Suwałki,

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest cit ...

, Poland Former twin cities of Notodden: * Iisalmi, Eastern Finland, Finland *

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

, Södermanland County, Sweden * Stelle, Lower Saxony, Germany

Notable residents

Notodden is the hometown of organist Kåre Nordstoga, the internationally known author Hans Herbjørnsrud who was born in Heddal, and the Hardanger fiddlemaker

Olav Gunnarsson Helland Olav Gunnarsson Helland (25 August 1875 – 30 April 1946), was a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle maker from Bø in Telemark, Norway. He was the eldest of Gunnar Olavsson Helland's five sons, four of whom became violin makers. He showed great talent ...

(1875–1939) who many consider the finest of the twentieth century. Composer

Klaus Egge Klaus Egge (July 19, 1906 – March 7, 1979) was a Norwegian composer and music critic. Background Egge was born in Gransherad, Telemark, Norway. He was the son Rasmus Klausen Egge (1874-1962) and Rakel Abrahamsdatter Iversen (1877-1986). He gr ...

, born 1906 in Gransherad, also lived in Notodden. Olympic gold medalist Ådne Søndrål was born in Notodden. American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician Seasick Steve, who is achieving fame in the United Kingdom, currently resides in Notodden. Norwegian blues musician

Margit Bakken Margit Bakken (born 8 April 1967) is a Norwegian musician (vocals, guitar) and songwriter. She is one of the most established blues musicians in Norway, and often performs with Rita Engedalen as the duo Women in Blues.Tor-Arne Moen Tor-Arne Moen (born 13 May 1966) is a Norwegian painter and author. He lives in Notodden with atelier in Hydroparken. He's a member of Norske Billedkunstnere, Norwegian Authors' Union and Norske Grafikere. Moen debuted at Høstutstillingen in ...

also live in Notodden. One of the most influential

Norwegian black metal Much has been learned about early music in Norway from physical artifacts found during archaeological digs. These include instruments such as the lur. Viking and medieval sagas also describe musical activity, as do the accounts of priests and pil ...

bands, Emperor, came from Notodden, as does Mortiis, Peccatum, Star of Ash, Leprous, and Zyklon. Emperor's singer, Ihsahn, still resides in Notodden. ; and Helga Flatland (cropped)

Olav Andresen Olav Andresen (15 April 1877 – 27 June 1950) was a Norwegian politician. He was born in Heddal to Andres Johannessen and Ragnhild Amundsdatter. He served as mayor of Notodden Notodden () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark cou ...

(1877 in Heddal - 1950) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Notodden 1920s & 1930s * Ambros Sollid (1880 in Heddal - 1973) an agronomist and politician, Mayor of Skien 1935–1937 *

Carl Bugge Carl Bugge (13 September 1881 – 7 April 1968) was a Norwegian geologist. Biography Bugge was born at Heddal in Telemark, Norway. His parents were Johan Carl Bugge (1847–1902) and Theodora Christine Drolsum (1854–1882). His half-brot ...

(1881 in Heddal – 1968) a Norwegian geologist and academic *

Helga Stene Helga Stene (8 October 1904 – 2 October 1983) was a Norwegian educator, feminist and resistance member. She was born in Notodden, and was a sister of Aasta Stene. She graduated from the University of Oslo in 1932. She lectured a few years ...

(1904 in Notodden – 1983) an educator, feminist and resistance member *

Aage Eriksen Aage Ingvar Eriksen (5 May 1917 in Notodden 17 June 1998 in Notodden, Telemark) was a Norway, Norwegian wrestling, wrestler and Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling. Olympics Eriksen competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London where he ...

(1917 in Notodden – 1998 in Notodden) a wrestler and silver medallist at the

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 ca ...

* Egil Bergsland (1924 in Notodden - 2007) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Notodden 1971 to 1975 * Sissel Sellæg (1928 in Notodden – 2014) a Norwegian actress IMDb Database
retrieved 30 January 2021 *

Hilde Mæhlum Hilde Mæhlum, (born 19 March 1945 in Notodden, Norway) is a Norwegian sculptor. She lives and works in Oslo. She is purchased by the National Gallery of Norway, and has had numerous solo exhibitions. Hilde Mæhlum is working with visualization ...

(born 1945 in Notodden) a Norwegian sculptor * Magne Orre (born 1950 in Notodden) a cyclist, competed at the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Helga Flatland Helga Flatland ( born 16 September 1984) is a Norwegian novelist and children's writer. Making her literary debut in 2010, she eventually became a full-time writer, and has won prizes such as Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris, Mads Wiel Nygaard's En ...

(born 1984 in Notodden) a Norwegian novelist and children's writer

Climate

Notodden has a humid continental climate (Dfb). Situated inland at low altitude in the Telemark region, it is one of the warmest towns in Norway in summer, but winters can be cold. The weather station at Notodden Airport has been recording since March 1970 (temperature and wind speed). Precipitation data is from a different station in Notodden. The all-time high temperature was recorded July 27 2018.

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

*
Notodden
on Flickr
1908 in Notodden: Of course the workers must have houses
from Norsk Hydro {{Authority control Municipalities of Vestfold og Telemark Cities and towns in Norway