Rjukan () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the administrative centre of

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. The parish of ...

municipality in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

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 ...

. It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between

Møsvatn Møsvatn (or Møsvann) is the tenth-largest lake in Norway with a surface area of 78.31 km2. It lies primarily Møsstrond, Vinje in Vestfold og Telemark. The lake lies in the watershed of the Skien river (''Skiensvassdrag'') and discharges ...

and

Lake Tinn A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, and got its name after

Rjukan Falls Rjukan Falls ( no, Rjukanfossen) is a waterfall of 104 metres in the western part of the Westfjord valley in Tinn, a municipality in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, Norway, west of the industrial town Rjukan. The waterfall is a part of the Må ...

west of the town. The

municipality council granted township status for Rjukan in 1996. The town has 3,386 inhabitants (January 2007).

History

Rjukan was formerly a significant industrial centre in Telemark, and the town was established between 1905 and 1916, when

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world a ...

started

saltpetre Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitra ...

(fertilizer) production there. Rjukan was chosen because

, a 104-metre waterfall, provided easy means of generating large quantities of electricity. The man with the idea to use the Rjukan falls was

Sam Eyde Samuel Eyde (29 October 1866 – 21 June 1940) was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist. He was the founder of both Norsk Hydro and Elkem. Personal life Eyde was born in Arendal in Aust-Agder, Norway. He was a son of ship-owner Samuel Eyde (181 ...

, the founder of Hydro. It is estimated that he, together with A/S Rjukanfoss (later

), used about two times the national budget of Norway to build the Rjukan power station as well as much of the surrounding town. Between 1907 and 1911,

built what was at the time the world's largest hydroelectric power plant at

Vemork Vemork is a hydroelectric power plant outside Rjukan in Tinn, Norway. The plant was built by Norsk Hydro and opened in 1911, its main purpose being to fix nitrogen for the production of fertilizer. At opening, it was the world's largest power pl ...

near Rjukan, and in 1934 built an adjacent hydrogen plant. A by-product of

hydrogen production Hydrogen production is the family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen gas. As of 2020, the majority of hydrogen (∼95%) is produced from fossil fuels by steam reforming of natural gas and other light hydrocarbons, partial oxidation of ...

via water electrolysis was heavy water. It was the later

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner

Odd Hassel Odd Hassel (17 May 1897 – 11 May 1981) was a Norwegian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate. Biography Hassel was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Ernst Hassel (1848–1905), a gynaecologist, and Mathilde Klaveness ( ...

who told

that they were in fact producing heavy water. Norsk Hydro was controlled by the Germans during

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 ...

, was sabotaged twice by the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

and bombed by the allied forces. After 1960, most of the

production in Rjukan was transferred to

factories at

Herøya Herøya is a peninsula in the municipality of Porsgrunn, Norway. It is located between the fjords of Frierfjord to the west and Gunneklevfjord to the east, at the mouth of Telemarksvassdraget. The name stems from the Old Norse word "her-eyjar" m ...

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

. Some industry is still present in Rjukan, among them Scan Alloys.

Rjukan Church

Rjukan Church (''Rjukan kirke'') was constructed of natural stone with a tower at the entrance to the southwest. The church was consecrated on December 21, 1915. The church was designed by the architects Carl and Jørgen Berner with a cruciform architectural floorplan. The altar image came into place in April 1917 and was painted by Bernhard Folkestad. Seven vaulted windows in the foundation wall have stained glass paintings by Torvald Moseid.

Tourism

Rjukan has a long history of tourism. Tourists have come to the narrow valley for over a century. Rjukan Falls is a famous landmark in Norway, and has been portrayed by several famous artists. The area has good terrain for skiing, and the town is a good starting point for

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

on the

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda ( en, Hardanger Plateau) is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Vestfold og Telemark, and Viken counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold ye ...

plateau. In the 1860s, Krokan by the Rjukan waterfall was

Norwegian Mountain Touring Association The Norwegian Trekking Association ( no, Den norske turistforening, DNT) is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope "to help and develop tourism i ...

's (DNT) first hut. After the waterfall was harnessed for hydropower production, the hut was sold. Today it is re-opened, situated by the main road from Rjukan (

) to

Vinje Vinje is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative ...

. In later years Rjukan has become famous for its ice climbing possibilities. The season is long, from November to April and the waterfalls are many and varied. Today, the power plant at

has been made into the

Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum ( no, Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum) is an industrial museum located at Rjukan in Tinn, Norway. Located in the Vemork power station, it was established in 1988 to allow the preservation of industrial society crea ...

where the history of Rjukan and a history of Industrial labour is displayed, in addition to history of the war and the sabotage connected to it. Between September and March, Rjukan lies in the shadow of the mountains and does not get sunlight due to its location far north. In 2013, at a cost of 5 million

Norwegian kroner The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian Crown (currency), crown in English. ...

, large mirrors were placed on the northern mountainside to reflect the Sun, illuminating the town square.Harriet Alexander.
Norwegian town places mirrors on hillsides to shine light into valley
. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 23 October 2013. Accessed: 24 October 2013.

Notable people

Gallery

File:Rjukan-telemark.jpg, Rjukan town center, narrowly sandwiched between tall, steep slopes Image:Mosvatn.PNG, Map showing the position of Rjukan between lakes Møsvatn (west, upstream) and Lake Tinn (east) File:Admini Rjukan.jpg, Norsk Hydro Administration Building File:Rjukan from Gausta 20190316.jpg, Rjukan is in constant shadow during the winter. Image taken from Gausta ski center.

References

External links

Rjukan lag of Norwegian search and rescue dogs

Postcard from Tinn

Postmarks/cancels from Tinn

Climbing, mountain bike and skiing in Rjukan
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Vestfold og Telemark Populated places established in the 1900s Populated places established in the 1910s Tinn