Bamble 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 go ...

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. T ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers 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 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 ...

. It is part of the

traditional region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing social ...

Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, in the south-east of Norway. Located in the southeastern part of the county, Grenland is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, and Siljan. Sometimes the ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of

Langesund is the administrative centre of the municipalities of Norway, municipality of Bamble, Norway. The town of Langesund was established as a municipality 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was merged with Bamble 1 January 1964. In the ...

General information

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the name was ''Bamblar'' (a plural form). The name could be related to the word ''bembel'' m '

belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cen ...

' (used in the meaning 'round hill/mountain'). The name was written "Bamle" in the period 1889–1917. See also the name

Bømlo Bømlo is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svortland. Other villages in Bømlo inclu ...

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 w ...

is from modern times. They were granted on 12 December 1986. The arms show a gold-colored

ship's wheel A ship's wheel or boat's wheel is a device used aboard a water vessel to steer that vessel and control its course. Together with the rest of the steering mechanism, it forms part of the helm. It is connected to a mechanical, electric servo, or h ...

on a blue background. The arms are nearly identical to the former arms of Stathelle, which along with Langesund was merged with the municipality of Bamble on 1 January 1964.

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

have always been of great importance for the area, and a ship's wheel was thus an appropriate symbol. Bamble kirke

History

The municipality of Bamble 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 January ...

). The lading place of

Stathelle Stathelle is a town in Norway in the municipality of Bamble in the county of Telemark, Norway. History Stathelle was a former municipality in Telemark. It was separated from Bamble as a municipality of its own in 1851. In 1964, the municipalities ...

was separated from the municipality of Bamble in 1851. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Bamble was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Stathelle and

. The new municipality was named Bamble, the administrative centre was Langesund, and the coat-of-arms of Stathelle were used for the new municipality. Bamble, lying at the southern tip of the Kongsberg-Bamble

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

, also has a unique geology that has been extensively researched by

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

s such as W. C. Brøgger. It exhibits a high grade

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own ...

characterized by

metasomatism Metasomatism (from the Greek μετά ''metá'' "change" and σῶμα ''sôma'' "body") is the chemical alteration of a rock by hydrothermal and other fluids. It is the replacement of one rock by another of different mineralogical and chemical com ...

. As such there have been many mines operating in the area, most notably the

Ødegården Verk Ødegården Verk (''Ødegården Mines'', french: link=no, Les Mines d'Oedegaard), alternate names ''Ødegården Apatittgruver'' and ''Bamble Apatittgruver'', was a series of primarily apatite Shaft mining, shaft mines and Quarry, quarries locate ...

apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ions, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common e ...

mines and the

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

mines in Nystein. Bamble Church (''Bamble kirke'') is located at E18 south of Grenland Bridge. It is a wooden cruciform church which was built in 1845. The church is located next to the ruins of Olav Church which dated to around 1145.

Twin towns – sister cities

Bamble is twinned with: *

Akranes Akranes () is a port town and municipality on the west coast of Iceland, around north of the capital Reykjavík. The area where Akranes is located was settled in the 9th century; however, it did not receive a municipal charter until 1942. His ...

, Iceland *

Närpes Närpes (; fi, Närpiö ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia (region), Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. T ...

, Finland *

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

, Denmark *

Västervik Västervik is a city status in Sweden, city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden, with 36,747 inhabitants in 2021. Västervik is one of three coastal towns with a notable population size in the province of Småland. Cl ...

, Sweden

Notable people

Marcus Olaus Bockman Marcus Olaus Bockman (January 9, 1849 – July 21, 1942) was a Norwegian-American Lutheran theologian. Background Marcus Olaus Bockman was born Marcus Olaus Bøckmann at Langesund in Bamble municipality, Telemark county, Norway. He was educated a ...

(1849 in Langesund – 1942) a Norwegian-American Lutheran theologian in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

* Marie Høeg (1866 in Langesund – 1949) a Norwegian photographer and suffragist * William Houlder Zachariasen (1906 in Langesund – 1979) Norwegian-American physicist, pioneering specialist in

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

and the structure of glass in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Arne Selberg Arne Selberg (11 August 1910 – 25 May 1989) was a Norwegian civil engineer. He was born in Langesund as the son of Ole Michael Ludvigsen Selberg and Anna Kristina Brigtsdatter Skeie. He was twin brother of Sigmund Selberg and brother of He ...

(1910 in Langesund – 1989) a civil engineer, designed suspension bridges *

Sigmund Selberg Sigmund Selberg (11 August 1910 – 20 April 1994) was a Norwegian mathematician. He was born in Langesund as the son of Ole Michael Ludvigsen Selberg and Anna Kristina Brigtsdatter Skeie. He was twin brother of Arne Selberg and brother of H ...

(1910–1994) a mathematician, worked on the distribution of

prime numbers A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

Atle Selberg Atle Selberg (14 June 1917 – 6 August 2007) was a Norwegian mathematician known for his work in analytic number theory and the theory of automorphic forms, and in particular for bringing them into relation with spectral theory. He was awarded t ...

(1917 in Langesund – 2007) a mathematician, worked on

analytic number theory In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems about the integers. It is often said to have begun with Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet's 1837 introduction of Diric ...

Kjell Bohlin Kjell Gotfred Bohlin (27 September 1928 – 17 June 2011) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Røros. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Telemark in 1977, and was re-elected on two occasions. He had previ ...

(1928–2011) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Bamble 1971 to 1981 *

Turid Thomassen Turid Thomassen (born 19 April 1965) is a Norwegian politician who was party leader of the Norwegian Red party from 2010 to 2012, succeeding Torstein Dahle. Born in Stathelle, Telemark, Thomassen works in the administration offices of the Depa ...

(born 1965 in Stathelle) leader of the Norwegian Red party 2010 to 2012 *

Sverre Gjørvad Sverre Gjørvad (born 26 October 1966 in Stathelle, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (drums) and composer. He is known for participating in establishing the SoddJazz festival and recording with various notable musicians including Live Maria R ...

(born 1966 in Stathelle) a Norwegian jazz musician (drums) and composer * Odd Ivar Solvold (born 1969 in Bamble) a chef, restaurateur and author of cook books * Jørn Lier Horst (born 1970 in Bamble) author of crime fiction and former Police officer * Kenneth Nilsen (born 1994 in Bamble), stage name ''K-391'', music producer

Sport

Thor Thorvaldsen Thor Thorvaldsen (31 May 1909 – 30 June 1987) was a Norwegian sailor and Olympic champion. He was born in Bamble and died in Bærum. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he received a gold medal in the dragon class as helmsm ...

(1909 in Bamble – 1987) a Norwegian sailor and twice Olympic champion *

Jan Halvor Halvorsen Jan Halvor Halvorsen (born 8 March 1963, in Bamble) is a former Norwegian football player and the current manager of Lyn. Club career Halvorsen started his youth career in Pors, debuting at the age of fifteen and a half. He has also played ...

(born 1963 in Bamble) former footballer with 250 club caps and 5 for

* Ella Gjømle Berg (born 1979 in Stathelle) a cross-country skier

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 ...

* {{Authority control Municipalities of Vestfold og Telemark