Everything about Rjukan totally explained
Rjukan is a
city and the administrative center of
Tinn municipality in
Telemark. It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between
Møsvatn and
Tinnsjå, and got its name after
Rjukanfossen ("The Smoking Waterfall") west of the town. The
Tinn municipality council granted township status for Rjukan in 1996. The town has 3 473 inhabitants (Jan. 2006).
History
Rjukan was formerly a significant industrial center in
Telemark, and the town was established between
1905 and
1916 when
Norsk Hydro started
saltpetre production there. Rjukan was chosen because Rjukanfossen, 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, the founder of Hydro. It is estimated that he together with A/S Rjukanfoss (later
Norsk Hydro) used about 2 times the national budget of Norway to build Rjukan and that there were at the most approx. 12,000 workes (Rallare) from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland as well as Norway building the factories and the town.
In
1934 Norsk Hydro built at the time the world's largest powerplant at
Vemork in Rjukan, and with it a
hydrogen plant. A by-product of hdyrogen production via water
electrolysis was
heavy water. It was the later winner of the
Nobel prize Odd Hassel who told
Norsk Hydro that they were in fact producing
heavy water. The was run by the Germans during
World War II, and later sabotaged multiple times by the
Norwegian resistance movement and the
allied forces.
Today, the powerplant at
Vemork has been made into
Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum (
Norwegian Industrial labour's Museum) where the history of Rjukan and the history of the Industrial labour is shown, in addition to the war and the history of the sabotage connected to it.
After
1960, most of the
saltpetre production in Rjukan was transferred to
Norsk Hydro factories at
Herøya in
Porsgrunn. Some industry is still present in Rjukan, among them
Scan Alloys.
Rjukan has a long history of tourism. Tourists have come to the narrow valley for over a century. The Rjukanfossen waterfall 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 on the
Hardangervidda plateau. In the
1860s, Krokan by the Rjukan waterfall was
Norwegian Mountain Touring Association's (DNT) first hut. The waterfall was later harnessed for hydropower production and the hut was sold. Today it's re-opened, situated by the main road from Rjukan (
Tinn) to
Vinje. In later years Rjukan has become famous for its possibilities for
ice climbing. The season is long, from November to April and the waterfalls are many and varied.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Rjukan'.
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