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Porsgrunn

 
 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Porsgrunn
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Porsgrunn (pôrs'grʊn'), town (1995 pop. 31,633), Telemark co., SE Norway, a port on the Frierfjord (an arm of the Skagerrak); chartered 1842. Manufactures include chemicals (including fertilizers), metal goods, lumber and wood products, and electrical appliances. The town is noted for the porcelain made there.

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Wikipedia: Porsgrunn
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Porsgrunn kommune
—  Municipality  —

Coat of arms
Telemark within
Norway
Porsgrunn within Telemark
Coordinates (city): 59°6′56″N 9°42′36″E / 59.11556°N 9.71°E / 59.11556; 9.71Coordinates: 59°6′56″N 9°42′36″E / 59.11556°N 9.71°E / 59.11556; 9.71
Country Norway
County Telemark
District Grenland
Municipality ID NO-0805
Administrative centre Porsgrunn
Government
 - Mayor (2003) Øystein Beyer (Ap)
Area (Nr. 352 in Norway)
 - Total 165 km2 (63.7 sq mi)
 - Land 161 km2 (62.2 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 - Total 33,550
 - Density 2,653/km2 (6,871.2/sq mi)
 - Change (10 years) 6.4 %
 - Rank in Norway 22
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form Neutral
Norwegian demonym Porsgrunning[1]
Website www.porsgrunn.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Porsgrund.ogg Porsgrunn (help·info) is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn.

The municipality of Porsgrunn was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The town of Brevik and the rural district of Eidanger were merged into the municipality of Porsgrunn on 1 January 1964.

Contents

General information

Name

The place is first mentioned in 1576 ("Porsgrund") by the writer Peder Claussøn Friis in his work Concerning the Kingdom of Norway (see the article: Norwegian literature). He writes: "Two and a half miles from the sea, the Skien river flows into the fjord, and that place is called Porsgrund." The name was probably given during medieval times to the then swampy area by the nuns of Gimsøy Abbey, who went here to collect the shrub pors ("Bog Myrtle"), and the Norwegian word grunn meaning "ground". Prior to 1931, the name was spelled "Porsgrund".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 16 January 1905. The arms were divised in 1905 when the town needed a new city hall. The silver bend is the small river running through the town. The upper half shows a silver-colored branch of bog myrtle on a red background and is thus a canting symbol. The silver anchor on a blue background symbolizes the importance of the local harbor.[2]

History

Porsgrunn City Hall

Porsgrunn has been an important harbor town in the Grenland area since the late 16th century. In 1653, the Custom House was moved further down the Telemarksvassdraget from Skien to Porsgrunn mainly because industrial waste such as sawdust and mud made the river too shallow to allow boats to go any further up the river.[3] Moving the Custom House from Skien to Porsgrunn in 1653, added to the flourishing harbor activity and Porsgrunn became a thriving market town.

In the 18th century, it was the home of some of Norway's most influential families at the time, such as the Aalls, Cappelens, Løvenskiolds, and Deichmans. Also in this period, Porsgrunn was considered the cultural centre of Norway. On the ecclestiastical side, Porsgrunn was separated from the ancient rural parishes of Eidanger, Solum, and Gjerpen in 1764 to become a prestegjeld with its own minister. It was granted limited city status in 1807, but this was expanded to full city status in 1842.

Transportation

Transportation links from Porsgrunn:

Geography

The river flowing through the town

Porsgrunn borders the municipalities of Skien and Siljan to the north, Bamble in the west, and Larvik in the east. It is part of a cluster of municipalities in southern Telemark that constitute the Grenland area of Norway. The town is situated at the mouth of the river Telemarksvassdraget or Skienselva (English: Skien river), and is an important center of industry. Originally an industrial park, the peninsula of Herøya, southeast of the city, has today grown into a suburb of Porsgrunn.

Industry

Porsgrunn has a long history of heavy industry. Important industries in Porsgrunn include:

Notable residents

Main category: People from Porsgrunn

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway

Twin towns — Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Porsgrunn:[4]

References

Books

Text document with red question mark.svg
 This list includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (January 2009)
  • Harald Hals (1968). Eidanger bygdehistorie. Brødrene Kjaer Boktrykkeri.
  • Johan N. Tønnessen (1956-1957). Porsgrunns historie.
  • Ole Georg Moseng (2006). Porsgrunns historie . Bind I . Byen i emning .
  • Ellen Schrumpf (2006). Porsgrunns historie . Bind II . Byen ved elva.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskriving_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn. 
  2. ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/p/porsgrun.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
  3. ^ ""Historien vår"-byhistorisk utstilling". Porsgrunn Kommune. http://www.porsgrunn.kommune.no. Retrieved 2007-06-16.  (Norwegian)
  4. ^ "Vennskapskommuner for Porsgrunn og Brevik". Porsgrunn kommune. http://www.porsgrunn.kommune.no/Om-Porsgrunn/Vennskapsbyer/. Retrieved 2009-01-17.  (Norwegian)

External links

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Search Wiktionary Look up Porsgrunn in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
v • d • e
Municipalities of Telemark
Bamble · Bø · Drangedal · Fyresdal · Hjartdal · Kragerø · Kviteseid · Nissedal · Nome · Notodden · Porsgrunn · Sauherad · Seljord · Siljan · Skien · Tinn · Tokke · Vinje
 Porsgrunn
v • d • e
40 most populous urban settlements (cities) of Norway
as of 2009, according to Statistics Norway [1]
1. Oslo 876,400
2. Bergen 227,800
3. Stavanger / Sandnes 189,800
4. Trondheim 157,100
5. Fredrikstad / S'borg1 101,700
6. Drammen 96,600
7. Skien / Porsgrunn 86,900
8. Kristiansand 67,500
9. Tromsø 55,100
10. Tønsberg 47,500
11. Ålesund 46,500
12. Haugesund 42,900
13. Moss 41,700
14. Sandefjord 40,800
15. Bodø 36,500
16. Arendal 32,400
17. Hamar 30,000
18. Larvik 23,900
19. Halden 23,000
20. Lillehammer 20,100
21. Harstad 19,500
22. Molde 19,400
23. Kongsberg 18,800
24. Gjøvik 18,700
25. Askøy 18,300
26. Horten 18,200
27. Mo i Rana 17,900
28. Kristiansund 17,000
29. Jessheim 15,300
30. Hønefoss 14,300
31. Narvik 13,900
32. Alta 13,600
33. Elverum 13,500
34. Askim 13,100
35. Ski 12,900
36. Drøbak 12,400
37. Nesoddtangen 11,600
38. Steinkjer 11,500
39. Leirvik 11,400
40. Vennesla 11,400
41. Kongsvinger 11,400
42. Stjørdalshalsen 10,800
1 Sarpsborg.

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Telemark (county, Norway)
George Seddon (art)
Porsgrunn/Skien

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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
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