Vestfossen
Encyclopedia
Vestfossen is a village in the municipality of Øvre Eiker
, in the county of Buskerud
, Norway
.
town with traditions dating back to
the 16th century. At that time, the manor house
known as Fossesholm became the center of a land collecting effort for the purpose of creating a large-scale sawmill industry. Later, other types of industry emerged. The most influential among them were the textile factory of Fredfos Uldvarefabrik and the Vestfossen Cellulose, a former paper company founded in 1886 as a pulp mill, which declared bankrupt in 1967.
An industrial crisis which occurred around 1970 lead to the fall of these factories, and large parts of the local industrial infrastructure was unused for a long time. After the year 2000, a cultural
effort led to the establishment of several cultural institutions here, most notably the contemporary art gallery of Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium founded by artist Morten Viskum. Vestfossen now calls itself "the capital of culture". As of 2008 Vestfossen had a population of 2,867 according to Statistics Norway
.
. The Vestfossen waterfall is dammed and has a power station. On the lower side of the waterfall, the river continued to Hokksund, where it splits into two rivers, Nøstelva and Loeselva, both of which flow into the Drammenselva.
, gained control of properties located on the lower part of the Drammen waterway. The water falls were bought with a view toward operating saw mills and establishing a lumber trade on a large scale. The estate remained within the Litle family until 1616 when Gunde Lange (1570-1645) acquired it and changed the name of the farm to Fossesholm Herregård around 1630.
In 1763, Jørgen von Cappelen (1715-1785) acquired Fossesholm. He expanded the estate and developed a magnificent set of buildings in rococo style inspired by great European manor houses. The Swedish painter Eric Gustav Tunmarck (1729-1789) decorated many of the interior walls with scenes from the farm environment. The good times for the Norwegian lumber trade came to an abrupt halt at the end of 1807 when Norway entered into war which effected the prime lumber market of Great Britain. In 1822 Fossesholm Manor was submitted for auction.
Amund Pedersen Fossesholm (1830-1930), who was the owner of the manor until his death, started a number of local business, including a brewery, sawmill and mill and Vestfossen Træmassefabrik. Fossesholm Manor including 22 acres of land was acquired in 1973 by the Eiker Historical Society.
Øvre Eiker
Øvre Eiker is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Eiker. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hokksund. The old municipality of Eiker was divided into Øvre Eiker and Nedre Eiker on 1 July 1885.-Name:The Old Norse form of...
, in the county of Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
History
Vestfossen is a former industrialIndustry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
town with traditions dating back to
the 16th century. At that time, the manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
known as Fossesholm became the center of a land collecting effort for the purpose of creating a large-scale sawmill industry. Later, other types of industry emerged. The most influential among them were the textile factory of Fredfos Uldvarefabrik and the Vestfossen Cellulose, a former paper company founded in 1886 as a pulp mill, which declared bankrupt in 1967.
An industrial crisis which occurred around 1970 lead to the fall of these factories, and large parts of the local industrial infrastructure was unused for a long time. After the year 2000, a cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
effort led to the establishment of several cultural institutions here, most notably the contemporary art gallery of Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium founded by artist Morten Viskum. Vestfossen now calls itself "the capital of culture". As of 2008 Vestfossen had a population of 2,867 according to Statistics Norway
Statistics Norway
Statistics Norway 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 year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...
.
Geography
Vestfosselva River runs through Vestfossen, flowing out from the two contiguous lakes Fiskumvannet and Eikern. Vestfosselva is the largest tributary of the DrammenselvaDrammenselva
Drammenselva is a river in Buskerud county, southeastern Norway.-Location:Drammenselva is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a drainage basin of about 17,000 square kilometers and a flow rate of 300 cubic meters per second. The river has an average discharge of about 300 m3 / s...
. The Vestfossen waterfall is dammed and has a power station. On the lower side of the waterfall, the river continued to Hokksund, where it splits into two rivers, Nøstelva and Loeselva, both of which flow into the Drammenselva.
Fosseholm Manor House
Between 1541-1548, Peder Hanssøn Litle (ca 1500-1551), who served as captain as the Akershus FortressAkershus Fortress
Akershus Fortress or Akershus Castle is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison.- Construction :...
, gained control of properties located on the lower part of the Drammen waterway. The water falls were bought with a view toward operating saw mills and establishing a lumber trade on a large scale. The estate remained within the Litle family until 1616 when Gunde Lange (1570-1645) acquired it and changed the name of the farm to Fossesholm Herregård around 1630.
In 1763, Jørgen von Cappelen (1715-1785) acquired Fossesholm. He expanded the estate and developed a magnificent set of buildings in rococo style inspired by great European manor houses. The Swedish painter Eric Gustav Tunmarck (1729-1789) decorated many of the interior walls with scenes from the farm environment. The good times for the Norwegian lumber trade came to an abrupt halt at the end of 1807 when Norway entered into war which effected the prime lumber market of Great Britain. In 1822 Fossesholm Manor was submitted for auction.
Amund Pedersen Fossesholm (1830-1930), who was the owner of the manor until his death, started a number of local business, including a brewery, sawmill and mill and Vestfossen Træmassefabrik. Fossesholm Manor including 22 acres of land was acquired in 1973 by the Eiker Historical Society.
Notable residents
- Kjell HovdaKjell HovdaKjell Hovda is a former Norwegian biathlete.He participated on the Norwegian team that received silver medals in 4 x 7.5 km relay in the 1973 Biathlon World Championships 1973 in Lake Placid. He received a bronze medal in 1974 in Minsk.-References:...
- Former Norwegian biathlete - Per Olaf LundteigenPer Olaf LundteigenPer Olaf Lundteigen is a Norwegian farmer and politician for the Centre Party.-Career:He was born in Vestfossen, took his secondary education in Hokksund in 1972 and the cand.agric. degree at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1977. From 1977 to 1979 he worked as a secretary in the Norwegian...
- Politician for the Centre Party - Olaf Olsen - Drummer
- Tove PauleTove PauleTove Paule is a Norwegian sports official.She was the secretary general of the Norwegian Gymnastics Federation from 1995 to 2000, and became the president of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports in 2007...
- Norwegian sports official. - Sigurd SimensenSigurd SimensenSigurd Simensen was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Communist parties.He was born in Vestfossen. He started his career as an iron and metalworker, working at Thunes Mekaniske Verksted. He first joined the Union of Iron and Metalworkers in 1907, and was politically...
- Mayor - Dagfinn StensethDagfinn StensethDagfinn Stenseth is a Norwegian diplomat.He was born in Øvre Eiker, and has a bachelor's degree in political science. He was hired in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1962, and was promoted to assistant secretary in 1973, sub-director in 1976 and deputy under-secretary of state in 1986...
- Ambassador and author
Other sources
- Kock Johansen, Ek; Moseng, Bjarnar (1994) Eikers historie ISBN 82-993165-0-2
- Bent Ek (2005) Elektrisiteten på Øvre Eiker ISBN 82-303-0583-8
- Rian, Øystein (1995) Aschehougs Norgeshistorie, Bd. 5 (Oslo: Aschehoug) ISBN 82-03-22018-5