| Notodden | |||||||||||||||
| Idnumber: | 4005 | ||||||||||||||
| County: | Telemark | ||||||||||||||
| District: | Aust-Telemark | ||||||||||||||
| Capital: | Notodden | ||||||||||||||
| Established: | 1 Jan 1913 | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded: | Heddal Municipality | ||||||||||||||
| Demonym: | Notodding | ||||||||||||||
| Language: | Neutral | ||||||||||||||
| Coatofarms: | Notodden komm.svg | ||||||||||||||
| Webpage: | www.notodden.kommune.no | ||||||||||||||
| Mayor: | Gry Bløchlinger | ||||||||||||||
| Mayor Party: | Ap | ||||||||||||||
| Mayor As Of: | 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| Area Rank: | 118 | ||||||||||||||
| Area Total Km2: | 983.89 | ||||||||||||||
| Area Land Km2: | 912.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Area Water Km2: | 71.89 | ||||||||||||||
| Area Water Percent: | 7.3 | ||||||||||||||
| Population As Of: | 2023 | ||||||||||||||
| Population Rank: | 94 | ||||||||||||||
| Population Total: | 13025 | ||||||||||||||
| Population Density Km2: | 14.3 | ||||||||||||||
| Population Increase: | 4.2 | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 59.6294°N 9.1914°W | ||||||||||||||
| Utm Zone: | 32V | ||||||||||||||
| Utm Northing: | 6610172 | ||||||||||||||
| Utm Easting: | 0510809 | ||||||||||||||
| Geo Cat: | adm2nd | ||||||||||||||
| Module: |
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is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, Gransherad, Heddal, Hjuksebø, Hjuksevelta, Rudsgrendi, Tinnoset, and Yli.
The 984km2 municipality is the 118th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Notodden is the 94th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 13,025. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.2% over the previous 10-year period.[1] [2]
Norway's largest stave church, Heddal Stave Church, is located in Heddal, a few kilometres west the municipal centre. Notodden Airport, is located west of the town of Notodden, along the European route E134 highway. Norsk Hydro was founded in this town. Notodden is well known for the annual Notodden Blues Festival, which is considered one of the best blues festivals in Europe. It also has a well-known metal festival called Motstøy Festivalen. The football club Notodden FK is headquartered here.
On 1 January 1913, the newly-designated kjøpstad (town) of Notodden (population: 4,821) was separated from Heddal Municipality to form a separate self-governing town as an enclave within Heddal Municipality. This left Heddal with 2,890 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Heddal Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Notodden Municipality:[3]
The municipality (originally the town) is named after a small cotter's farmstead (Norwegian: husmannsplass) located on the old Tinne farm since this was the original site of the town (near the mouth of the river Tinnelva at the lake Heddalsvatnet). The first element is derived from the word which means "to fish using a seine". The last element is the definite singular form of which means "headland". Thus it is a "headland for net fishing".[4]
The coat of arms was granted on 11 August 1939. The official blazon is "Azure, a pale wavy and four lightning bolts in saltire argent" (Norwegian: På blå bunn en loddrett sølvelv som sender lynstråler av sølv til begge sider). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a wavy vertical bar and four lightning bolts emanating from the centre and making an X-shape. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design symbolizes that Notodden was created by the exploitation of hydroelectric power on the river Tinnelva when Norsk Hydro started its operations with saltpeter production and power development in 1905. The vertical bar represents the Tinnfoss waterfall along the river and the lightning bolts represent electricity. The arms were designed by Jens Høibø. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[5] [6]
The Church of Norway has four parishes (Norwegian: sokn) within the municipality of Notodden. It is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
| Gransherad | Gransherad Church | Gransherad | 1849 | |
| Heddal | Heddal Stave Church | Heddal | 1200s | |
| Lisleherad | Lisleherad Church | Landsverk | 1873 | |
| Notodden | Notodden Church | Notodden | 1938 |
Notodden Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[7] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
The municipal council Norwegian: (Kommunestyre) of Notodden is made up of 41 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Notodden:[8]
The municipality is located in Aust-Telemark, along the border with Buskerud. Notodden Municipality includes the lands between the lakes Tinnsjå and Heddalsvatnet lake. The rivers Tinnelva and Heddøla both run through the municipality. The Blefjell mountains are located in the northern part of the municipality.
Notodden has a humid continental climate (Dfb). Situated inland at low altitude in the Telemark region, is one of the warmer towns in Norway in summer, but winters can be cold. The weather station at Notodden Airport has been recording since March 1970 (temperature and wind speed). Precipitation data is from a different station in Notodden. The all-time high temperature was recorded on 27 July 2018.
See main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Norway. In 2008, the Notodden council decided to end the twin city agreements with Ilisalmi, Nyköping, and Stelle. At the same time Suwałki was approved as a new twin city.[9] [10]
The following cities are twinned with Notodden:
Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States
Suwałki, Podlaskie Voivodeship, PolandFormer twin cities of Notodden:
Iisalmi, Eastern Finland, Finland
Nyköping, Södermanland County, SwedenOne of the most influential Norwegian black metal bands, Emperor, came from Notodden, as does Mortiis, Peccatum, Star of Ash, Leprous, and Zyklon. Emperor's singer, Ihsahn, still resides in Notodden.