Jump to content

Porsgrunn

From Niidae Wiki
Revision as of 17:23, 3 January 2025 by imported>Frost (update: Changed link from welfare to welfare spending using Move+)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox kommune

Template:Audio is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. Some other notable settlements in Porsgrunn include the town of Brevik and the villages of Langangen and Heistad.<ref name="snl">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

The Template:Convert municipality is the 315th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Porsgrunn is the 29th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 37,056. The municipality's population density is Template:Convert and its population has increased by 4.7% over the previous 10-year period.<ref name="ssb pop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ssb area">Template:Cite web</ref> The conurbation of the cities of Porsgrunn and Skien is called Porsgrunn/Skien by Statistics Norway and it is considered to be the seventh-largest urban area in Norway.

General information

[edit]
File:Boliger ved utløpet av Ønna, i bakgrunnen Langangsfjorden, Porsgrunn kommune.jpg
View of the Langangen area
File:Brevik.jpg
View of the town of Brevik in Porsgrunn Municipality

The town of Porsgrunn was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The small urban town of Porsgrunn grew over time. On 1 July 1920, the growing town annexed some adjacent areas of some of the neighboring rural municipalities: an area of Gjerpen Municipality (population: 437), an area of Eidanger Municipality (population: 550), and an area of Solum Municipality (population: 1,614).<ref name="Dag">Template:Cite book</ref>

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, there was a major municipal merger where the following areas were merged to form a new Porsgrunn Municipality.<ref name="Dag" />

On 1 January 1968, an area of Skien Municipality (population: 3,554) was transferred to Porsgrunn Municipality (these areas had originally been part of Solum and Gjerpen municipalities).<ref name="Dag" />

Name

[edit]

The place is first mentioned in existing historical records 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"). The last element of the name Template:Wikt-lang which means "ground".<ref name="snl" /> The name was historically spelled Porsgrund. On 1 January 1930, the spelling of the name of the municipality was changed to Porsgrunn, giving it a more "Norwegianized" spelling.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Coat of arms

[edit]

The coat of arms was originally granted on 16 January 1905 for the town of Porsgrunn. The arms were originally devised in 1905 when the city needed a new city hall. After the municipal merger on 1 January 1964, the old arms were re-adopted by the new, larger Porsgrunn Municipality. The blazon is "Gules and azure, a bend between a bog myrtle branch and an anchor argent" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a red (above) and blue (below) field (background) and the charge is a diagonal bend (stripe) with an anchor below it and the branch of a bog myrtle plant above it. 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 silver bend (stripe) symbolizes the small river running through the city. The bog myrtle plant is a canting symbol since the name Porsgrunn comes from the Norwegian word for the plant. The anchor on a blue background symbolizes the importance of the local harbor and sea. The arms were designed by Wilhelm Rudolph.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Churches

[edit]
File:Østsiden kirke.jpeg
Østre Porsgrunn Church

The Church of Norway has two parishes (Template:Lang) within the municipality of Porsgrunn. It is part of the Skien prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Churches in Porsgrunn
Parish (Template:Lang) Church name Location of the church Year built
Eidanger Brevik Church Brevik 1963
Eidanger Church Eidanger c. 1150
Herøya Church Porsgrunn 1957
Langangen Church Langangen 1891
Stridsklev Church Porsgrunn 2000
Porsgrunn Vestre Porsgrunn Church Porsgrunn 1758
Østre Porsgrunn Church Porsgrunn 2019

History

[edit]
File:Porsgrunn City Hall 2007.jpg
Porsgrunn City Hall

Porsgrunn has been an important harbor town in the Grenland area since the late 16th century. In 1653, the Customs House was moved further down the Skien river 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.<ref name="hist">Template:Cite web</ref> Moving the Custom House to Porsgrunn added to the flourishing harbor activity and Porsgrunn became a thriving market town with a ladested status.<ref name="Tønnessen">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Moseng">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Schrumpf">Template:Cite book</ref>

In the 18th century, Porsgrunn 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. The city was granted limited city status as a kjøpstad in 1807. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838, and it was expanded to full city status in 1842.<ref name="Tønnessen" /><ref name="Moseng" /><ref name="Schrumpf" />

Porsgrunn was once home to Skomvær, the country's largest sailing ship. In 1985, the sculpture Amphitrite, the wave and the sea birds was unveiled in Porsgrunn. The sculpture, which is one of Jørleif Uthaug's best known works, has a nautical theme in honor of Porsgrunn's maritime history.

Geography

[edit]
File:The Porsgrunn River.jpg
The river flowing through the town

Porsgrunn Municipality 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 Frierfjorden, Gunnekleivfjorden, and the mouth of the river Telemarksvassdraget or Porsgrunn River (Porsgrunnselva) are located in the western part of the municipality. The peninsula of Herøya, southeast of the main city centre, was originally an industrial park and has grown into a suburb of Porsgrunn. The Eidangerfjorden runs through the central part of the municipality.

Government

[edit]

Porsgrunn 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.<ref name="ks">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

[edit]

The municipal council Template:Lang of Porsgrunn is made up of 49 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party. Template:Div col Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Kommunestyre table Template:Div col end

Mayors

[edit]

Template:Incomplete list The mayors (Template:Langx) of Porsgrunn (incomplete list):<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Industry

[edit]

Porsgrunn is an important center of industry and has a long history of heavy industry. Important industries in Porsgrunn include: Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Transportation

[edit]

Transportation links from Porsgrunn:

Notable people

[edit]

Template:Main category

File:Cort Adeler.jpg
Cort Adeler
File:Severin Løvenskiold (by Berglien).jpg
Severin Løvenskiold, 1854

Public service and public thinking

[edit]

Business

[edit]

The Arts

[edit]
File:Halfdan Christensen.jpg
Halfdan Christensen, ca.1940

Sport

[edit]
File:2019-03-30 Fußball, Männer, 1. Bundesliga, RB Leipzig - Hertha BSC StP 3734 LR10 by Stepro (cropped).jpg
Rune Jarstein, 2019

Twin towns – sister cities

[edit]

Template:See also Porsgrunn is twinned with:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

[edit]

Template:Reflist

[edit]

Template:Commons category Template:Wiktionary

Template:Telemark Template:Authority control Template:Use dmy dates

Retrieved from "https://wiki.niidae.com/index.php?title=Porsgrunn&oldid=131987"