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Telemark
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0806
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Grenland
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Skien
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Rolf Erling Andersen ( Ap )
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2005
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140
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779
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719
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024
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2007
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12
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50,595
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110
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70
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46
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Neutral
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59 lat_min=12 lat_sec=29 lon_deg=9 lon_min=33 lon_sec=10
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32V utm_northing=6563352 utm_easting=0531568 geo_cat=adm2nd
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<!--Replace with County map-->
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wwwskienkommuneno
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is a town and
Municipality in the
County of
Telemark ,
Norway and administrive centre of Telemark County.
Skien was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see
Formannskapsdistrikt ). The rural municipalities of
Gjerpen and
Solum were merged with Skien January 1, 1964.
The
Conurbation of Skien and
Porsgrunn is considered by
Statistics Norway the seventh largest city in Norway straddling an area of three municipalities: Skien municipality (about 52% of the population), Porsgrunn (35%) and Bamble (11.5%). The area is home to more than 85,000 people.
The
Old Norse form of the name was ''Skiða'' (from the word ''skiða'' f 'straight plank') - and the town is probably named after a brook (with a straight run) with this name.
The coat-of-arms is based upon a seal from 1609. It shows a pair of
Ski s. (This is based upon a misunderstanding of the meaning of the name of the town - which has nothing to do with skis.)
Skien was probably founded in 1000 A.D. as a meeting place for inland farmers and sailing traders, and also as a shipping harbour for whetstones from Eidsborg (inland Telemark). Settlement can be traced back to the
11th Century , and the Gimsøy Convent was founded in the
12th Century . Skien was given formal
Commercial Town rights by the
Danish crown in
1358 . Timber has historically been the most dominant export product from Skien. The oldest remaining building is Gjerpen church (built approximately 1150)
The current town layout was fixed after the last town fire in
1886 . In
1964 , the rural municipalities Solum and Gjerpen were merged together with Skien town, forming the Skien municipality.
Skien is one terminus for the
Telemark Canal (in Norwegian, ''Telemarkskanalen''), which consists of two canals. In
Europe canals were commonly built in the pre-railroad period to transport goods, timber and passengers.
- The “Norsjø-Skienskanalen”, with one terminus at Skien and the other at Løveid , was built in 1854 – 1861 , and is the oldest of the two canals.
- The “Bandak-Nordsjøkanalene” continued the canal beyond Løveid – it was opened in 1892 .
Skien was connected to the Norwegian railway network (
Vestfoldbanen ) in
1882 . In
1919 Bratsbergbanen opened between Skien and
Notodden .
Norges Statsbaner still operates regular train services on both railways. The local airport is called
Skien Lufthavn Geiteryggen and serves domestic flights to
Bergen ,
Stavanger and
Molde and international flights to Stockholm by the airline
Vildanden . Skien harbour is located at Vold havneterminal.
The largest industries are
Other important places of work are
- Sykehuset Telemark (hospital)
- Fylkesmannen (The local Norwegian State Administration)
The daily newspapers
Varden and
Telemarksavisa are published in Skien.
Telemark Museum is located in Skien. Skien was the birthplace of the author and playwright
Henrik Ibsen . At Venstøp in Skien you can find the Venstøp Farm, established as the Ibsen Museum in 1958.
Not far away from Venstøp one can also find Fossum Hovedgård. This light red/pink Empire Style, castle-like building dates back to 1818 and was built for
Severin Løvenskiold , the head of the once so powerful Løvenskiold family. The beauty of this castle startles tourists and locals alike.
- Henrik Ibsen , playwright
- Severin Løvenskiold , politician
- Hjalmar Johansen , polar explorer
- Gunnar Knudsen , prime minister
- Jon Fredrik Baksaas , chief executive officer
- B%C3%A5rd Tufte Johansen , comedian
- Tor Åge Bringsværd , author
- Rune Jarstein , football player
- Torjus Hansén , football player
- Tommy Svindal Larsen , football player
- Frode Johnsen , football player
- Aage Samuelsen , singer and composer
- Bugge Wesseltoft , musician and composer
- Bjørn Tore Godal , politician
- Terje Riis Johansen , politician
- Municipality website in and ''' English '''
