Hønefoss is a town in Eastern Norway located in Ringerike
municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, about 60 km northwest of
Oslo. The city covers an area of 10.52 km² and as of 1 January
2020 had 16,260 inhabitants. Between 1852 and 1964, the city was an
independent municipality.
Hønefoss was granted city status
and was separated from the former Norderhov county municipality as a
separate urban municipality in 1852. The town was built around
Hønefossen (which is the origin of the town name) and is located as
an "island" in old Norderhov. In 1964, the municipality was merged
with the municipalities of Hole, Norderhov, Tyristrand and Ådal into
the new large municipality of Ringerike, where the city became the
administrative center. However, Hole withdrew from the large
municipality in 1977 and became an independent municipality again.
Today, Hønefoss is a natural trading center for the populations in
Ringerike, Hole and Jevnaker. It is located as the northernmost
point in a triangle with Drammen in the south and Oslo in the
southeast.
Hønefoss is an inland town and a central hub in
Eastern Norway. From here, railways run to Bergen, Drammen and Oslo,
and to Gjøvik via Roa. Through Hønefoss, Europavei 16 also ran from
Sandvika to Western Norway via Valdres, as well as national road 7
to Western Norway via Hallingdal and national road 35 to Hokksund
and Hadeland. However, these roads now go mainly outside the city
itself, except for Rv35 which still passes through.
Within
the old city limits, there are today a total of 62 streets and
roads. The vast majority of them have a street as a suffix in the
name.
Etymology
The place that is today known as Hønefoss, has not
always carried this name. In the 14th century, the place went around
the waterfall under the name Weienfoss, which indicates that the
waterfall was owned by the large farm Weien (now Veien in
Heradsbygda). A diploma from 11 July 1337, which is in the
Arnamagnæan collection at the Nordic Research Institute at the
University of Copenhagen, states that the nobleman «Ogmund på Veigin
acknowledges that the priests at Maria Church in Oslo have the right
to cut in Weien forest for maintenance of the mill they owner in
Weienfoss ».
The plot on the north side of the waterfall
belonged to the large farm Hønen, but it was only after the sawmills
began to appear on the north side of the waterfall that the name
"Hønen Fos" was used in the 17th and 18th centuries. The waterfall
is actually called Hønenfoss, but the last n in the name has at some
point disappeared and the name became Hønefoss. In everyday speech,
however, the place around the waterfall was originally referred to
as the "sawmills" locally, and one must until 1914 before the city
presidency formalized the name Hønefoss.
The town name is
composed of the two words hen and waterfall. The word hen has
nothing to do with hens, although many over the years have had a
joking relationship with such a context. Onomasticians and others
disagree about the origin, but most agree that it probably has to do
with either the topography or ancient pagan theology. There are thus
two main theories that have gained general acceptance, one of a
topographical nature and one with roots in Norse mythology.
The hen can also be a derivation of horn (corner of the river) and
the suffix -vin (green land, place of residence).
The first
main theory links the name to Norse theology. Hen (also called Ve)
was a side god to the god Ullr. Hønen gård (in Haug parish) is
centrally located in an area known locally as "Hov" and "Ullerål",
which indicates an old pagan place of worship. As such, the hen has
with great certainty been separated from Hov once upon a time, and
perhaps this head was dedicated to the god Høn. This theory is
supported, among other things, by Professor Oluf Rygh, who in his
work «Norwegian Farm Names» (of 1897) believes that one must look at
Hønen and Hov together to find the origin of the name.
The
second main theory is that the name may have to do with the
topography of the river. Hen can mean corner. The river meanders
quite a lot in this area and forms natural corners in several
places. Since the urban community actually originated on the north
side of the waterfall, it may have to do with the seaweed between
Begna and Randselva, a seaweed that lies on the ground of Hønen and
is also known locally under the names "Glatved" (after a former
hotel on the site) and "Bilthuggertangen ».
The history of
the city
The idea of a town by the waterfall was launched in
1839 by the ethnologist and historian Ludvig Daae, through a series
of articles in Morgenbladet. He launched the city as one of eleven
new possible cities in the country, but it would be many years
before the place by the waterfall became a separate city.
In
1841, Norderhov County Council's council Buskerud County applied for
Hønefoss to be built as a town, but was rejected. The idea of a
town by the waterfall, however, was then so central that the case
was not allowed to lie dormant especially long after the rejection.
All in 1842, the then Storting representatives Thor Breien
(Ringerike) and Christopher Simonsen Fougner (Hole) presented a new
case to the Storting, in which they proposed Hønefoss as a market
town. At the census in 1845, Hønefoss had 793 inhabitants.
Towards the end of the 1840s, the Storting appointed «Business
Committee No. 2» to investigate the question of establishing two new
shopping centers, Hønefoss and Odnes. Now several others also threw
themselves into the struggle to get city status, including the local
workers' unions. In the winter of 1849/1850, the workers'
associations sent an application to King Oscar II in Stockholm that
"Hønefods had to become Kjøbstad". On June 24, 1851, Anton Martin
Schweigaard and his committee also submitted their recommendation,
in which they unanimously agreed that Hønefoss should be chosen as a
new market town over Odnes. The committee's recommendation was
crowned with success, and led to a law of 3 September 1851:
"Establishment of a market town at Hønefos in Norderhov's parish,
Buskerud County". On April 22, 1852, Hønefoss was granted city
status.
The city got its own city coat of arms by royal
resolution of 15 March 1902. It was designed by coin engraver Ivar
Throndsen and has a motif that refers to the city's background and
origin. When the city municipality at the turn of the year 1963/1964
became part of the new large municipality Ringerike, it was all
decided to allow the old and venerable Hønefoss Sparebank to use the
old city coat of arms, which has since been part of the bank's logo.
The hatter's feud and the Thranite movement
Hønefoss was central in Norway during the hatter's feud. The
Thranite movement was locally led by the radical hat maker Halsten
Knudsen (1805–1855), while Marcus Thrane (1817–1890) was the one who
started the most workers' unions in the country. Thrane visited
Hønefoss in 1849, when the first workers' association was started
here. Knudsen came to Hønefoss as a hatmaker's friend, under Lars
Andresen, and became leader of the local workers' association.
On July 21, 1851, the riot started. Judge Jørgen Meinich held a
court interrogation of the cave keeper Christian Fjeld in Madame
Glatved's farm on Norsiden. The background was that Fjeld had been
Hole Arbeiderforening's representative at the central board meeting
("Lilletinget") on Bygdøy, and a number of radical points had been
raised there, which the Storting decided to intervene against. The
next day, Knudsen was to be questioned, and then there was a serious
commotion.
One of the hatmaker's weapon bearers, the
well-grown Helge Gunbjørnsen Tytodden, shouted out to people who had
gathered: "It must be worse advice to let the authorities take
Knudsen!" When the hat maker was given time off to eat, he took the
opportunity to urge people not to let him down, because then he
thought he would be arrested. More came, and now Knudsen had up to
fifty men who supported him. There was a great atmosphere when the
scribe went out on the stairs to calm the mood. When the authorities
were to lead Knudsen to the arrest in Norderhov, there was a
scuffle. A Nils Kittelsen shouted: "Hooray for Knudsen!". Kittelsen
was the brother-in-law of police officer Peter C. Aas, who was one
of those who was to lead Knudsen to arrest. The other two were
police assistant Syver Sonerud and sheriff Robshahm. In the ensuing
handshake, Tytodden sprang forward and freed Knudsen. However, he
was soon arrested again, but once again released by his friends. The
sheriff had almost been thrown into the waterfall during the
scuffle, so he realized that it was not possible to arrest the hat
maker in this way.
On the evening of 26 July 1851, therefore,
two companies from the Norwegian Hunter Corps arrived at
Klokkergården by Hønen in Norderhov. Among other things, they had
with them two 6-pound cannons. Immediately after, a company from
Modum also arrived. Knudsen understood that it was starting to burn
under him and went up to Ådalen on the evening of 22 July. There he
mobilized more than a hundred fellow believers, it is said, who
after hearing his fiery speech marched towards the city. They must
have been armed with manure grips, picks and sticks. When he
arrived, the Ådølings claimed that they had not broken any law, and
demanded to be present during the interrogations of their chairman,
Johan Semmen. This was granted and the situation calmed down.
However, the hatmaker did not feel as safe, and immediately went up
Ådalen again. There he again gathered a horde of fellow believers,
but this time he wanted trouble to break out in earnest. It did not
help that people tried to calm Knudsen, who managed to mobilize
close to 300 men by promising help from both Western Norway and
Trøndelag. On the way down the valley, however, they heard that
military units with cannons were waiting for them in Hønefoss, and
courage sank abruptly. Knudsen tried to stir up the herd again, but
it turned around anyway. The battle was lost to the hat maker, who
along with several other leaders was soon arrested. They were locked
inside the grain warehouse at Norderhov church and sent on to
Akershus on 2 August. After this, the Thrane movement was put under
the microscope by the authorities.
One year later, charges
were brought against 149 of the movement's members, five of whom
came from Ringerike. In the spring of 1854, the hat maker was
sentenced to nine years in prison, along with several others. In his
deep despair he took speed and stuck his head into a tiled stove and
died it is said. He did die the night before he was to be
transferred to prison, but from the cholera epidemic. Marcus Thrane
himself received nine years in prison, and emigrated to the United
States after serving his sentence. It would be many years before
there was any momentum in the labor movement again, but in 1887 the
sawmill worker Anders Andersen (1846–1931) from Hønefoss was elected
the Labor Party's first party chairman. One might argue that he was
a result of the hatter's feud.
City fires and fire brigade
The town has had its own fire
service since 1855. It came into being after the large town fire
that started in the owner Erik Tandberg's farm on the North Side at
around 3 pm on 23 May 1854, where 20 buildings were reduced to
ashes. Only nine of the buildings were insured. At half past five in
the evening on 12 August 1878, a new large fire broke out on the
north side, where it is believed that a limpotte caught fire at
carpenter Løkken. Despite great help from many, 16 buildings burned
to the ground. Nine people were also injured in the fire. After this
fire, it was decided that the city would later be developed on the
south side of the river. The fire service's first fire truck, a 1927
model Mercedes, is still intact and owned by the fire service.
The railway is coming
The last half of the 19th century led
to a significant technological development for Hønefoss and the
districts around the city. From being a small community with
business activities connected to the waterfall and the sawmills, the
connection to Drammen via railway in 1868 became important for the
city's industry and trade until the 20th century.
The idea of
such a railway was launched in 1846, when the Land County Council
made an inquiry to the Ministry of the Interior and expressed a
desire for better communication between Drammen, Tyrifjorden and
Randsfjorden. However, nothing happened at that time. In 1853,
however, the Drammen presidency appointed a committee to study a
connection to the Oppland. At that time, the canal was also studied,
but since this could only be used for half a year, it became
obsolete. In 1857, Carl Abraham Pihl, a civil engineer, was
commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior to investigate whether
it was possible to build a railway between Drammen and Randsfjorden,
and his report was already available on 31 May 1858. There he
concluded that this was entirely possible to build the Randsfjord
line. , and he had also estimated the project to cost 1,150,000
speciedaler. This was uplifting news, and Drammen's presidency
convened a meeting about the project in Hønefoss on 12 September
1859, where it was agreed to start.
On 11 June 1863, the
Storting decided by 65 to 44 votes to build the course. On October
31, 1866, the first part of the stretch was opened. It connected
Vikersund and Drammen together. On December 1, 1867, Skjærdalen on
Tyristrand was connected to the stretch. Eventually, the work of
building Hønefoss station was also completed, and on 12 October
1868, the train could roll all the way from Drammen to Randsfjord
station by the Randsfjord. The Randsfjord line, as it was called,
was the fifth railway line in the country. Passenger traffic was
discontinued from 26 May 1968, after 100 years of operation. On
January 7, 2001, all local traffic on the line was shut down, after
133 years of operation. "Because of. failure in passenger traffic
»said NSB.
On Saturday 27 November 1909, the stage was again
set for a major transport event in Hønefoss. At that time, it was
the Bergen line that was opened. As is well known, it is still in
operation. On 31 July 1926, the Sperill line was also opened,
connecting Finsand in Ådal to the Randsfjord and Bergens lines. It
was decided to build in 1921, but on 1 July 1933 it was decided to
close down passenger traffic at the track. The competition with bus
traffic had become too great. On 1 August 1957, freight traffic was
also shut down and the track was laid waste.
The city gets
power plants and street lighting
Many believe that the largest
cities were the first to come with electric power and electric
street lighting, but that is not true for Hønefoss. All in 1885, the
then Follum Træsliberi (later known as Follum Fabrikker and Norske
Skog Follum, now part of Norske Skog) built a 110 V DC generator
that provided 10 KW for lighting inside the factory. The same year,
Hønefoss Træsliberi followed, and then the development went fast. It
gave positive ripple effects for the city that the business
community was at the forefront of technology.
As early as
1896, Hønefoss received electric street lighting. It was only five
years after Hammerfest, which was among the first cities in Europe
with such lighting. (The Swedish city of Härnösand received electric
street lighting in 1885.) Oslo received its first electric street
lighting in 1893.
In Hønefoss, 36 incandescent lamps were
installed, which cost the city 25 kroner each to operate a year. It
was Edward Lloyd Limited, who established himself in the city
through the acquisition of Hønefoss Træsliberi (later known as
Hønefoss Brug) in 1893, which gave the city the opportunity to get
electric street lighting.
Norway's first steamship is built
Hønefoss is not known as a maritime town, but on the lawn in front
of the town hall there is an old anchor, which for many may seem out
of place in an inland village. The anchor was a gift from the twin
city of Emmeloord, which is located in the municipality of
Noordoostpolder in Flevoland in the Netherlands, and is over 100
years old. It was found in Zuidersjøen and handed over to Hønefoss
on 27 September 1980. The anchor is a symbol that the city in its
time launched the first steamship ever built in Norway.
The steamship was launched on the river in Hønefoss on July 9,
1837, just below the city bridge and Hønefossen. The steamboat was
named DS "Kong Ring", and it was built on Øya (where Øyabakken is
today), which at that time was approximately in the middle of
Hønefossen, before it had to change its many downspouts. The boat
was to transport timber and goods on the river and across the
Tyrifjord to Svangstrand in Lier, but it soon turned out to be too
weak for the task. A new and more powerful steamboat, which was
named "Halvdan Svarte", was therefore built on Randsfjord in
Jevnaker and transported over Eggemoen and launched on the river in
Hønefoss.
North side and south side
The north side and the
south side are two very central concepts in Hønefoss. The original
town and town development started as wooden houses on the north side
of the waterfall, but after several town fires, it was finally
decided to develop it further on the south side of the waterfall. As
a result, since the end of the 19th century, the city has consisted
of two distinct parts, called the North Side and the South Side. The
modern part of the city grew south of Hønefossen from the late 1870s
onwards.
Parts of the residential area on Vesterntangen
(Vesterngata, Elvegata and Christies gate), up to Ole Torkildsens
vei by Hønefoss nursing home on the east side of Randselva, are also
within the old city limits and parishes naturally to Nordre torv,
but is not included in the district Nordsiden.
The squares
The place concepts North Side and South Side have become attached to
the area description of the city as two primary areas, even though
they have no official status. Each of the districts has had its
natural center in its own square. The north side at Nordre torv and
the south side at Søndre torv.
The parks
As for the
squares, there are also parks attached to each of the districts.
Nordre park was laid out after the ravages of the last major city
fire in the wooden houses on the north side on 12 August 1878.
Søndre park was laid out on Løkka, on the south side, as the largest
of them. In close proximity to Søndre park is also the outdoor area
Petersøya.