Explore Rjukan, the industrial and World Heritage town, surrounded by magnificent natural landscapes on all sides. Discover the story of Sam Eyde, Norsk Hydro, and the Heavy Water Sabotage at Vemork. Experience the vibrant town with its own sun mirror and sun festival. Savor culinary dishes made from high-quality local ingredients and stay in luxury accommodations close to nature and culture experiences. Climb to the top of Telemark's highest mountain, Mount Gausta, either on foot or via Gaustabanen, a cable car inside the mountain. Rjukan offers a wide range of exciting experiences, in summer as winter.
The Industrial and World Heritage Town, Rjukan
Watch the clip from Rjukan HERE!
Host Arne Hjeltnes and Stig Bareksten meet artist Linnea Dale from Rjukan, who shares how engineer and industrial pioneer Sam Eyde harnessed one of Norway's most powerful waterfalls, The Rjukan Waterfall, to drive industry and create economic growth in Norway at the start of the 1900s.
As the industrial venture grew and more people came to Rjukan to work, Norsk Hydro began systematically developing an entire town, which today defines Rjukan’s city center.
Due to the east-west direction of the valley and the high mountains to the south, the town is without sunlight for six months during the winter. In 2013, Rjukan received its own giant sun mirror, and every year in March, a grand Sun Festival is held at Rjukan Square.
Today, Rjukan is on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
The Industrial Workers Museum at Vemork and the Heavy Water Sabotage
Watch the clip from Vemork HERE!
Next, they visit the Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum at Vemork. Built by Norsk Hydro in 1911, it was once the largest hydropower plant in the world. The large turbines at Vemork produced electricity from hydropower, which in turn powered the factories producing artificial fertilizer, a Norwegian invention that revolutionized global agriculture.
Learn more about the spectacular story of the Heavy Water Sabotage, where a group of Norwegian resistance fighters, many local boys from Rjukan, in cooperation with British forces, succeeded in blowing up the heavy water plant and significantly delaying the German atomic plans. Today, this sabotage operation is known as one of the most successful missions of World War II.
The historical Rjukan Admini Hotel
Watch the clip from Rjukan Admini Hotel HERE!
Arne and Stig spend the night at the historic Rjukan Admini Hotel, which was originally Norsk Hydro's administrative center. Today, it’s a beautiful hotel where the bourgeois elegance of the past meets modern comfort. The breakfast here includes the famous brown cheese from Stordalen Farm, which has won gold at the World Cheese Awards.
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