Tinn is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfol ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

of Rjukan. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of ''Tin(d)'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 Janu ...

). The area of Hovin was separated from the municipality of Tinn in 1860, but it was merged back into the municipality of Tinn on 1 January 1964. Krossobanen is the oldest

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...

. It was built in 1928 as a gift from Norsk Hydro. There is a museum and Hardangervidda National Park center at the lake

Møsvatn Møsvatn (or Møsvann) is the tenth-largest lake in Norway with a surface area of 78.31 km2. It lies primarily Møsstrond, Vinje in Vestfold og Telemark. The lake lies in the watershed of the Skien river (''Skiensvassdrag'') and discharge ...

close to Tinn.

General information

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

form of the name was ''Tinnr''. It is probably the old name of the Lake Tinn, the central lake in the municipality. The meaning of the name is unknown.

Coat-of-arms

The

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

is from modern times. They were granted on 18 November 1994. The arms show five blue drops of water on a silver background. It was chosen to represent the five rivers in the municipality and the

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

of Rjukan. It was designed by Halvor Holtskog.

History

Rjukan Falls on the Måna river allowed construction of Vemork, the largest

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

in the world in 1911. The station has become a museum where one can explore the history of the energy and see exhibits about the industrial development in Norway and at Rjukan, the municipality center of Tinn. The museum is most famous for its presentation of Rjukan's war history. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Vemork was the site of the

Norwegian heavy water sabotage The Norwegian heavy water sabotage ( nb, Tungtvannsaksjonen; nn, Tungtvassaksjonen) was a series of Allied-led efforts to halt German heavy water production via hydroelectric plants in Nazi Germany-occupied Norway during World War II, involv ...

, when Norwegian saboteurs prevented the Germans from producing

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

from the heavy water which was produced here. The exhibit ''Atomkappløpet'' ("The nuclear race") presents the four heavy water sabotages and the allied efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.

Geography

The municipality borders the municipality of

Nore og Uvdal Nore og Uvdal is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rødberg. The area of ''Nore'' was separated from the municipality of ...

(in Buskerud county) to the north,

Rollag Rollag is a municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rollag, although the most ...

and

Flesberg Flesberg is a municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lampeland. The economy o ...

(also in Buskerud) to the east, Notodden,

Hjartdal Hjartdal is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sauland. The mun ...

, and Seljord to the south, and Vinje to the west. Tinn stretches deeply into the Hardangervidda landscape. One landmark in Tinn is the tall mountain Gaustatoppen, which is climbed by 30,000 people each year. On clear days it is possible to see one sixth of Norway from its summit.

Notable people

WWII heavy water saboteurs

* Arne Kjelstrup MM (1913 in Rjukan – 1995) a Norwegian resistance member during WWII, role in the

1942–1943 *

Knut Lier-Hansen Knut Lier-Hansen (8 September 1916 – 28 March 2008) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II. He was born and grew up in Rjukan. Around 1940 he was a sergeant in the Norwegian Army, and tried to repel the German invaders in Apr ...

(1916 in Rjukan – 2008) a Norwegian resistance member during WWII, Army sergeant, role in sinking of ''SF Hydro'' as a part of the

* Jens-Anton Poulsson (1918 in Tinn – 2010) a military officer, a Norwegian resistance member, role in the

1942–1943 * Claus Helberg (1919 in Rjukan – 2003) a Norwegian resistance member, mountain guide, role in the

Other public Service

* Sam Eyde (1866–1940) a Norwegian engineer and industrialist, developed Rjukan Falls to produce hydro electrical power * Albert Sund (1884–?) a trade union leader and Labour politician, Chairman of the ''Øst-Telemark faglige Samorg'' for three years. * Knut Haugland DSO, MM, (1917 in Rjukan – 2009) a WWII resistance fighter, explorer, who accompanied

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

on his famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition * Einar-Fredrik Ofstad (1916 in Rjukan – 1998) a Norwegian diplomat *

Gunnar Sønsteby Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO ( 1918 – 10 May 2012) was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. Known by the nickname "Kjakan" ("The Chin") and as "Agent No. 24", ...

DSO (1918 in Rjukan – 2012) a member of the Norwegian resistance movement and Norway's most highly decorated citizen * Petter Graver (1920 in Tinn – 1995) a jurist, diplomat from 1947 to 1988 and a lawyer * Gunnar Odd Hagen (1921–1997) a Norwegian politician and a dentist in Tinn * Reidun Røed (1921 in Rjukan – 2009) a female Norwegian resistance member *

Bjørn Bruland Bjørn Rochmann Bruland (13 October 1926 – 3 July 2014) was a Norwegian admiral and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Rjukan and started his career in the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1945 after taking his education at the Norwegian N ...

(1926 in Rjukan – 2014) a Norwegian admiral and politician * Reidar Engell Olsen (born 1933) a Norwegian politician and sometime Mayor of Tinn * Jostein Børtnes (born 1937 in Hovin, Telemark) a literary historian and Slavist * Signe Howell (born 1942 in Tinn) a Norwegian social anthropologist and academic * Bernt Ivar Eidsvig (born 1953 in Rjukan) a prelate of the Catholic Church and Bishop of Oslo *

Øystein Mæland Øystein Mæland (born 26 March 1960) is a Norwegian psychiatrist, civil servant and politician for the Labour Party. In 2011, Mæland was appointed director of the National Police Directorate, a position he retained until August 2012 when he resi ...

(born 1960 in Rjukan) a psychiatrist, civil servant and former politician Linnea Dale 2

The Arts

* Knut Luraas (1782 in Tinn – 1843) a Norwegian Hardingfele

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

r and artist * Thomas Luraas (1799 in Tinn – 1886) a Norwegian rose painter and clarinetist *

Else Poulsson Else Poulsson (24 March 1909 – 10 February 2002) was a Norwegian painter and textile artist. Biography Poulsson was born in Rjukan in Telemark, Norway. She was the daughter of Jens Jørgensen Poulsson and Vivi Lange, and was a sister of Colo ...

(1909 in Rjukan – 2002) a Norwegian painter and textile artist * Jørn Lande (born 1968 in Rjukan) a hard rock and heavy metal singer and songwriter * Linnea Dale (born 1991 in Tinn) a Norwegian singer.

Sport

Snowshoe Thompson John Albert Thompson (born Jon Torsteinsson Rue; April 30, 1827 – May 15, 1876), nicknamed Snowshoe Thompson, an early resident of the Sierra Nevada of Nevada and California, was a Norwegian-American considered to be the father of California ...

(born 1827 in Austbygdi, Telemark as ''Jon Torsteinsson Rue'' – 1876) a Norwegian-American, considered the father of California skiing * Jon Terje Øverland (born 1944 in Rjukan) an alpine skier, competed at the 1964 &

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

Gallery

References

External links

* *
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every ye ...

*
Museum

Postcard from TinnPostmarks/cancels from Tinn
{{Authority control Municipalities of Vestfold og Telemark