Krødsherad (''Krødsherad kommune'') is a

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

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of

Noresund Noresund is a small village in Krødsherad in the county of Buskerud, Norway. Noresund is located on Lake Krøderen (lake), Krøderen. Highway 7 (''Riksvei 7'') passes through the village. Norefjell Ski Area is located 3 kilometers northwest ...

. The municipality of Krødsherad was established when it was separated from the municipality of Sigdal on 1 January 1901.

General information

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was ''Krœðisherað''. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the name of the lake Krøderen, the last element is ''herað'' meaning "district". Prior to 1918, the name was spelled ''Krødsherred''.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 September 1981. The arms are supposedly

canting arms Canting arms are heraldry, heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. The expression derives from the latin ''cantare'' (to sing). French heralds used the term (), ...

. In older times, the name, ''Krødsherad'', was commonly misunderstood as the word ''kross'' meaning "cross" or the area where two

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

s crossed. Thus the

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

cross was taken as a symbol in the arms. New insights, however, derive the name from Krøderen, or a lake with a sharp curve (hooked-lake).

Geography

The district lies on the Krøderfjord in

Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...

, and borders on the municipalities of Ringerike, Flå, Sigdal and Modum. The municipality lies only 10 old Norwegian miles from

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. Settlement is scattered, with some concentration around the municipality's two principal centers, Noresund situated on the east side of Lake Krøderen and Krøderen at the southern end of Lake Krøderen.

Economy

Agriculture is the primary industry with most agricultural land arable and mostly used for grain cultivation. The forestry industry also has historically been important. With the shoreline at Krøderen and the high mountains at Norefjell, the municipality enjoys a spectrum of natural environments from lake to mountain. As a result, there are many vacation homes in the municipality and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, especially winter sports in the Norefjell area, is an important contribution element in the economy.

Attractions

Villa Fridheim

Villa Fridheim, a manor house which houses a folk museum, is one of Norway's largest timber buildings. The style is representative of

romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

. The building was erected in 1890-92 as the country house of

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

based timber merchant Svend Haug(1832-1891) and his wife Anne Marthea (Thea) Sveaas (1839-1924). The architect was Herman Major Backer (1856–1932), whose other commissions included Skaugum in Asker, Klemetsrud Church in Oslo, Sollihøgda Chapel in

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

and St John's Church in Bergen. The building functioned as a hotel and boarding house between 1914-60. The building was restored and opened as a folktale museum in the summer of 1986. In 1996 the museum opened a section dedicated to the great collectors of Norwegian fairy tales, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe and to noted illustrators Theodor Kittelsen and Christian Skredsvig.

Krøderbanen

Krøderbanen Museum (''Museet Krøderbanen'') is a railroad museum headquartered in the former Krøderen Railroad Station at Krøderen. Krøderbanen was opened in 1872 as a narrow gauge line. It was converted to standard gauge in connection with the Bergen Railway opening in 1909 and remained in operation until 1985. Both rolling stock and fixed installations along the line is kept in running condition. Krøderbanen is also a center for the restoration and maintenance of railway equipment.

Norefjell Ski Resort

Norefjell Ski Resort was host to the downhill and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

competitions of the 1952 Winter Olympics. Norefjell is only a 90-minute drive away from

, making the ski resort the closest high mountain area to the Norwegian capital.

Olberg Church

Olberg Church (''Olberg kirke'') dates from 1859. Jørgen Moe, who was the chaplain from 1853 to 1863, committed himself to having a new church built at Krødsherad. It was constructed based upon designs by architect Gustav Adolph Lammers. The building was built of wood and has 600 seats. The new church was dedicated on October 19, 1859. It is part of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

and belongs to Eiker Prosti in the

Diocese of Tunsberg Tunsberg is a diocese of the Church of Norway. It includes all of the parishes located within the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, with the cathedral located in the city of Tønsberg. The Diocese of Tunsberg consists of the cathedral deanery and ...

Notable people

* Niels Schultz (1780 in Krødsherad – 1832) a Norwegian cleric, author and politician * Amund Ringnes (1840 in Krødsherad – 1907) brewery owner, founded Ringnes AS in 1876 * Moltke Moe (1859 in Krødsherad - 1913) a Norwegian

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

* Sigurd Moen (1897 in Krødsherad – 1967) speed skater, bronze medallist at the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer ...

* Tormod Skagestad (1920 in Krødsherad – 1997) poet, novelist, playwright, actor and theatre director * Otto Tschudi (born 1949 near Krødsherad) alpine skier, participated at the

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

External links

Krødsherad kommune websiteVilla Fridheim websiteMuseet Krøderbanen websiteNorefjell website
*
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, 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 year on its web site. All rele ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krodsherad Municipalities of Buskerud Ringerike (traditional district)