Modum 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 town of

Vikersund Vikersund is a town of 3,232 (in 2020) inhabitants in the municipality capital of Modum, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. Overview Vikersund is located 30 kilometers south of Hønefoss and 40 kilometers northwest of Drammen. The village is l ...

. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

). The area has a long tradition of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

with several famous skiers. Modum is home to one of the largest ski jumping hills in the world, Vikersundbakken which is situated in Heggen, outside Geithus. The hill record, established in 2017 is a jump of .

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the old ''Modum'' farm (

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 ...

: ''Móðheimr''), since the first church was built here. The first element is ''móða'' which means "

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

" (here the

Drammenselva Drammenselva () is a river in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, southeastern Norway. Location Drammenselva is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a drainage basin of about and a Discharge (hydrology), discharge of per second. Drammen R ...

river) and the last element is ''heimr'' which means "

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

", " homestead", or "

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

". The name of the farm was later changed to ''

''.

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...

is from modern times. They were granted on 15 March 1985. The arms show three wavy silver lines “ party per bend sinister” on a blue background. They represent the three main rivers in the municipality:

, Snarumselva, and Simoa and the colour

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

represents Blaafarveværket.

Geography

The municipality is bordered in the north by

Krødsherad Krødsherad (''Krødsherad kommune'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Noresund. The municipality of Krødsherad was establ ...

and Ringerike, in the east by

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 Lier, in the south by Øvre Eiker, and in the west by Sigdal.

Communities

The municipality has three main villages: Åmot, Geithus, and

. Åmot is the starting point of Kunstnerdalen, which was frequently visited by of several Norwegian 19th and 19th century painters:

Christian Krohg Christian Krohg (13 August 1852 – 16 October 1925) was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist. Krohg was inspired by the realism art movement and often chose motifs from everyday life. He was the director and s ...

, Adolph Tidemand and Hans Gude. It also was home to Theodor Kittelsen and Christian Skredsvig.

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

also painted in Modum. This is also the site of Blaafarveværket whichnow includes a museum and art gallery. Geithus is the location of two hydroelectric powerplants; Geithusfoss kraftverk and Gravfoss kraftverk.

is the municipality administrative center of Modum and the site of the Modum City Hall. It is also the site of Vikersundbakken.

Notable residents

Public service & business

* Hans Gulbranson (1787 in Modum – 1868) pioneer developer of the textile industry * Gudbrand Gregersen de Saág (1824 in Modum – 1910) Norwegian-Hungarian bridge engineer * Anders Sveaas (1840 in Modum – 1917) founded the Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill * Albert Collett (1842 at Buskerud Manor – 1896) timber merchant, sawmill owner, founded Firma Albert Collett * Nils P. Haugen (1849 in Modum – 1931), member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

* Charles E. Hanson (1855 in Modum – 1932), member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

* Christopher Hornsrud (1859 in Skotselv, Øvre Eiker – 1960), Norwegian Prime Minister in 1928 * Christian Hansen Tandberg (1872 at Nykirke – 1951) farmer, deputy mayor of Modum 1920's * Hjalmar Steenstrup (1890 in Modum – 1945) insurance agent and Milorg pioneer * Erling Diesen (born 1932 in Geithus) a Norwegian engineer and civil servant

The Arts

* Maurits Hansen (1774 in Modum – 1843),

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, contributor to the

Romantic Movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

* Thorvald Lammers (1841 in Modum – 1922) baritone singer, choral conductor & composer * Andreas Edvard Disen (1845 in Modum – 1923) a mountain landscape painter * Hans Andersen Foss (1851 in Modum – 1929) Norwegian-American author, newspaper editor * Christian Skredsvig (1854 in Modum – 1924) painter and writer, style reflected naturalism * Arild Formoe (1912 in Modum – 2006), accordion player and orchestra conductor * Thure Erik Lund (born 1959 in Vikersund) author and cabinet maker ArtJorgensGoudeycard

Sport

* Arndt Jorgens (1905 in Modum – 1980) catcher in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

* Knut Østby (1922 in Modum – 2010) sprint canoeist, silver medallist,

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

* Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl (born 1960),

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

team bronze medallist at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

, works in Vikersund * Tom Gulbrandsen (born 1964) retired footballer with almost 300 club caps and 17 for

* Ole Einar Bjørndalen (born 1974 in Simostranda), ski biathlete with 13 Winter Olympic Games medals

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Modum: *

Laukaa Laukaa (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...

Western Finland Western Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. Tampere was the largest city of the province. Histor ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

* Stevns, Region Sjælland,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

* Östra Göinge,

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Gallery

File:Gulsrud Kirke.jpg, Gulsrud Church File:Heggen kirke TRS 070429 022.jpg, Heggen Church File:Nykirke Modum TRS 1.jpg, Nykirke Church File:Rud kirke Modum.jpg, Rud Church File:Snarum kirke TRS 1.jpg, Snarum Church File:Vestre Spone kapell TRS 2.jpg, Vestre Spone Chapel

References

External links

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 ...

*
Blaafarveværket

Cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

mines
Culture in Modum on the map
from Kulturnett.no {{Buskerud Municipalities of Buskerud Ringerike (traditional district)