Røyken is a district and village (''bygd'') and a former
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' ...
in
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 ...
in
Viken County,
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 ...
. In 2020 Røyken was merged with the municipalities of
Hurum and
Asker to form the new
Asker Municipality (informally called "Greater Asker") located in the newly formed
Viken 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 ...
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda. 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 ...
of ''Røken'' was established as a municipality 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 ...
).
Oslo ATCC, the
Area Control Center
In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between ...
for the
controlled airspace
Controlled airspace is airspace of defined dimensions within which air traffic control (ATC) services are provided. The level of control varies with different airspace class, classes of airspace. Controlled airspace usually imposes higher weat ...
above
Østlandet
Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical Regions of Norway, region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet.
Eastern Norway is by far the most populo ...
is located here.
General information
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Røyken'' farm (
Norse ''Raukvin''), since the first church was built there. The first element is ''raukr'' which means "pile, stack;
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
" and the last element is ''vin'' which means "
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...
" or "
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing.
Types of pasture
Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...
".
Coat-of-arms
The
coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 December 1967. The figure shows a yellow
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...
on a blue background. It was chosen as a semi-
canting symbol to represent
smoke
Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...
(which cannot be depicted in
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...
). The background for the motif is a common misunderstanding of the name as ''røyken'' the definite form of ''røyk'' meaning "
smoke
Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...
".
Geography
Røyken is located south of
Lier and
Asker, on the northern part of the Hurum peninsula north of
Hurum municipality. It lies between
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...
and
Drammensfjord. It is connected to the eastern side of the Oslofjord via Hurum municipality and the
Oslofjord Tunnel. The tunnel is long and connects Hurumhalvøya to Akershus county.
The district includes large amounts of residential zones with beautiful sights of the sea. The administration is situated in the village of Midtbygda. The main population centers are the villages of Hyggen, Hallenskog, Midtbygda, Nærsnes, Røyken,
Slemmestad,
Spikkestad, and Åros. Many people live in the northern part of
Bødalen and its vicinities, which is a continuous residential area that continues throughout Asker and
Bærum
Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...
to
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 ...
.
Municipality Reform
As part of the municipality reform process instigated by
Minister of Local Government Jan Tore Sanner the municipalities of Asker, Hurum and Røyken evaluated if they should merge into a new common municipality during the first half of 2016. A tentative agreement was reached and on 16 June 2016 the Municipal Council of Røyken approved the merger with
Asker and
Hurum with 24 votes for and 3 against.
The merger date was 1 January 2020 and the chosen name was Asker.
Notable people
*
Einar Jansen (1893 in Røyken – 1960) a Norwegian historian, genealogist and archivist
*
Jonas Fjeldstad (1894 in Røyken – 1985) a prize-winning
oceanographer and mathematician
*
Ove Bang (1895 in Røyken – 1942) a Norwegian architect, advocated
functionalism in architecture
*
Eberhart Jensen (1922 in Røyken – 2003) a Norwegian
astrophysicist
*
Bjørge Lillelien (1927 in Slemmestad – 1987) a sports journalist and commentator for
NRK
*
Kate Gulbrandsen (born 1965 in Slemmestad) one of Norway's former Eurovision singers
*
Melissa Wiik (born 1985 in Slemmestad) a footballer with 200 club caps and 63 for
Norway women
*
Torbjørn Bergerud (born 1994 in Åros) a handball player for
Kolstad Håndball and the
Norwegian handball team.
Gallery
File:Røyken videregående steinerskole - 2011-08-10 - J. P. Fagerback.jpg , Røyken Steiner High School
File:Odden.JPG, Odden Marina
File:Røyken stasjon TRS 070106 017.jpg, Røyken Rail Station
File:Royken rdhs1.jpg, Røyken City Hall
File:Røyken kirke TRS 060620 003.jpg, Røyken Church
File:Røyken-Geitungsholmen-jpfagerback-87316.jpg, Geitungsholmen nature reserve
File:Røyken-Kutangen-naturminne-jpfagerback-87315.jpg, Kutangen protected nature area, Slemmestad
References
External links
*
*
Municipal fact sheetfrom
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 ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royken
Asker
Villages in Buskerud