Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rjukan
Pop 5900
Sitting in the shadow of what is arguably Norway's most beautiful peak, Gausta (1883m),
Rjukan is a picturesque introduction to the Norwegian high country as well as southern
Norway's activities centre par excellence.
The town stretches like elastic for 6km along the floor of the steep-sided Vestfjorddalen
and while the centre, which consists of a couple of blocks of pastel-painted wooden build-
ings, is attractive, the remainder stands in utter contrast to its majestic setting.
If you're here from late September to March, you'll notice the winter gloom is no more,
with the town's valley floor illuminated by 'concentrated solar power', that is, three giant
remote-controlled mirrors that track and reflect the much needed sunshine from the moun-
tain above.
History
This hydroelectric-company town was founded in 1907 and at its peak the industry sup-
ported 10,000 residents. In the early days, the administrators' homes occupied the highest
slopes, where the sun shone the longest; below them were the homes of office workers and
in the valley's dark depths dwelt the labourers. The builders of the Mår Kraftverk hydro-
electric plant on the eastern limits of town clearly had an eye for records: its daunting
wooden stairway consists of 3975 steps (it's one of the world's longest wooden stairways
and is open to very fit visitors).
Sights
Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum MUSEUM
(Norsk Industriarbeidermuseet Vemork; www.visitvemork.com ; adult/child Nkr80/50;
10am-6pm
mid-Jun-mid-Aug, to 4pm mid-Aug-Sep & May-mid-Jun, noon-3pm rest of year)
This museum, 7km west of Rjukan, is in the Vemork power station, which was the world's
largest when completed in 1911. These days it honours the Socialist Workers' Party, which
reached the height of its Norwegian activities here in the 1950s. There's an interesting ex-
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