Tinn Municipality Tinn kommune
Municipality
Tind herred  (historic name)
View of Rjukan
Flag Coat of arms
Telemark within Norway
Tinn within Telemark
Coordinates: 60°0′33″N 8°33′34″E / 60.00917°N 8.55944°E / 60.00917; 8.55944
Country	Norway
County	Telemark
District	Aust-Telemark
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Rjukan
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Steinar Bergsland (H)
Area
• Total	2,045.13 km2 (789.63 sq mi)
• Land	1,848.01 km2 (713.52 sq mi)
• Water	197.12 km2 (76.11 sq mi)  9.6%
• Rank	#34 in Norway
Population  (2022)
• Total	5,512
• Rank	#173 in Norway
• Density	3/km2 (8/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−7.9%
Demonym	Tinndøl[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4026[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Tinn is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Aust-Telemark and Upper Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. Some of the villages in Tinn include Atrå, Austbygde, Hovin, and Miland.

The 2,045-square-kilometre (790 sq mi) municipality is the 34th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tinn is the 173rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,512. The municipality's population density is 3 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.8/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 7.9% over the previous 10-year period.^[4][5]

The Krossobanen is the oldest aerial tramway in Northern Europe. It was built in 1928 as a gift from Norsk Hydro. The Hardangervidda National Park center is located at the lake Møsvatn, just east of Tinn.

General information

The parish of Tind (later spelled "Tinn") was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1860, the southeastern area of the municipality around the village of Hovin (population: 815) was separated from Tinn to become part of the newly created Gransherad Municipality. On 24 March 1903, an unpopulated area of Tinn Municipality was transferred to Hovin Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipality of Hovin was dissolved. All of Hovin located east of the lake Tinnsjå (population: 461) was merged into Tinn Municipality (the rest of the old Hovin municipality became part of Notodden Municipality).^[6]

History

The Rjukan Falls, located on the Måna river, allowed construction of Vemork, the largest power station 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 in the town of Rjukan.

The museum at Vemork is most famous for its presentation of Rjukan's war history. During World War II, Vemork was the site of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage, when Norwegian saboteurs prevented the Germans from producing nuclear weapons 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.

Government

All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[12] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Geography

Rjukan–Notodden Industrial Heritage Site

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The old ammonia factory at Notodden industrial site
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iv
Reference	1486
Inscription	2015 (39th Session)
Area	4,959.5 ha
Buffer zone	33,967.6 ha

Tinn borders the municipality of Nore og Uvdal (in Buskerud county) to the north; Rollag and Flesberg (also in Buskerud) to the east; Notodden, Hjartdal, and Seljord to the south, and Vinje to the west.

Most of Tinn is quite rural. The town of Rjukan is the largest settlement. It is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, through which the Måna river flows.

Tinn stretches deeply into the Hardangervidda landscape. One landmark in Tinn is the 1,883 metres (6,178 ft) 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. Other areas include the Blefjell mountains, with Bletoppen being the highest mountain in that area and also the Vegglifjell mountains, with Skirveggen being the highest mountain in that area.

There are several large lakes in Tinn, including Tinnsjå and Kalhovdfjorden.

Notable people

Gunnar Sønsteby, 2008

WWII heavy water saboteurs

• Arne Kjelstrup MM (1913 in Rjukan – 1995), a Norwegian resistance member during WWII, role in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage 1942–1943
• Knut Lier-Hansen (1916 in Rjukan – 2008), a Norwegian resistance member during WWII, Army sergeant, role in sinking of SF Hydro as a part of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage
• Jens-Anton Poulsson (1918 in Tinn – 2010), a military officer, a Norwegian resistance member, role in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage 1942–1943
• Claus Helberg (1919 in Rjukan – 2003), a Norwegian resistance member, mountain guide, role in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage

Bernt Ivar Eidsvig, 2010

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 on his famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition
• Einar-Fredrik Ofstad (1916 in Rjukan – 1998), a Norwegian diplomat
• Gunnar Sønsteby 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 (1926 in Rjukan – 2014), a Norwegian admiral and politician
• Reidar Engell Olsen (born 1933), a Norwegian politician and 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 (born 1960 in Rjukan), a psychiatrist, civil servant, and former politician

Linnea Dale, 2009

Gallery

Mountains in the municipality of Tinn, near Rjukan

References

External links

• Media related to Tinn at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of Tinn at Wiktionary
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Telemark travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Museum (in Norwegian)
• Postcard from Tinn
• Postmarks/cancels from Tinn