So, I have this list with the places I want to visit and things I would like to see.
The list is mostly connected to some important events that happened or people that have lived there. Sometimes even food đ
I found about about Rjukan when I did a before-move-to-Norway research and really got hung up on visiting the town after seeing a 1965 The Heroes of Telemark movie with Kirk Douglas. The movie is based on the real life event from World War II. A bit more about that in my next post.
During this years lockdown there was not much to do, but when the signs of getting back to the old settings slowly started to show (now we know it was a mistake, but whoâs to blame) we rented a car for a one day road trip.
Two and a half hour drive to the west through picturesque spring landscape full of hills, meadows and waterfalls lead us to Rjukan.
The administrative centre of Tinn municipality with less than 4000 inhabitants was once a big industrial centre in Telemark county.
Rjukan was actually established at the beginning of 20th century when Norsk Hydro started saltpetre (fertilizer) production there. The town was chosen because of the Rjukan Falls, a 104-metre waterfall that provided easy means of generating large quantities of electricity.

The man behind the idea to use the Rjukan falls was Sam Eyde, the founder of Hydro.

Between 1907 and 1911 Norsk Hydro built what was at the time the world’s largest hydro-electric power plant at Vemork near Rjukan, and in 1934 hydrogen plant was built next to it. A by-product of hydrogen production via water electrolysis was heavy water, rather important component in nuclear production during WWII.
After 1960, most of the saltpetre production in Rjukan was transferred to Norsk Hydro factories in some other Norwegian towns but some of the industry is still present in the area today.

These days Rjukan is mostly tourist town as the area has good terrain for skiing, hiking and ice climbing.
Maybe the most specific thing about this town is its position between two mountains so between September and March the whole town lies in the shadow and does not get sunlight.

We all know the importance of sunlight during long dark winter days so in 2013, at a cost of 5 million Norwegian kroner, large mirrors were placed on the northern mountainside to reflect the sun that illuminates the town square.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/FhrSA-SMZJI/edit

During the summer the sun mirror operates from 10am to 4pm while in winter on the shortest day of the year the mirror operates only for an hour, but even that hour means a lot when you donât get the Sun at all.
Late in May when we traveled to Rjukan, due to the corona virus lockdown, much of the places were closed or with few visitors, but we have managed to visit the Norwegian industrial workers museum and have lunch at the local restaurant that offers overnight accommodation too.
We were the only ââyoungerââ couple there, as the retirement home must be somewhere in the near. Had some snitzel before heading up for Gaustatoppen. But more on that in the next posts. Enjoy these beautiful photo for now đ
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RJUKAN
ZnaÄi, dakle, ovako ja imam popis mjesta koja bih voljela posjetiti i stvari koje bih htjela vidjeti. Popis je veÄinom usko povezan uz vaĆŸne povijesne dogaÄaje ili ljude. Hranu, ponekad.
Za Rjukan sam doznala prije selidbe u NorveĆĄku dok sam istraĆŸivala raznorazne lokalne dogaÄaje i sliÄno, no za oko mi je posebno zapeo nakon serije Kampen om tungtvannet, filma Heroes of Telemark i ovog Älanka.
Za vrijeme prvogodiĆĄnje izolacije NorveĆĄke od ostatka svijeta, unajmili smo auto i otiĆĄli na jednodnevni izlet.
Dva i pol sata voĆŸnjom u smjeru zapada, kroz pitoreskni proljetni krajolik prepun brda, dolina i vodopada dovela su nas do Rjukana.
Administrativni centar opÄine Tinn s manje od 4000 stanovnika nekoÄ davno bio je glavni industrijski centar pokrajine Telemark. Â Â
Rjukan je zapravo utemeljen poÄetkom 20. stoljeÄa kao industrijski grad kad je Norsk Hydro tvornica u okolici grada pokrenula proizvodnju fertilizatora. Grad Rjukan izabran je zbog ogromnog vodopada koji je omoguÄavao velike koliÄine struje za pokretanje tvorniÄkog pogona.
Äovjek kojem je ideja da upotrijebi velebnu snagu 104 metra visokog vodopada zvao se Sam Eyde, osnivaÄ Hydro.
IzmeÄu 1907 i 1911 u neposrednoj blizini Rjukana Norsk Hydro sagradila je, u ono vrijeme, najveÄu hidroelektranu na svijetu. Nusprodukt hidroprodukcije preko vodene elektrolize bila je teĆĄka voda, vaĆŸan sastojak u proizvodnji nuklearnih elemenata, ĆĄto Äe se vaĆŸnim pokazati par desetljeÄa kasnije, za vrijeme Drugog svjetskog rata.

Nakon 1960 veÄina proizvodnje fertilizatora premjeĆĄtena je na jug NorveĆĄke, no i dan dana u gradu ima neĆĄto industrijskih objekata.

Ovih dana Rjukan je veÄinom (avan)turistiÄko mjesto obzirom na velik broj skijaĆĄkih, planinarskih i ledenopenjaÄkih staza.
DoduĆĄe, moĆŸda, grad svoju popularnost zahvaljuje smjeĆĄtaju u udolinu izmeÄu dvoje velike planine, tako da grad, od rujna do oĆŸujka, uopÄe ne dobiva sunÄevu svjetlost, a svi smo svjesni vaĆŸnosti iste.

Tako da su gradski vijeÄnici 2013 odluÄili iskeĆĄirati 5 milja norveĆĄkih kruna za postavljanje svjetlosnih panela na vrh planine sa zapadne strane grada.
Kompjuterizirana ogledala, kojima se beĆŸiÄno upravlja s gradskog trga, reflektiraju svjetlost na srediĆĄnje mjesto okupljanja stanovnika grada.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/FhrSA-SMZJI/edit
MoĆŸete samo zamisliti oduĆĄevljenje lokalaca kad ih je zimsko sunce prvi put pomazilo nakon postavljanja tri 17 metara visoka ogledala na visini od 742 metra nadmorske visine.
Ogledala reflektiraju oko 80% sunÄeve svjetlosti i mogu zagrijati trg do nekih 3-4 stupnja celzija. NeloĆĄe đ
Za vrijeme ljeta ogledala rade od 10 do 16 sati dok su za vrijeme kratkih zimskih dana u uporabi kratkih sat vremena, no Äak i to puno znaÄi kad ĆŸiviĆĄ pol godine u mrakaÄi.
Mi smo u Rjukan otiĆĄli krajem svibnja, kad ogledala nisu bila od nekog znaÄaja, no bez obzira na to bilo ih je zanimljivo doĆŸivjeti. Zbog izolacije grad je bio gotovo pust, bez turista, s pokojim putnikom namjernikom no uspjeli smo posjetiti Industrijski muzej nakon kojeg smo navratili do lokalnog restorana u Äijem kompleksu se nalaze kuÄice za noÄenje.
Bili smo jedini posjetitelji mlaÄi od pedeset, ako ne i ĆĄezdeset jer se u blizini, valjda, nalazi umirovljeniÄki dom, no svejedno smo se okrijepili ĆĄniclima prije bezuspjeĆĄnog penjanja na Gaustatoppen. No o tome viĆĄe u jednom od narednih postova.