Notodden | Wild Telemark

NOTODDEN MUNICIPALITY

Telemark was Norway’s ‘Wild West’, full of mystery, music and fairytales. Notodden is the heart. Gateway to the Wild Telemark.

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The Birthplace – In 1905, the world changed forever when Industrialist Sam Eyde arrived in Notodden and declared he was going to tame the thundering waterfalls.

Dare.

Game Changer – Bill Gates has said that the production of fertiliser here saved more than a billion people. That story began here in the buildings at Hydropark.

Feel.

The Town – The buildings of Notodden could be anywhere, you can create your own world here with the mountains and lake as backdrop.

Imagine.

Hydros' Power – Before Notodden and Rjukan of the Wild Telemark, waterpower had never been used for major industry. Here it began.

Revolt.

Notodden Nature – The settlement later becoming Notodden was located in Upper Telemark, defiantly independent. Nature is never far away.

Experience.

Alternative Realities – decades of innovative and creative work by a town of musicians and entrepreneurs where literally anything can happen.

Create.

Heddal Stave Church – Norway’s oldest Stave Church, art, craftsmanship and culture, the cross roads of the Viking world and Christianity.

Storytell.

Notodden was the birthplace of the Second Industrial Revolution. Here, deep in the heart of Norway’s ‘Wild West’ - Telemark, you will find a small town full of mystery and history.

Buildings to last hundreds of years, classical beauty reflecting vision and grace, the Gateway to the Wild Telemark.

Explore these photos, click on any one of them for more information and specific location. Join us and dare to find your creative spirit here.

Notodden, the Gateway to the Wild Telemark.

THE BIRTHPLACE

The Birthplace

Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft has stated that the fertiliser production developed here saved the lives of a billion and a half people during the population explosion over the past century.

Even a century later, dozens of buildings in Hydropark reflect this power, on the inside and out. Most buildings were constructed during the period 1906 - 1936, well maintained.

You will find that Hydroparken is a world of its own, all part of the UNESCO Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site.

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As with all photos on the Wild Telemark website, you can click on any photo for more information and location.

We are ready for your film projects here by Heddal Lake in Notodden, where things have been possible for a long time.

Create something great in The Wild Telemark.

GAME CHANGER

Game Changer

Imagine a place where you can create your own film universe. Complete sets already in place, just for the taking.

Welcome to the classic location town of Notodden, where you can recreate Eastern Europe in the 1960s, a bustling 1920s thriller, or a future that no one has yet seen. Only you.

Explore the town with us as click on any photo for more information and specific location.

Nothing will limit your creative mind here in Notodden, the Gateway to The Wild Telemark.

THE TOWN

The Town

Hydros governed the ancient waters of the earth, and nowhere was he more powerful than in the depth of Telemark. Once the glaciers receded, the waterfalls, lakes, and rivers came and have ruled for 10,000 years.

This was the perfect spot for Sam Eyde to harness the waterfalls, leading to the creation of hydroelectric power plants, marking a watershed in human history. This marked the dawn of the Second Industrial Revolution.

Journey with us into the land of water here. in in the depths of The Wild Telemark as you click on any photo for more information and specific location.

The water still means everything here, now as then.

HYDROS' POWER

Hydros Power

For four centuries, the Danish kings ruled the land of the north. The Danes owned and ran the great silver mine of Kongsberg just 30 kilometers to the east, but between Kongsberg and Notodden was a land of outlaws, a land where the King's men dare not tread.

This area marks the Gateway to the Wild Telemark. You are now entering a land where the taxman feared to tread, where outlaws and Telemark men of honor lived side by side, then as now.

It is safe to come here these days, but the stories and legends remain, now as then. Come see for yourself as you click on any photo for more information and specific location.

Begin creating your own legend here in The Wild Telemark.

NOTODDEN NATURE

Notodden Nature

Film making and storytelling - creating something out of nothing. Be inspired and let your creative mind wander through Notodden, the Gateway to the Wild Telemark.

The photos of Ian Brodie all through this website encourage us to dream and make-believe, and then take that and create something real and lasting.

Believe. Click on any photo and realize your fantasy.

alternate reality

Alternate Reality

Vikings and religion meet here just outside of Notodden, in Heddal, the traditional base of Vikings and later the strong families of the region that still leave here today.

At the Heddal Stave Church, you will find a collage of masterful architecture, legend and myths, all mixed together with a healthy dose of reality.

This is Norway’s largest stave church, still in use after centuries that have spanned the time of the Vikings, through the crusades, then to the reformation and up to this very day.

Set in Heddal, the valley of lore, here in The Wild Telemark as you take a deep breath and venture into a new world that is nearly one-thousand years old.

HEDDAL STAVE CHURCH

Heddal Stave Church