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50-596: Kongsberg, formerly spelled Konningsberg ( lit. "King's Mountain"), was developed as a mining city on the basis of the Kongsberg Silver Mines , founded by and named after King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway in 1624. The king invited German engineers and other specialists from Saxony and the Harz region to help build the mining company. As a mining city, Kongsberg had a distinct urban culture that contrasted with its surroundings, strongly influenced by

100-495: A 21-year period and inaugurated in 1761. It has an austere red brick exterior, but a richly decorated baroque interior including unique chandeliers made at Nøstetangen Glass Works in neighbouring Hokksund . Kongsberg Church remains one of the largest in Norway with a seating capacity of 2,400. The church's original baroque-era pipe organ , made by renowned German organ builder Gottfried Heinrich Gloger in 1760–65,

150-508: A major financial crisis as well as accusations of breaching the CoCom rules by selling sensitive technology to the Soviet bloc . As a result, the company was split into several smaller units and partly sold to private investors. Today, the separate firms thrive as one of Norway's main high-tech industrial clusters, centering on the defence and maritime company Kongsberg Gruppen which is listed on

200-410: A population of around 8,000. Hokksund is located 18 km west of Drammen . The river Drammenselva flows through the town, 500m from the centre. Hokksund has developed on both sides of the river. Hokksund is located in a rich agricultural district. Forestry has traditionally been the principal industry, but engineering, especially electrical as well as the cement industry, have become important within

250-581: Is twinned with: Kongsberg Silver Mines Kongsberg Silver works ( Kongsberg Sølvverk ) was a mining operation at Kongsberg in Buskerud county in Norway . The town of Kongsberg is the site of the Norwegian Mining Museum ( Norsk Bergverksmuseum ). Operating from over 80 different sites, Kongsberg silver mines constituted the largest mining field in Norway. It was

300-444: Is a site where Norwegian royal monograms have been carved into the mountainside overlooking Kongsberg to mark royal visits to the city. In June 1704 King Frederik IV visited Kongsberg and started a tradition that is still celebrated. King Frederik also arranged for the monograms of visits from earlier monarchs to be recorded as well. The first monogram on the hillside property belonged to Christian IV who in 1624 founded Kongsberg at

350-480: Is also the site of the Kongsberg School of Mines ( Kongsberg Bergseminar ), an academic institution for mining technology which operated from 1757 to 1814. During peaceful times, the defence industry gradually evolved into many other kinds of high tech activities as well, now dominating the town's employment. In 1987, however, the state-owned Kongsberg Weapons Factory ( Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk ) suffered

400-627: Is approximately 17 km to the west of Drammen . The Vinsvollbanen is a motorcycle speedway venue located at Vinsvoldveien 83, in a remote area ( 59°44′23″N 9°55′24″E  /  59.73972°N 9.92333°E  / 59.73972; 9.92333 ), south of the town. It hosted the final of the Norwegian Individual Speedway Championship in 1988, 1995, 2005 and 2011. 59°47′N 9°59′E  /  59.783°N 9.983°E  / 59.783; 9.983 This Buskerud location article

450-626: Is on the Sørlandet Line . The station is served by local trains (R12) between Kongsberg via Oslo to Eidsvoll operated by Vy . The railway line is part of the Oslo - Bergen , and the Oslo - Kristiansand - Stavanger route. The two nearest international airports are Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and Sandefjord Airport, Torp , but there is a Hokksund Airport, with the ICAO airport code of ENHS. Hokksund

500-471: Is today a museum and the city's main tourist attraction. Kongsberg remains the site of the Royal Norwegian Mint ( Norwegian : Det Norske Myntverket ), which mints Norwegian coins and also produces circulating and collectors' coins for other countries. Kongsberg is also the home of Norway's major defence contractor , Kongsberg Gruppen , founded in 1814. Two of its best-known products were

550-506: The E134 , crossing Kongsberg east to west (and connected to the E18 to Oslo ), and Norwegian national road 40 (Riksvei 40) , going north to south. The Sørland Line stops at Kongsberg Rail Station, with connection to local and regional bus lines. With the population increase during the town's silver mining heyday of the mid-eighteenth century came the need for a new church, which was built over

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600-644: The Kongsberg Colt and the Krag–Jørgensen rifle. Both the University of South-Eastern Norway Kongsberg campus, and Tinius Olsen's school , a combined technical vocational college and secondary school, are located in Kongsberg. Kongsberg was founded by Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV as a mining community in 1624 after the discovery of silver. In its second year, the town of Kongsberg and

650-403: The Kongsberg Silver Mines began. According to official records, silver was first discovered by the shepherds children Helga Verp and Jacob Grosvold in the summer of 1623. However, the existence of deposits of precious metals was known previously, as evidenced by indications of earlier silver mining. With the rise of silver mining, Kongsberg became the largest industrial center in Norway before

700-480: The National Archives of Norway , constructed in 1943 and held 2,000 shelf-metres of documents and books. 59°37′45″N 9°35′28″E  /  59.6291°N 9.5910°E  / 59.6291; 9.5910 Hokksund Hokksund is a town in the municipality of Øvre Eiker in the county of Buskerud , Norway. Hokksund is the administrative centre, and largest town in Øvre Eiker, with

750-483: The Oslo Stock Exchange . On 13 October 2021, a man stabbed multiple people with a bladed weapon , killing five and injuring three. Police subsequently apprehended a suspect whom the Kongsberg police chief later told reporters was a Muslim convert . The coat-of-arms is from modern times and was designed by Hallvard Trætteberg . They were granted on 25 August 1972. They are based upon the old seal for

800-422: The new national law , creating local governments, made Kongsberg a municipality. The rural municipalities of Ytre Sandsvær and Øvre Sandsvær were merged into the municipality of Kongsberg in 1964. Kongsberg gradually lost importance to other cities in the 19th century, particularly to the rapidly growing capital of Christiania (Oslo). The Kongsberg Silver Mines closed in 1958 after operating for 334 years and

850-420: The 17th century. In 1665, the road was extended to Kristiansand and Larvik . By 1683, the mining industry was an important industry of the state. The rapid development of Kongsberg meant that the number of workers in the city had increased significantly by the end of the 17th century. The proportion of Norwegians in the workforce increased, but for a long time, the main staff was dominated by Germans. Kongsberg

900-623: The 1930s and 1940s. The first ski jumping technique, the Konsberger was developed by Jacob Tullin Thams and Sigmund Ruud in Kongsberg, and was the most popular ski jumping technique from the late 1920s to the late 1950s. Their medals and equipment can be seen at the Kongsberg Skiing Museum ( Kongsberg Skimuseum ) which is co-located with the Norwegian Mining Museum ( Norsk Bergverksmuseum ) in central Kongsberg. Inventor of

950-616: The 2,300 metres of the Christian VII Adit. The bottom of the mine is 1,070 metres below the surface, which corresponds to 560 metres below sea level. Since its closure in 1957, the silver mine has been preserved. Some 40,000 visit the museum annually. The tour includes the first man engine in Kongsberg in action. The room now known as the Banquet Hall of the King's Mine was originally intended as an emergency storage space for

1000-759: The Arsenal on Kongsgårdsmoen. It has over 5.200 employees, spread across 60 nationalities and 48 countries and can trace its roots back to 1814. Among the tenants in Kongsberg Technology Park are Kongsberg Gruppen, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace , GKN Aerospace , Siemens Energy , Kongsberg Terotech, TechnipFMC , Data Respons , and Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems . The park also manages properties in Stjørdal , Horten , Sandefjord , Skedsmo , Asker , Bærum , Oslo , Rygge , Kristiansand , Stavanger , Ulsteinvik and Brattvåg . Kongsberg

1050-573: The Far East had prompted a scramble to search for silver to finance trade, but the Gruveåsen mines were then shut in the first half of the 1540s when the price of silver fell sharply due to large amounts of silver flowing from Spanish Latin America. The price of silver eventually recovered in the latter half of the 16th century on increased demand for currency to pay for luxury goods from China, where

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1100-624: The Knappschaft, a guild-like association of miners that provided including free medical assistance, a pension plan, worker sick leave and a Saturday break. The ring agriculture characteristic of Kongsberg may also have been inspired by the German pattern. The proceeds from silver mining provided a valuable assistance to the tight finances of Denmark. Denmark–Norway relied heavily on the silver of Kongsberg to support an ongoing war against Sweden. Precious metals also became more and more important in

1150-721: The Kongsberg Idrettsparken and it held the final of the Norwegian Individual Speedway Championship in 1969. More recently speedway practices have sporadically been run on an oval track (known as Basserudåsen Speedway) constructed by the NMK Kongsberg, adjacent to the Kongsberg Motorsenter Gokart. This site also held the final of the Norwegian Championships in 1997, 1998 and 2003. This attraction ( Kronene i Håvet )

1200-538: The Portuguese built Macau in 1555, and the Far East. So, when admiral Ove Gjedde returned from a long journey 1618-1622 from Ceylon and India where he had established a trading outpost at Trankebar, now Tharangambadi , on the Coromandel Coast of south-eastern India, as part of Christian IV 's plans to build a Danish East India Company , Gjedde was sent to Norway to develop the mining industry. And it

1250-547: The city from 1689 which shows the Roman god Janus dressed as an emperor (to represent the king); the sword and the pair of scales represents justice . The colour green represents the forests, silver represents the mountains, and gold represents wealth. Kongsberg is located at the mouth of the valley Numedal ; farther to the South the valley is called Lågendalen . The neighbouring municipalities of Kongsberg are Flesberg to

1300-444: The cross-country skiing parts of the 2006 Nordic skiing National Championships. The arranging sports club was IL Skrim, the ski tracks being located at Heistadmoen , a former military camp. The local basketball team Kongsberg Miners is regarded one of the best teams in the country. The 1978 World Orienteering Championships were held in Kongsberg. Motorcycle speedway has been prominent in Kongsberg. The first track existed at

1350-632: The currency, and to get closer to its source of raw materials, the Royal Mint moved in 1686 from Akershus to Kongsberg. During the Great Northern War in 1716, the city became the main target of Karl XII 's foray into Norderhof. Kongsberg was particularly known for its Kongsberg Silver Mines and their high purity. Kongsberg's ore also contained a certain amount of gold and large amounts of copper , cobalt , lead - zinc and fluorite . Roughly 15,750 tonnes (34,720,000 lb) of silver

1400-522: The educated social elite of Kongsberg in contrast to the Norwegian farming population; the first Nobel laureate in economics Ragnar Frisch belonged to such a Kongsberg mining family. By the 18th century Kongsberg was Norway's second largest city, second only to Bergen . Kongsberg was one of Norway's two privileged mining cities and thus formed a special mining jurisdiction ( Bergstad ), and only became part of Buskerud county in 1760. On 1 January 1838,

1450-569: The industrial revolution. At the peak of silver mining in the early eighteenth century, Kongsberg's silver mines and related industries contributed 10% of the Denmark–Norway gross national product . To develop the Kongsberg Silver Mines , Christian IV hired Germans from the silver mines of Saxony and Harz and brought in Germans from other mines in Norway . The Germans brought their knowledge of mining technology, especially important during

1500-468: The largest pre-industrial working place in Norway , with over 4,000 workers at its peak in the 1770s and supplied over 10% of the gross national product of the Danish–Norwegian union during its 335-year-long history: over 450,000 man-years were expended in the production. The silver mines in Kongsberg were in operation from 1623 until 1958. Total production exceeded 1,3 million kg silver. Silver

1550-466: The local industry, prominent world acts such as B. B. King , Diana Krall , Ornette Coleman , Joshua Redman and John Scofield have played at the festival in recent years. The town is known for many great ski jumpers . Birger Ruud and his two brothers, as well as many other townsmen, such as Petter Hugsted , won numerous medals in Winter Olympics and other international championships in

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1600-638: The modern ski binding , Norwegian-American skier and Olympic skiing coach Hjalmar Hvam , was born in Kongsberg in 1902. Recent winter sports athletes of the Kongsberg region include Olympic snowboarders Stine Brun Kjeldaas , Silje Norendal and Halvor Lunn ; cross-country ski sprinter Børre Næss of the village Efteløt ; and ski jumper Sigurd Pettersen of nearby municipality Rollag (60 km/37 mi north of Kongsberg). A large ski centre for alpine skiing and snowboarding , with several lifts and ca 320 m of height difference has been in operation and gradually expanding since 1965. Kongsberg hosted

1650-621: The north; Øvre Eiker and Hof to the east; Lardal , Siljan , and Skien to the south; and Sauherad and Notodden to the west. Of these, the two first lie in Buskerud county like Kongsberg, while Hof and Lardal lie in Vestfold , and the others lie in Telemark . The town is divided by the river Numedalslågen , which has three waterfalls in the town itself. Kongsberg has a humid continental climate (Dfb), with late summer and autumn as

1700-581: The past century. There are three hotels in Hokksund and a campsite there, which holds up to 240 caravans. The Hoen Hoard was found on the farm Nedre Hoen in 1834. It is Norway's largest find of gold jewellery from the Viking Age with a total of approx. 2.5 kg of gold and some silver jewellery. The treasure is on display in the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo . Hokksund Station ( Hokksund stasjon )

1750-542: The population had declined to 3,540. Kongsberg is home to the Royal Norwegian Mint ( Norwegian : Det Norske Myntverket ), which mints Norwegian coins and also produces circulating and collectors' coins for other countries such as Israel. It was established in 1686, and was renamed from the Royal Norwegian Mint ( Norwegian : Den Kongelige Mynt ) in 2004 after having been sold to private investors (the Mint of Finland and Norwegian company Samlerhuset ) in 2003. Kongsberg

1800-405: The production. The 1750s, 1760s and 1770s were the heyday of the silverworks. Significant new ore discoveries were made, especially in the 1830s and 1860s. The particularly rich King's mine was operated to a depth of over 1,000 meters. The plant extracted silver right up until the closure in 1957. At Norwegian Mining Museum in Kongsberg, visitors can board the mining train which takes them through

1850-474: The site of the newly discovered silver deposits. His visit was followed by that of Frederik III (1648) and Christian V (1685). Christian VI and his Queen Sofie Magdalene (1733), Frederik V (1749), Oscar I (1845), Oscar II (1890), Haakon VII (1908), Olav V (1962) and most recently Harald V (1995). Kongsberg Technology Park is a part of Kongsberg that is located in Kirkegårdsveien 45 and

1900-449: The start-up phase. Before 1623, the city was located in the royal territory of Sandsvær . Four years after the establishment of the Kongsberg Silver Mines , most of the 1,500 workers and officials were still German. Gradually, Norwegians entered the workforce and were hired as supervisors. In 1636, 1,370 Germans and 1,600 Norwegians were employed there. In 1648, there were 1,500 Germans and 2,400 Norwegians working in Kongsberg. Gunpowder

1950-471: The town of Skien in Telemark county to sell it. In Skien he was arrested, the police finding it suspicious that someone would attempt to sell silver at such a low price. Being convinced that he was a thief, he was given the choice between telling where he had found the silver, or being sentenced to hard labour. He chose to tell the authorities he had found the silver in Southern Sandsvær , which

2000-470: The traditions of mining communities in Germany and where the German language was extensively used in mining business and for religious services. In the first years nearly half of the city's population were German immigrants, and the majority of the engineers and executives were German immigrants and their descendants well into the 19th century, becoming a distinct social class called mining families that formed

2050-501: The wettest season and February – April as the driest season. Kongsberg has warm summers by Norwegian standards; average daily highs in summer are comparable to Oslo. In winter Kongsberg is colder than Oslo, and snow cover on the ground is common. The largest snow depth recorded is 123 cm on 3 March 2006.The all-time high temperature 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) was recorded 19 June 1970, while 10 August 1975 recorded 34.5 °C (94.1 °F). The all-time low −32.5 °C (−26.5 °F)

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2100-431: Was Gjedde who re-started silver mining in the area proper in 1623, which in the following year, when King Christian IV came to Norway to visit and also founded the town of Kongsberg , by royal charter were formally established as Kongsberg Sølvverk. The King's Mine ( Kongens gruve ) was the largest mine at Kongsberg. The operation of the plant reached its peak in the 1770s when over 4,000 people were directly involved in

2150-456: Was almost an outpost of Germany in Norway: the mine had a German name, and the official language was German, only later becoming bilingual (German and Danish ). In Kongsberg, the German mountain justice system was also used. Legally, this means that the city was bound by independent regulations, partially separating the mining community from the country's legal system. The Germans brought with them

2200-453: Was extracted between the discovery of the silver ore seams in 1623 and the last year of mining in 1957. The workforce at the Kongsberg silver mine began to increase substantially at the end of the 17th century. In the 1769 census , the mines employed about 4,000 workers. With 8,000 inhabitants in all, the town was the second largest in Norway, after Bergen (and thus larger than today's capital, Oslo ). In Norway's 1749 census , Kongsberg

2250-474: Was first discovered between the 1 July and 5 July 1623, according to the somewhat romanticized story, which tells of two small children - Helga and Jacob - who were out shepherding their cattle at the top of Gruveåsen hill. They had an ox with them which scraped on the side of the mountain. They could see something shining and glimmering, and they picked it up and took it home to their father. Recognizing it as silver and quite valuable, he melted it and brought it to

2300-620: Was fully restored by Jürgen Ahrend in 1999–2000 and reopened to great fanfare in January 2001. With its 42 voices, it is the largest baroque organ in Scandinavia . At the end of January each year, the Gloger Music Festival now draws a select crowd of artists and music lovers from all over the world. Since 1964, Kongsberg has hosted Kongsberg Jazzfestival , an annual international jazz festival. Heavily sponsored by

2350-429: Was officially introduced in mining in 1681. Mining in the particularly hard rock of Kongsberg Mountain was energy intensive, so the silver mine continued to develop new technology to reduce production costs. A large artificial dam powered the mine's hoists before electricity was introduced. In 1624, a road from Hokksund to Kongsberg was built to serve the Kongsberg Silver Mines , the most important road built in Norway in

2400-406: Was recorded 3 January 1941. As pr January 2022, all monthly record lows are old, 11 from before 1950. All record highs are from after 1950, 5 of 12 from after 2000 (pr January 2022). Kongsberg has recorded 30 °C (86 °F) as early as 14 May (in 2000). The weather station Kongsberg brannstasjon has recorded since 2003, extremes includes data from Kongsberg II, III and IV. The main highways are

2450-482: Was the most populous town in Eastern Norway . It was granted its royal charter of trade—amounting to official township —in 1802. Following several hard years with reduced silver output from the mines, the war of 1807–1814, and a severe town fire in 1810 where 56 houses on the west side were destroyed, mining was complemented by the government establishing a defense industry in 1814. By 1835,

2500-478: Was the old name for Kongsberg. But silver mining in Gruveåsen had been established well before then, and was referred to as the Argenti Fodinæ (Latin for "The Silver Mines") in a source from 1532, Jacob Ziegler 's book about Scandinavia. In 1539, a silver mining venture proper had been started by Christian III 's with imported expert German miners. At the time, the newly discovered sea route to India and

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