Modum

Modum is a municipality in the county of Buskerud, Norway. It is bordered in the north by Krødsherad and Ringerike, in the east by Hole and Lier, in the south by Øvre Eiker, and in the west by Sigdal.

The municipality has three centers or villages, Åmot, Geithus and the municipality administrative center of Vikersund. Åmot is the starting point for the Kunstnerdal. Here is located Blaafarveværket, which includes a cobalt museum, art institutions and a children’s barn yard.

The area has a long tradition of skiing with several famous skiers. Modum is home to one of the largest ski jumping hills in the world, Vikersundbakken. The hill record, established in 2004 is an amazing jump of 219 meters.

1 The name
2 Coat-of-arms
3 Well-known residents
4 External links

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Modum (Norse Móðheimr), since the first church was built here. The first element is móða f 'river' (here Dramselva), the last element is heimr m 'home, homestead, farm'. (The name of the farm was later changed to Buskerud.)

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1985). The wavy silver lines represent the three main rivers in the municipality: Drammenselva, Snarumselva and Simoa - and the colour blue represent Blaafarveværket.

[edit] Well-known residents

Ole Einar Bjørndalen, ski biathlete
Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl, ski jumper
Mauritz Hansen (1774 - 1843), author
Christopher Hornsrud (1859 - 1960), Norwegian Prime Minister from January to February 1928
Thure Erik Lund, author

[edit] External links

Blaafarveværket Cobalt mines
Culture in Modum on the map from Kulturnett.no

This Buskerud location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Municipalities of Buskerud
Drammen \| Flesberg \| Flå \| Gol \| Hemsedal \| Hol \| Hole \| Hurum \| Kongsberg \| Krødsherad \| Lier \| Modum \| Nedre Eiker \| Nes \| Nore og Uvdal \| Ringerike \| Rollag \| Røyken \| Sigdal \| Øvre Eiker \| Ål