Historical and old photos of Skien, Vestfold and Telemark

A small historical reference Geography: Skien is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Vestfold og Telemark county. Skien is one of Norway's oldest cities, with an urban history dating back to the Middle Ages, and received privileges as a market town in 1358. From the 15th century, the city was governed by a 12-member council. The modern municipality of Skien was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Gjerpen and Solum were merged into the municipality of Skien on 1 January 1964. The conurbation of Porsgrunn/Skien is reckoned by Statistics Norway to be the seventh largest urban area in Norway, straddling an area of three municipalities: Skien municipality (about 62% of the population), Porsgrunn (30%), and Bamble (8%). This area is home to more than 100,000 people. Skien was historically Norway's most important port town for shipping timber and one of Norway's leading commercial cities with extensive contact with neighbouring countries, particularly Denmark. The city was the birthplace of playwright Henrik Ibsen, and many of his famous dramas are set in places reminiscent of 19th-century Skien. Date of foundation: 1000 History: Population: 54 887 Sights:
Cathedral, park with fountain and Henrik Johan Ibsen statue, between 1900 and 1950	Intersection of streets, cathedral, between 1900 and 1950	Market square and shops, between 1900 and 1960	Panorama of the city, between 1900 and 1950
Panorama of the city and factory, between 1900 and 1960	Panorama of the city street and pharmacy, between 1900 and 1950	Square, cathedral and buses, 1959	Square and Hoyers Hotel, between 1900 and 1925

History

Until 1979, it was thought that Skien was founded in the 14th century. However, the archaeological discovery of a carving of the Skien animal has established that its founding preceded 1000 A.D. The city was then a meeting place for inland farmers and marine traders, and also a centre for trading whetstones from Eidsborg (inland Telemark). Gimsøy Abbey was founded in the 12th century. Skien was given formal commercial town rights by the Norwegian crown in 1358. Timber has historically been the principal export from Skien, and in the sixteenth century the city became the Kingdom's leading port for shipping timber. The oldest remaining building is Gjerpen church (built in approximately 1150).

From the 16th century, the city came to be dominated by a group of families known as patricians. In an 1882 letter to Georg Brandes, Henrik Ibsen mentions the families Paus, Plesner, von der Lippe, Cappelen and Blom as the most prominent patrician families when he grew up there. The current town layout was fixed after the last town fire in 1886. In 1964, the rural municipalities Solum and Gjerpen were merged with Skien town, forming the Skien municipality.

Frogner Manor

Frogner Manor (Frogner Hovedgård) is a manor house on the outskirts of Skien. The manor house was built for shipowner and timber merchant Christopher Hansen Blom (died 1879) and his wife Marie Elisabeth (Cappelen) Blom (died 1834). The main building is influenced by Italian Renaissance architecture. The garden was laid out in English landscape style in the 1850s.

Kapitelberget

The Church on Kapitelberget (Kirken på Kapitelberget) was a medieval church. Kapitelberget was a private chapel on Bratsberg farm dating to the early 1100s. It is not known when the church went out of use, but Bratsberg farm burned down in 1156. in 1576, Peder Claussøn Friis reviewed it as a ruin. The site was first excavated in 1901. In 1928, Gerhard Fischer undertook restoration and preservation. The work was completed in 1933.

Origin: en.wikipedia.org