Porsgrunn

Porsgrunn grew from being a coastal town serving Skien in the 1650s to what it is today. Its existence is due to a favourable position and a good harbour. The district has an archipelago, forest, lakes and farmland areas. The population of the district is 32,000. Osebakken, a part of the town on the east side next to the river, was once the home of affluent ships masters. It is well preserved and well worth strolling around.

The district of Porsgrunn is today part of a larger piece of land, called Grenland. In the early Middle Ages Grenland was inhabited by the so called Grenes, and at that time Porsgrunn became an important loading-up place for timber. But the history of Grenland is much older than that, approximately 4-5000 years. All over the district there are a lot of historical memorials as proofs, i.e. rockcarvings, gravemounds and a prehistoric fortress. The area of Porsgrunn makes the district the smallest one in the county of Telemark. There are two town centres, Brevik in the south and Porsgrunn in the north.

Together with the old countryside of Eidanger it gives a nice change between town and countryside. Famous big industries like Hydro Porsgrunn, Hydro Rafnes, Statoil and Union among others, have contributed to wealth and prosperity, which in turn makes Porsgrunn of today a centre for industrial research and university colleges, eagerly working for among other projects the protection of natural resources.