Greetings from Nesbyen

As Mayor of the beautiful town of Nesbyen, it is a pleasure to be asked to say a little something about this place and the council of Nes. As Mayor of the beautiful town of Nesbyen, it is a pleasure to be asked to say a little something about this place and the council of Nes. The council of Nes has 3500 inhabitants, of which approximately 2000 live in the town center Nesbyen.Avsnitt2 In English, Nesbyen simply means Cape Town. According to old legends, there lived a king here called King Haddding, who gave his name to the valley we live in, Hallingdal (in old writing Haddingdal).Avsnitt3 The valley of Hallingdal has 20 000 inhabitants, divided between six councils.

The valley is Norways largest tourist area in winter time when it comes to overnight stays , and three of the six councils are among the top ten councils in Norway likewise. The best known resorts are Geilo and Hemsedal, both internationally acknowledged, and several times organizer of World Cup downhill competitions.

Our council, too, has great areas both for cross-country and downhill skiing. Several hundred miles of well prepared cross-country skiing tracks await skiers from December till late April, while our new alpine center (opened in 1991) also has excellent winter conditions in the same period. I am myself a very keen skier, and you will find a picture of me and my dog on pages 2 and 3 in the winter brochure Welcome to a winter wonderland. By the way: our mountain terrain is best described just like that: A winter wonderland !

The mountains are of course also used in summer for hiking trips, fishing trips on horseback and much more. Here you can sit down after a busy day at the office and relax, listening to a roaring silence and really enjoy the nature, the calm and the peace.

And this heaven is situated just a quick car ride from Nesbyen.
Avsnitt 4 The town center of Nesbyen was redeveloped in the summer of 1990, and is acclaimed as one of Norways finest small town centers. Lots of people from other councils, development companies, transport authorities and so on have visited Nesbyen to see what we have managed. Included in the redevelopment was the building of a new market place in the central square, a sculpture park, new vegetation, new roads and so on. In connection to the market place, the council also built a long awaited culture house, opended last year.
Where is Nesbyen ? We are situated in the middle of southern Norway on the Oslo - Bergen route, 110 miles from Oslo and 200 miles from Bergen. We have a very good and stable climate, with four very different seasons. In winter we usually have lots of snow and a temperature of about 20 degrees Fahrenheit. In May Spring arrives and the nature turns green in time four our national day, 17th of May. Those who have visited Norway on that particular day and seen all the flags, the happy children parading through the streets and almost all wearing national costumes all have a memory for lifetime.

Then summer arrives. We have a long, hot and dry summer. In June 1970 a temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in Nesbyen, and to this day this is the highest temperate measured in Norway. As recently as last summer, Nesbyen was the hottest place in Europe for three or four days. So for those who still belive that Norway is covered with ice and snow and that polar bears are the most common animals seen around: It is as far from the truth as can be !!

We have a lovely crisp autumn from the end of September through October, with threes, hillsides and mountain areas clad in a variety of colors and some sigths you just have to see to believe.

Nesbyen is well known in Norway for the warmth in summer, and also as a very professional organizer of sports events. We have a fine sports center with two soccer fields, one of them with track and field areas surrounding it, and a newly built

gym hall. Nesbyen arranged the national track and field championship in 1987 (and will do so for the Youth in 1997), and has also hosted several national soccer games and other big events.

The princial industries of Nesbyen are manufacturing, tourism, trading and agriculture, often in combination with each other. Most of the farms are very small, and a combined job in agriculture and one of the factories, for example, is very common. Many farmers have sheep, who spend the winter in barns and the summer in the mountains.

The largest manufacturing company in Nesbyen is Defa. 150 people are employed in the making of engine heaters , car alarms and spare parts for various other companies,and Defa has grown to a position as Europes largest manufacturer of engine heaters. Another very interesting company situated in Nesbyen is Protan, who have specialized in giant oil and water bags. You can for example fill up a water bag with fresh Norwegian water from a waterfall, and then tow it to wherever you want worldwide. Thanks to a very stable variety of industries, the unemployment rate is usually below 2 percent.

What else is there to mention ? The only meteorite site in Norway is situated here, we have hotels, motels and cabins of all categories, restaurants (also Chinese !), large power stations open to visitors, an old Nesbyen quarter with lots of interesting old architecture ( and its own map!), a folk museum for the whole region with the oldest building dating back to 1250, great fishing opportunities and so on.

As I stated in the beginning, it is a pleasure to be given the opportunity to work as Mayor on a full time basis until 1999 for this marvellous piece of the Earth.

Come visit us some time !!!!

Best regards
Audun Aasheim
Mayor

Nes Kommune

N- 3540 Nesbyen
TLF: (+47) 32 06 83 00

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