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It sparked great enthusiasm when UNESCO decided on July 5th to include Hydro's birthplace on its exclusive list of World Heritage Sites. Today the official celebration takes place with events in Notodden and in Tinn and with a boat trip across the Tinnsee with the ferry «Storegut», which is also part of the world heritage. Among the guests are the Norwegian Minister of the Environment Tine Sundtoft, the top conservationist in the country Jørn Holme, the mayors of the two municipalities and hydro chief Svein Richard Brandtzæg.

“The honor of being recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site fills us with pride and humility. We build on this legacy in our daily efforts to renew Hydro so that the company can meet the challenges of the present and the future, ”explains Brandtzæg.

"It is a fantastic recognition of the innovative engineering, the determination and the social commitment that distinguished the founders."

The World Heritage Sites of Notodden and Tinn are practically the industrial heritage of the first two decades of the 20th century. During this time, researcher Kristian Birkeland, engineer Sam Eyde and project manager Sigurd Kloumann jointly created Norsk Hydro. Eyde and Kloumann each founded other companies, each of which should play an important role in Norwegian history. They were the engines of the second industrial revolution in Norway, creating economic growth, optimism, jobs and the emergence of new industrial locations. So building Hydro wasn't just the beginning of a spectacular industrial adventure, but also the first vigorous drive of what was to become a whole new industry.

“The work done by the founders was of exceptionally high quality. More than 100 years later, we can still admire her work in its original environment and partly still in operation. This is unique on a global scale and will help put the Telemark region on the world map, ”says Brandtzæg.

Hydro's contribution to the celebrations is the new industriearven no website, which is being published today.

"We want to help make Hydro's industrial heritage and cradle known and accessible to more people," said Hydro's Ole Johan Sagafos. The website was developed in collaboration with the Industrial Workers Museum.

“We do not primarily think of those who are interested in history and already know a lot about it, but of tourists and also families with children who go on an excursion. That is why we have developed what experts call one-page websites. They tell short stories that are easy to read and accessible, even on tablets and mobile phones. ”

He explains that the industriarven.no website should be further developed, that more content, new experiences and the opportunity to delve into the subject of the development of hydro will be added.

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For the time being, the site is only available in Norwegian, but it will later be available in other languages.

This text is machine translated. To view the original German text, click on DE on the top right of this window

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