Røros

Røros kommune
Municipality
Sør-Trøndelag within Norway
Røros within Sør-Trøndelag
Coordinates:
Country	Norway
County	Sør-Trøndelag
District	Gauldal
Administrative centre	Røros
Government
• Mayor (2012)	Hans Vintervold (Ap)
Area
• Total	1,956.46 km2 (755.39 sq mi)
• Land	1,757.84 km2 (678.71 sq mi)
• Water	198.62 km2 (76.69 sq mi)
Area rank	32 in Norway
Population (2010)
• Total	5,576
• Rank	174 in Norway
• Density	3.2/km2 (8/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	0.6 %
Demonym(s)	Rørosing
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1640
Official language form	Neutral
Website	www.roros.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Røros Mining Town and the Circumference
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv, v
Reference	55
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1980 (4th Session)

<phonos file="Roeros.ogg">Røros</phonos> (Southern Sami: Plassje) is a town and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Other villages include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen.

The mining town of Røros is sometimes called Bergstaden which means "the mining town" due to its historical notoriety for copper mining. It is one of two towns in Norway that were historically designated "mining towns", along with the "silver-town" of Kongsberg. The modern-day inhabitants of Røros still work and live in the characteristic 17th and 18th century buildings which have led to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. Røros has about 80 wooden houses, most of them standing around courtyards. Many retain their dark pitch-log facades, giving the town a medieval appearance.

The 3.29-square-kilometre (1.27 sq mi) town of Røros has a population (2013) of 3,718. The population density of 1,130 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,900/sq mi). The town is the administrative center of the municipality of Røros. There are also two churches in the town: Røros Church and Røros Chapel.

General information

The parish of Røros was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1875, an unpopulated area of Ålen was transferred to Røros. On 1 January 1926, Røros was split into four municipalities: Røros (town), Røros landsogn, Brekken, and Glåmos. This left the town of Røros with 2,284 residents. On 1 January 1964, however, those four municipalities were merged back together under the name Røros. Prior to the merger, Røros (town) had 3,063 residents. On 21 April 1989, an unpopulated part of Røros was transferred to Holtålen.

Name

The town is named after the old Røros farm ("Røraas" around 1530), since the town was built on its ground. The first element is the river name Røa and the last element is os meaning "mouth of a river" (the small river Røa runs into the great river Glåma here). The meaning of the river name Røa is unknown. There is no available interpretation of the Southern Sami name, Plassje.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times, they were adopted on 29 October 1992. The arms show an old copper symbol above two crossed mining tools in yellow on a red background.

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Røros. It is part of the Deanery (prosti) of Gauldal and the Diocese of Nidaros.

Churches in Røros

Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Year Built	Location of the Church
Røros	Røros kirke	1784	Røros
	Røros kapell	1962	Røros
Brekken	Brekken kirke	1878	Brekken
Glåmos	Glåmos kirke	1926	Glåmos
Hitterdalen	Hitterdal kapell	1959	Hitterdalen

History

Røros municipality has been used by the Southern Sami people for reindeer herding up until today. Known for its copper mines, Røros is one of Norway's two nationally significant mining towns with activity starting in the 17th century (the other one being the "silver-town" Kongsberg, see Kongsberg Silver Mines).

Røros was burned to the ground in 1678 and 1679 by the Swedish Army during the Scanian War. In 1718, during the Great Northern War, the town was once again taken by the Swedish Army, led by General De la Barre, who made up the southern arm of the main Swedish Army under Carl Gustaf Armfeldt. De la Barre took the city and all their mined copper at gunpoint.

When King Carl XII was killed near Fredriksten on 30 November 1718, De la Barre retreated north to join the bulk of the army. However, this ended in tragedy, when over 3,000 rather unprepared soldiers perished in the harsh weather conditions in the mountains northwest of Røros.

Røros and its people were made famous to Norwegians at the turn of the 20th century by semi-fictional author Johan Falkberget, who told the story of the mining community from the perspective of the hard-tested miners at the bottom of the social ladder. With its authentic wooden buildings, Røros was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1980.

Røros Copper Works

In 1644, the general manager of the mine at Kongsberg gave permission to exploit one lode of copper in the mountains near Rauhaammaaren. Storvola and Gamle Storwartz became some of the company’s most important mines. Nordgruve, another important mining area, was situated to the north east of Røros.

Starting in 1740 and onwards was a period of greatness for the Røros Copper Works with several mines yielding well. Dynamite was utilized from 1870 and later drilling machines. The electrical generating station built high-tension power lines to supply the mines starting in 1897. The Bessemer process was introduced at the end of the 1800s. The Rørosbanen railway line was completed in 1877. High prices for both copper and zinc gave good results, but then the prices dropped and there were several years with large losses. After 333 years, mining activity in Røros ceased in 1977.

Culture

During winter, a traditional market called "Rørosmartnan" is organized and that draws an average of 60,000–70,000 tourists each year. The market begins on the last Tuesday in February and lasts five days. There is also an outdoor musical theatre performance played in Røros to commemorate the tragedy when the Swedish soldiers froze to death. This show has been played since 1994.

Geography

Map of Røros municipality

Røros is located on a gently sloping plateau about 630 metres (2,070 ft) above sea level that is forested with mostly birch and some pine, but the tree line is never far away. The largest lake within the municipality is Aursund and the river Glåma has its origin here. The most northerly part of Femund, the third largest lake in Norway, is located in Røros, just west of Femundsmarka National Park. These lakes and others in Røros, such as Bolagen and Flensjøen, are well suited for kayaking and fishing. Other lakes include Feragen, Håsjøen, Rambergsjøen, Korssjøen, Nedre Roasten, Rogen, and Rien.

Climate

Røros has a somewhat continental climate. The mean annual precipitation in Røros is 500 millimetres (20 in), with February–May as the driest period. January's average temperature is −11.2 °C (11.8 °F), however, Røros has recorded the coldest temperatures south of Finnmark with −50.4 °C (−58.7 °F) in early January 1914. In the European cold snap of January 2010 temperatures reached as low as −42 °C (−44 °F). As winters are cold and stable, the skiing conditions are usually excellent, with the period from February to April as the optimum, as the sun is higher and the days longer than earlier in winter. The July 24-hr average is 11.4 °C (52.5 °F) (from 1961–1990); summer days are often pleasantly warm, but the nights can get chilly. A new heat record was recorded July 2008 with 30.7 °C (87.3 °F).

Haugan, an unincorporated settlement situated 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Røros Airport, is the location of a weather station operated by the Norwegian Meteorologist institute. (Norwegian: Meteorologisk institutt).

Climate data for Røros (10 last years)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−5 (23)	−5 (23)	−1 (30)	4 (39)	10 (50)	14 (57)	17 (63)	15 (59)	11 (52)	4 (39)	−1 (30)	−5 (23)	4.8 (40.7)
Average low °C (°F)	−11 (12)	−12 (10)	−10 (14)	−3 (27)	2 (36)	6 (43)	9 (48)	7 (45)	4 (39)	−1 (30)	−6 (21)	−11 (12)	−2.2 (28.1)
Source:

Transportation

The town is served by the railway line Rørosbanen at Røros Station and Røros Airport both have a scheduled service to Oslo. The Rv30 road connects south to Tynset and northwest down the Gaula valley towards Trondheim. There is also the RV705 road going north to Selbu and Stjørdal, and the road Rv31 going east to Sweden.

Photo gallery

• 

  Overview Røros

• 

  Røros in summer

• 

  Finneveta, one of the narrow old streets in Røros

• 

  Fra Røros (Lillegaten), oil painting by Harald Sohlberg from 1902 (titled from Røros (side street))

• 

  Storgaten Røros, painting by Harald Sohlberg from 1903 (titled Røros main street)

• 

  Efter snestorm, Lillegaten Røros, oil painting by Harald Sohlbeg from 1904 (titled After the snowstorm, Røros sidestreet)

• 

  Natt painting by Harald Sohlberg from 1904 (titled Night)

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• History of Røros at Bergstaden.Org (Norwegian)
• World heritage site Røros
• Røros info (Norwegian)
• UNESCO Røros entry
• Visitnorway.com Røros
• Map hiking and DNT cabins
• VR images of Røros
• Haugan, Røros, Norway