Congratulations to the city that made me a man! Drammen, the estuary town at the fjord with the same name, is northern Europe’s most important port for cars, the 7th largest municipality of Norway with more than 100.000 inhabitants, and hometown of the famed Strømsgodset football club (also known as SIF or more the more popular “Godset” (=the Mansion), you know the one where Martin Ødegaard started his carreer).
Picture from www.drammenhavn.no
In Wikipedia you can read: “The Norse form of the city’s name was Drafn, and this was originally the name of the inner part of Drammensfjord. The fjord is, however, probably named after the river Dramselva (Norse Drǫfn), and this again is derived from drǫfn f ‘wave‘.[4]“
210 years with city status is not much in the history of the world or other civilizations around the globe. I know. But, I do know that it is a city that has grown and changed with the times. A city that has known how to adapt to changing circumstances.
Being always a port city, at the crossroads for agriculture and industry as well as for transport of all kinds, a long time centered around timber-floating, wood and paper-industries, passing through a period with a bad reputation: “a crossroads on the highway”, some said. Others played with words: “it’s better to have a drink (Dram) every hour, than an hour in Drammen…”
Today it is a very modern city, that has invested a lot in making itself beautiful, with walkways along the riverside, a flourishing cultural life, new architecture… Drammen has become attractive! Drammen is seemingly like a good wine, it has become even better with the years!
I recommend our english-speaking readers to check out Wikipedia for more information!
By Tiontai, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23780883
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