Porsgrunn (town)

is a town and the administrative centre of Porsgrunn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is located at the mouth of the Porsgrunn river where it joins the Frierfjorden. The town of Skien lies immediately to the north of the town of Porsgrunn. The town of Brevik lies about 10 km to the south of Porsgrunn, just north of Heistad. The European route E18 highway passes through the southern part of the town of Porsgrunn.

The town is part of the Porsgrunn/Skien metropolitan area, so Statistics Norway does not track the population of the town separately. The portion of the urban area within Porsgrunn Municipality is 20.99 km2 and it has a population (2022) of 34,291 with a population density of 1634 PD/km2.

History
Porsgrunn has been an important harbor town in the Grenland area since the late 16th century. In 1653, the Customs House was moved further down the Skien river from Skien to Porsgrunn mainly because industrial waste such as sawdust and mud made the river too shallow to allow boats to go any further up the river. Moving the Custom House to Porsgrunn added to the flourishing harbor activity and Porsgrunn became a thriving market town with a ladested status.

In the 18th century, Porsgrunn was the home of some of Norway's most influential families at the time, such as the Aalls, Cappelens, Løvenskiolds, and Deichmans. Also in this period, Porsgrunn was considered the cultural centre of Norway. On the ecclesiastical side, Porsgrunn was separated from the ancient rural parishes of Eidanger, Solum, and Gjerpen in 1764 to become a prestegjeld with its own minister. Churches within the Porsgrunn prestegjeld include Østre Porsgrunn Church and Vestre Porsgrunn Church. The city was granted limited city status as a kjøpstad in 1807, but this was expanded to full city status in 1842.

On 1 January 1838, the seaport of Porsgrunn was established as a municipality (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, there was a major municipal merger where the following areas were merged to form a new Porsgrunn Municipality.
 * the town of Porsgrunn (population: 10,863)
 * the town of Brevik (population: 2,498)
 * all of Eidanger Municipality (population: 13,018)
 * the Bakke area (population: 75) of Hedrum Municipality in Vestfold county
 * the Enigheten, Høyberg, and Skavåsen areas (population: 12) of Brunlanes Municipality in Vestfold county

Porsgrunn was once home to Skomvær, the country's largest sailing ship. In 1985, the sculpture Amphitrite, the wave and the sea birds was unveiled in Porsgrunn. The sculpture, which is one of Jørleif Uthaug's best known works, has a nautical theme in honor of Porsgrunn's maritime history.

Government
From its establishment, the town had some self-governing ability. Under the formannskapsdistrikt law of 1838 it received full local self-government control similar to all other municipalities of Norway. It maintained this authority until 1 January 1964 when the town became part of the larger Porsgrunn Municipality. Prior to 1964, the town was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives Bystyre. The town mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

During its time as a self-governing town, Porsgrunn used a coat of arms that was approved for use on 16 January 1905 until the municipal merger on 1 January 1964. The new Porsgrunn Municipality adopted the same arms that the town had previously used.

Industry
Porsgrunn is an important center of industry and has a long history of heavy industry. Important industries in Porsgrunn include:


 * Norsk Hydro (magnesium)
 * Elkem (silicon)
 * Yara International (nitrogen fertilizers)
 * Porsgrund Porcelænsfabrik (porcelain)
 * Renewable Energy Corporation (solar power products)
 * Isola (building materials, roofing)
 * Norcem
 * Eramet