Helle, Telemark

Historie

Helle is a village in the Kragerø municipality of Telemark, Norway, located on the north shores of Hellefjorden about 7km northeast of the city of Kragerø.For the purpose of the Norwegian census the village is combined with its neighbor village to the west, Vadfoss, and listed as Vadfoss/Helle. As of January 2012, the Vadfoss/Helle area has a population of 1,556 over an area of 1.59km2, giving it a density of 979PD/sqkm. Helle includes the neighborhoods of Nordbø, Sollia, Måneliheia and Skarbo. Lakes in the area include Upper and Lower Strandtjenn, Langtjenn, Bastautjenn, Årømyrtjenna and Svarttjenn.The village is connected to the rest of Norway via road by Fylkesvei 363 and 210, and via bus by Nettbuss Sør Route 459 and Drangedal Bilruter Route 609. The nearest E-road is the E18, which passes though Sannidal to the west.HistoryHelle started out as an industrial community when the Helle Bruk sawmill was built in 1580. The sawmill was in continuous operation until 1930 when it was shut down. The village was also known for its ice harvesting industry, and at one point it had three different companies exporting ice from the area. There was also a chains factory in the Skarbo neighborhood with about 45 employees that was founded in 1909. It was in continuous operation up until 2005 when the company moved operations to an industrial park on the border of Kragerø and Drangedal just north of the E18.