Røros

Municipality in Trøndelag, Norway

For the mining town in Røros municipality, see Røros (town).

Røros^ⓘ (Norwegian) or Rosse (Southern Sami)^[4] is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen.

Quick Facts Country, County ...

Røros Municipality Røros kommune Rossen tjïelte
Municipality
View of the mining town of Røros
Coat of arms
Trøndelag within Norway
Røros within Trøndelag
Coordinates: 62°34′27″N 11°22′59″E
Country	Norway
County	Trøndelag
District	Gauldal
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1926
• Succeeded by	Røros bergstad, Røros landsogn, Brekken, Glåmos
Re-established	1 Jan 1964
• Preceded by	Røros bergstad, Røros landsogn, Brekken, Glåmos
Administrative centre	Røros
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Isak Veierud Busch (Ap)
Area
• Total	1,956.55 km² (755.43 sq mi)
• Land	1,756.45 km² (678.17 sq mi)
• Water	200.10 km² (77.26 sq mi) 10.2%
• Rank	#39 in Norway
Population (2023)
• Total	5,598
• Rank	#167 in Norway
• Density	3.2/km² (8/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+0.2%
Demonym	Rørosing^[1]
Official language ^[2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-5025^[3]
Website	Official website

The old Røros in front of the church
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Røros Mining Town and the Circumference
Criteria	Cultural: iii, iv, v
Reference	55
Inscription	1980 (4th Session)
Extensions	2010
Area	16,510 ha (64 sq mi)
Buffer zone	481,240 ha (1,858 sq mi)

Data from Statistics Norway

The mining town of Røros (the administrative centre of the municipality) is sometimes called Bergstaden which means "mountain town" due to its historical renown 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 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.^[5]

The 1,957-square-kilometre (756 sq mi) municipality is the 39th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Røros is the 167th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,598. The municipality's population density is 3.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.3/sq mi) and its population has increased by 0.2% over the previous 10-year period.^[6]^[7]

General information

The parish of Røros was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1875, an unpopulated area of the neighbouring municipality of Ålen was transferred to Røros. On 1 January 1926, Røros was split into four municipalities: Røros landsogn (population: 701), Brekken (population: 1,098), Glåmos (population: 983), and the town of Røros (population: 2,284). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the four municipalities of Glåmos (population: 700), Brekken (population: 964), Røros landsogn (population: 482), and the town of Røros (population: 3,063) were all reunited under the name Røros. On 21 April 1989, an unpopulated part of Røros was transferred to the neighbouring Holtålen municipality.^[8] On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish and town) is named after the old Røros farm (Old Norse: Røyðaróss) since this was the site of the mining town of Røros. The first element comes from the local river name Røa (Røyðr) which has an unknown meaning. The last element comes from óss which means "mouth of a river" (the small river Røa runs into the great river Glåma here).^[9]

On 9 September 2022, the national government approved a resolution to add a co-equal, official Sami language name for the municipality: Rosse.^[10] The spelling of the Sami language name changes depending on how it is used. It is called Rosse when it is spelled alone, but it is Rossen tjïelte when using the Sami language equivalent to "Røros municipality".^[4]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 29 October 1992. The blazon is "Gules, a venus symbol over a crossed hammer and chisel Or" (Norwegian: I rødt, en gull kobber (venus-symbol) over korslagt bergjarn og feisel). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a venus symbol over a crossed hammer and chisel. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design symbolizes the copper mining industry in Røros. The venus symbol is the old symbol for copper, which was heavily mined in Røros for centuries. The arms were designed by Sverre Ødegaard. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Churches

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

More information Parish (sokn), Church name ...

**Churches in Røros**
Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Røros	Røros Church	Røros	1784
Røros	Røros Chapel	Røros	1962
Brekken	Brekken Church	Brekken	1878
Glåmos	Glåmos Church	Glåmos	1926
Hitterdalen	Hitterdal Chapel	Hitterdalen	1959

History

Røros municipality has historically been used by the Southern Sami people for reindeer herding. 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.^[14]

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.

In 1685, Røros discovered a considerable amount of associated silver mines. The mining activity lasted for about 40 years, and a total of 1,350 tons of sterling silver was mined. This provided considerable revenue for the Danish-Norwegian treasury to support Frederick IV in building the palace of Solbjerg.

1740 onwards saw a period of greatness for the Røros Copper Works with several mines yielding well. Due to the funding of the Oldenburg royal family, the scale of the Leros silver mine and copper mine expanded. As the mine is close to Trondheim and at a lower latitude, the ore output is much higher than ScandinaviaFalun. The rich income of the mining area also prompted the royal family to repeatedly ask for an expansion of the mining. Dynamite was utilised 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.^[15]

Culture

During winter, a traditional market called "Rørosmartnan" is organised, drawing an average 60,000–70,000 tourists to the town of Røros each year. The market begins on the last Tuesday in February and lasts five days.^[16] 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.^[17]

The town of Røros was the filming location for Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House", directed by Joseph Losey.^[18]

Media

The newspapers Arbeidets Rett and Fjell-Ljom are published in Røros.

Government

Røros Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[19] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Røros is made up of 27 representatives who are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.