– Unless you are here for the popular Blues festival, at the beginning of August, drive straight past industrial Notodden and continue until you arrive at the fabulous and impressive Heddal stave church, writes Lonely Planet about Notodden’s industrial heritage.
The site received a place on the World Heritage List in July 2015.
– Let yourself be excited by how professor Kristian Birkeland and entrepreneur Sam Eyde’s innovations took Norway from a poor farming society to the world’s most modern welfare state, writes Norwegian Industrial Museum on its website.
Professor Birkeland and inventor Sam Eyde invented the Birkeland-Eyde chemical method for producing nitric oxide. The nitric oxide was used to make calcium nitrate. This was used as artificial fertiliser, writes Large Norwegian encyclopedia.
The invention led to the start of the company Norsk Hydro, which was founded in 1905 and took Norway by storm.
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– Drive straight past industrial Notodden
The mayor is not impressed by the quote from the Lonely Planet book.
– So nice, says mayor Gry Fuglestveit and adds that she meant it ironically.
– They have not made the research about Notodden worthwhile, says Fuglestveit to Nettavisen.
The Labor mayor himself emphasizes that there is much more to see in the area than just a festival and a stave church.
The mayor’s recommendations for the Notodden trip
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– It is very unfortunate
At the same time, the mayor believes that the situation shows that the municipality must put more effort into marketing its attractions.
– A lot of this we also have to take on a little bit. We must become better at telling about our unique history. We must learn to sell ourselves, says the mayor.
But a lot of exciting things will happen in the municipality in the autumn.
– We are going to establish Norway’s largest steel tree in art. It must be 10 meters long and compete with the moose. We’re going to get some eye-catching projects.
Media and communications manager Anne Semb agrees that the municipality has more to offer than Lonely Planet reveals.
– We think it is very sad. We find that many people drive through Notodden. Our job is to get people to stop here, says Semb to Nettavisen.
– It is very unfortunate for us and surprising, says the communications manager.
In addition, Semb emphasizes that the municipality has a good location.
– Notodden is also a good starting point for things happening nearby, such as the Gaustadt summit.
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Has not worked for Lonely Planet since 2017
Nettavisen contacted Donna Wheeler, who is listed as the author of the section on Notodden in the 2022 edition, with the following questions:
1. Why have you excluded a place that is on the World Heritage List? What is the reason why you think the place is not worth a visit?
2. Do you want to reconsider, or have you reconsidered for the next edition?
3. The politicians are disappointed and feel that the authors have not done proper research on their municipality. What do you think about it?
Wheeler tells Nettavisen that she has not worked for Lonely Planet since 2017 and has not contributed to the latest edition of the book. The freelancer has not written the section about Notodden, she states.
Wheeler himself is interested in Norway’s industrial heritage and believes it should be a larger part of the coverage.
Nettavisen has tried to contact Lonely Planet without success. The travel book company has no press contacts or head office contact information listed on their website. The company has not responded on social media either.
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