Brevik () is a town in Porsgrunn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is located where the Eidangerfjorden and Frierfjorden join together to form the Breviksfjorden. Brevik is regarded as one of the best preserved towns from the sailing ship era. The town is located on the far end of the peninsula, and was a former export centre for ice and timber. The last shipment of wood to the United Kingdom was around 1960.
Brevik is located about to the south of the town of Porsgrunn in a very large urban area. Brevik has an estimated population of 2,100 in the year 2020. It is considered part of the Porsgrunn/Skien metropolitan area by Statistics Norway, so Brevik's population is not tracked separately.
Brevik has significant industry, including cement production (Norcem, formerly Dalen Portland Cementfabrik, which is Norway's largest cement factory), workshop industry, food industry (among others Diplom-ice), and mining (Kjørholt limestone mine, which is Norway's largest mine). The town is located on the mainland and also on the small island of Sylterøya. There is a bridge over the strait between Sylterøya and the mainland. The town hall, which is an old farm estate, and Brevik Church are located on Sylterøya. Brevik has narrow and crooked streets with interesting, irregular buildings.
Name The town is named after the old Brevik farm (). The first element is which means "broad". The last element is which means "inlet" or "bay". Historically, the name was spelled Brevig, using the old Danish spelling.
Government
In Norway, municipalities are the unit of local government. This means that cities and towns are simply designations for urban areas, but under current Norwegian law, they have no actual government authority. The town of Brevik lies within Porsgrunn Municipality and is therefore governed by the municipal council of Porsgrunn Municipality.
History
Important milestones Some of the important milestones in the development of the growing town include the establishment of:
a post office in 1689 a new town hall was built in 1761 by Jørgen Christie a pharmacy in 1846 the Brevikbanen railway line in 1895, part of the larger Vestfoldbanen railway line
Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 14 May 1954 and it was in use until 1 January 1964 when the town became part of Porsgrunn Municipality. The official blazon is "Azure, three bars argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of three horizontal bars spaced equally across the arms. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea. The three bars were chosen to represent floating logs and the importance of the timber industry in the town. The arms were designed by Paulus Holm. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Administrative history The growing village and harbour of Brevig (later spelled Brevik) was historically part of the old Eidanger prestegjeld. The village was established as a ladested ("seaport/lading place") in 1680 and it was then separated from the Eidanger prestegjeld due to its new status as a ladested. The formannskapsdistrikt law of 1837 created a system of local government in Norway by establishing each town or city (ladested or kjøpstad) and each Church of Norway prestegjeld as a civil municipality. On 1 January 1838, the ladested of Breivig was established as Brevig Municipality (later spelled Brevik). In 1845, the seaport was granted kjøpstad status ("town status").
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Brevik Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form an enlarged Porsgrunn Municipality:
all of Brevik Municipality (population: ) all of Porsgrunn Municipality (population: ) all of Eidanger Municipality (population: ) the Bakke area (population: ) of Hedrum Municipality in Vestfold county the Enigheten, Høyberg, and Skavåsen areas (population: ) of Brunlanes Municipality in Vestfold county
Municipal self-government (1838-1964) Brevik existed as a self-governing municipality from 1838 until 1964. While it existed, Brevik Municipality was 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 was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Bamble District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Mayors The mayor () of Brevik Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
1838–1839: Hans Morten Thrane Esmark 1840–1840: Simon Karenius Høegh 1841–1841: Hans Morten Thrane Esmark 1842–1844: Jacob Conrad Christoffer Parnemann 1845–1845: Hans Morten Thrane Esmark 1846–1846: Thomas Johannes Wiborg 1846–1847: Johan Peder Basberg 1848–1848: Anders Christian Evensen 1849–1849: Jacob Conrad Christoffer Parnemann 1850–1852: Henrik Carsten Albretsen 1853–1856: Anders Christian Evensen 1857–1857: Mads Olsen Helland 1858–1858: Thomas Johannes Wiborg 1859–1859: Immanuel Møller 1860–1860: Thomas Severin Heiberg Hoffmann 1861–1861: Henrik Carsten Albretsen 1862–1862: Nicolai Wilhelm Coch 1863–1863: Johan Christian Tandberg Castberg 1864–1864: Peter Carl William Blichfeldt 1864–1864: Axel Thrane Esmark 1865–1865: Anders Christian Evensen 1866–1866: Axel Thrane Esmark 1867–1869: Peter Carl William Blichfeldt 1870–1870: Mads Olsen Helland 1871–1871: Anders Christian Evensen 1872–1872: Mads Olsen Helland 1873–1873: Axel Thrane Esmark 1874–1875: Tollef Sohlberg 1876–1876: Nicolai Wilhelm Coch 1877–1877: Tollef Sohlberg 1878–1879: S.C. Larsen 1880–1881: Emil Constans Eugene Münster 1882–1882: Tollef Sohlberg 1883–1887: S.C. Larsen 1888–1888: Tollef Sohlberg 1889–1889: S.C. Larsen 1890–1890: Mathias Edward Schilbred 1890–1890: H.M. Albretsen 1891–1892: S.C. Larsen 1893–1895: Tollef Sohlberg 1896–1898: Oluf M. Coch 1899–1900: H.M. Albretsen 1901–1901: Jørgen Theodor Eriksen 1902–1904: Tollef Sohlberg 1905–1907: Jørgen Theodor Eriksen 1908–1909: H.M. Albretsen 1910–1910: Ingebret Jensen 1911–1913: Tønnes Birkeland 1914–1915: Marthinius Eriksen 1916–1917: Otto Ruberg 1918–1919: Hans Jakob Johnsen 1920–1920: Ola Jacobsen 1921–1922: Hans Hansen 1923–1925: Thor Ketilsson 1926–1926: Marthinius Eriksen 1927–1927: Thor Ketilsson 1928–1928: Marthinius Eriksen 1929–1931: Eilert Rinde 1932–1932: Olav Skjellaug 1933–1933: Eilert Rinde 1934–1934: Olav Skjellaug 1935–1935: Ludvig Holst Hansen 1936–1936: Johan Lundsholt 1937–1937: Ludvig Holst Hansen 1938–1938: Olav Skjellaug 1939–1940: Johan Lundsholt 1941–1941: Peder Holtan 1942–1942: Ottar Huuse 1943–1945: August Zachariassen 1945–1945: Odd Humblen 1945–1946: Johan Lundsholt 1946–1947: Thor Ketilsson 1948–1948: Mathias Edward Schilbred Midelfart 1949–1949: Hans E. Hansen 1950–1950: Mathias Edward Schilbred Midelfart 1951–1951: Hans E. Hansen 1952–1959: Knut Gjønnes 1960–1963: Mathias Edward Schilbred Midelfart
Municipal council The municipal council of Brevik was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Notable people Erik Hesselberg, a crewmember of the Kon-Tiki expedition Cort Adeler, a Norwegian seaman who was born in Brevik
See also List of towns and cities in Norway
References
External links Map of the town of Brevik in 1900 Brevik's Norwegian homepage Brevik sailing-club Norcem