Hell, Norway

Hell
Village

Road sign on the entrance to Hell
Hell
Hell

Location in Nord-Trøndelag

Coordinates: 63°26′40″N 10°55′21″E / 63.44444°N 10.92250°E / 63.44444; 10.92250Coordinates: 63°26′40″N 10°55′21″E / 63.44444°N 10.92250°E / 63.44444; 10.92250
Country Norway
Region Trøndelag
County Nord-Trøndelag
District Stjørdalen
Municipality Stjørdal
Area[1]
 • Total 1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi)
Elevation[2] 14 m (46 ft)
Population (2013)[1]
 • Total 1,440
 • Density 1,358/km2 (3,520/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+01:00)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+02:00)
Post Code 7517 Hell

Hell is a village in the Lånke area of the municipality of Stjørdal in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the western part of the municipality, about 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of the municipal center of Stjørdalshalsen. The 1.06-square-kilometre (260-acre) village has a population (2013) of 1,440. The population density of the village is 1,358 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,520/sq mi).[1]

Hell is a post town with two post codes: 7517 for delivery route addresses and 7570 for post-office boxes. Hell currently has a grocery store, gas station, a fast food shop and a retirement home. Until late 1995, the European route E6 highway was aligned through Hell and across the Hell bridge to Sandfærhus (nearby Trondheim Airport, Værnes). The new road now goes around the village.

Name

Sign at Hell station

The village of Hell has become a minor tourist attraction because of its name, as visitors often have their photograph taken in front of the station sign. A smaller building on the railway station has been given the sign Gods-expedition, which is the archaic spelling of the word for "cargo handling". (godsekspedisjon would be the spelling in contemporary Norwegian).

The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means "overhang" or "cliff cave". It has a more used homonym in modern Norwegian that means "luck". The Old Norse word Hel is the same as today's English Hell, and as a proper noun, Hel was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian the word for hell is helvete.

Among English-speaking tourists, popular postcards depict the station with a heavy frost on the ground, making a visual joke about "Hell frozen over".[3] Temperatures in Hell can reach −25 °C (−13 °F)[4] during winter.

British punk band The Boys recorded their third album in the village, and as a result named it To Hell with the Boys.[5]

Amenities

Hell railway station is situated at a railway junction where the Nordlandsbanen rail line north to Bodø branches off from the Meråkerbanen between Trondheim and Storlien, Sweden. Hell Station is currently a manned railway station.

The Hell Kjøpesenter mall is located at Sandfærhus north of the Stjørdalselva river, rather than in Hell/Lånke, and thus the name is a misnomer.

A blues festival takes place every year at Hell Station in September,"Blues in Hell".  The original festival (Hell Blues Festival) started in 1992, then changed its name to Hell Music Festival in 2006 to open their doors for music other than blues. The Hell Music Festival in 2007 failed to attract many concert-goers, however, and the festival declared bankruptcy the same year. In 2008 a new festival was started, entitled "Blues in Hell", going back to the original concept.

Since 2011 the circuit in the village has hosted a round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship (and from 2014 the FIA World Rallycross Championship).[6]

Notable people

Mona Grudt, Miss Norway 1990 and Miss Universe 1990, is from a small town near Hell. During the 1990 Miss Universe competition, she listed herself as "The beauty queen from Hell" as a publicity stunt.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 2013). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality.".
  2. ↑ "Hell" (in Norwegian). yr.no. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  3. ↑ Postcard: NO-36827
  4. ↑ Climate statistics for Værnes observation site
  5. ↑ Schnee, Steve. "To Hell with the Boys - The Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "World RX of Norway". FIA World Rallycross Championship. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
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