Every design for Hønefoss

Hønefoss stands where the Begna and the Randselva rivers meet just below the Hønefossen waterfall, joining to form the Storelva on its way towards the Tyrifjorden. In the fourteenth century the falls were known as Weienfoss, after the great farm Weien; only later, as sawmills rose on the north bank, did the name of the farm Hønen take over. The town gained its status and its own municipality when it broke away from Norderhov, and it ran its own affairs until it became the centre of the new Ringerike.

Veien Kulturminnepark keeps the oldest layers of that story, while Norsk Samferdselshistorisk Senter nods to the town's role as a junction: the Bergen Line, the Randsfjord Line and the Roa–Hønefoss Line all meet at its station. Norske Skog Follum, once one of Europe's largest newsprint producers, kept the town working until the paper mill closed, and Ringerikes Blad has reported on it all.

Stand by the falls in the middle of town and you are looking at the reason for everything here: the water that gave Hønefoss both its name and its two halves.