Helle, Telemark

---

title: "Helle, Telemark" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kragerø", "villages-in-telemark"] description: "Village in Kragerø, Norway" topic_path: "general/kragero" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helle,_Telemark" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in Kragerø, Norway ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Helle
other_name	Vadfoss/Helle
settlement_type	Village
image_skyline	Helle kirke.jpg
image_caption	View of the village church
pushpin_map	Norway Telemark#Norway
pushpin_label_position	top
pushpin_map_caption	Location of the village
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Norway
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	Eastern Norway
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Telemark
subdivision_type3	District
subdivision_name3	Vestmar
subdivision_type4	Municipality
subdivision_name4	Kragerø Municipality
timezone1	CET
utc_offset1	+01:00
timezone1_DST	CEST
utc_offset1_DST	+02:00
area_footnotes
area_total_km2	1.23
population_as_of	2022
population_footnotes
population_total	1516
population_note	Data for "Vadfoss/Helle"
population_density_km2	1228
postal_code_type	Post Code
postal_code	3790 Helle
coordinates
elevation_m	12
elevation_footnotes
::

|official_name = Helle |other_name = Vadfoss/Helle |native_name = |native_name_lang = |nickname = |settlement_type = Village |image_skyline = Helle kirke.jpg |image_caption = View of the village church |pushpin_map = Norway Telemark#Norway |pushpin_label_position = top |pushpin_label = |pushpin_mapsize = |pushpin_map_caption = Location of the village |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Norway |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Eastern Norway |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = Telemark |subdivision_type3 = District |subdivision_name3 = Vestmar |subdivision_type4 = Municipality |subdivision_name4 = Kragerø Municipality |timezone1 = CET |utc_offset1 = +01:00 |timezone1_DST = CEST |utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = 1.23 |population_as_of = 2022 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 1516 |population_note = Data for "Vadfoss/Helle" |population_density_km2 = 1228 |postal_code_type = Post Code |postal_code = 3790 Helle |coordinates = |elevation_m = 12 |elevation_footnotes = }}

Helle is a village in Kragerø Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located on the north shores of Hellefjorden about 7 km northeast of the town of Kragerø. The village of Vadfoss is located immediately west of Helle. The village of Helle includes the neighborhoods of Nordbø, Sollia, Måneliheia, and Skarbo. There are several small lakes in the hills above Helle, including Upper and Lower Strandtjenn, Langtjenn, Bastautjenn, Årømyrtjenna, and Svarttjenn.

The villages of Vadfoss and Helle have grown together in conurbation, so Statistics Norway groups them together as one large urban village called Vadfoss/Helle. The 1.23 km2 village area of Vadfoss/Helle has a population (2022) of 1,516 and a population density of 1228 PD/km2.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Kragerø_Map_1.JPG" caption="A closeup of the Kragerø archipelago. Helle is in the upper right of this map."] ::

The village is connected to the rest of Norway via road by Norwegian county roads 363 and 210, and via bus by Nettbuss Sør Route 459 and Drangedal Bilruter Route 609. The nearest highway is the European route E18, which passes through Kil, about 7 km to the west.

History

Helle started out as an industrial community when the Helle Bruk sawmill was built in 1580. The sawmill was in continuous operation until 1930 when it was shut down. The village was also known for its ice harvesting industry, and at one point it had three different companies exporting ice from the area. There was also a chains factory in the Skarbo neighborhood with about 45 employees that was founded in 1909. It was in continuous operation up until 2005 when the company moved operations to an industrial park on the border of Kragerø and Drangedal just north of the E18 highway.

Today, Helle is largely a residential community, with the exception of a few businesses on Helleveien. In the Sollia neighborhood, there is a small wooden church, Helle Church, which was built in 1994. The church includes a kindergarten, a kitchen, multiple meeting rooms, and a chapel with 200 seats. There was formerly a small post office in the village center, but it closed around the turn of the millennium. In 2008, a large new elementary school, Helleskolen, was built in the Nordbø neighborhood to replace Årø School and Skarbo School. It houses about 200 students and includes sports facilities such as an artificial turf field.

References

References

1. "Helle, Kragerø". [[yr.no]].
2. Statistisk sentralbyrå. (2022-01-01). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality".
3. (1 January 2013). "Route Booklet Grenland & Kragerø 01.01.13". Nettbuss.
4. (9 December 2012). "609 Kragerø-Helle-Tangen". Drangedal Bilruter.
5. "Kalstad and Helle". Visit Kragerø.
6. "Welcome to Kjættingfabriken AS". FRAM Kjættingfabriken AS.
7. "The population of Helle have built a church". The Kragerø Churches.
8. Eckholdt, Per. (25 May 2008). "Construction begins on Helleskolen". Kragerø Blad Vestmar.

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