Hell, Norway
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Hell is a small village in Stjørdal, Norway with a population of 352. It has become a minor tourist attraction because of its name: people like to take the train there to get photographed in front of the station sign. What was possibly Norway's most popular postcard, at least among English-speaking tourists, showed the station with a heavy frost on the ground—Hell frozen over in fact, though there was no caption to make the point.
Visitors to Hell can also stay at the Hell Hotel.
At the old warehouse in the station Hell Station there is a sign "Gods-expedition", an old spelling of the Norwegian word for cargo handling office ("godsekspedisjon" would be the current spelling). The station itself is a railway junction where Meråkerbanen east to Storlien in Sweden branches off from Nordlandsbanen between Trondheim and Bodø.
The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means "overhang", "cliff cave". The Norwegian word 'hell' can also mean "luck". The Norwegian word for hell is "helvete", and there are several places in Norway with that name as well. "Helvete" is considered a profanity in some parts of Norway.
A yearly blues festival, the Hell Blues Festival, takes place in the area around Hell each year. The festival changed its name to Hell Music Festival in 2006 to open their doors for music other than blues.
[edit] Trivia
Temperatures in Hell can reach -20°C during winter.
Mona Grudt, 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.
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