Petronelle Hansdatter Lemmich

Drammen originally consisted of three small seaports: Bragernes (on the northern side of the Drammenselva river) and Strømsø and Tangen (both on the southern side of the river). For trade purposes, small seaports were placed under market towns. Despite their geographical proximity, Bragernes was placed under Christiania and Strømsø under Tønsberg. For this reason, cooperation between the adjacent seaport towns was almost impossible.

In 1662, a merger was proposed to unite Strømsø and Bragernes to form a market town with the name Frederiksstrøm. The proposal was rejected by Frederick III of Denmark. Bragernes received limited market town rights in 1715, and merged with Strømsø to gain status as a single city on 19 June 1811.[8]

2011 was a special year for Drammen as the city celebrated her 200 years with many city jubilee celebrations.[9]

Its unique geographical location made the city a centre for seafaring, shipbuilding, log driving, timber trade, and (since the 19th century) paper and pulp industries. During the 1960s most of the pulp and paper factories along the Drammenselva were closed down.[citation needed]

Large parts of the city were ruined in the great fire of 12–13 July 1866, which led to the reconstruction of the city centre, including the characteristic town square and Bragernes church