Ål is a municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The parish of ''Aal'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

). The area of

Hol Hol is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. Administrative history The area of Hol was separated from the municipality Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants moved to Hol municip ...

was separated from the municipality of Aal in 1877 to become a separate municipality.

Geography

80% of Ål municipality is at least above sea level. The highest point is Raudbergnuten at . Reineskarvet, the significant mountain of Ål has a summit of . In the winter, Ål has over of maintained cross country ski trails. Ål borders the municipalities of Ål

, Gol, Hemsedal, Nes, Nore og Uvdal, and Lærdal. The Bergen Line, the rail line between Oslo and Bergen runs through Ål. Ål Station has an elevation of and is the halfway station on the Bergen Line.

Hallingdalselva Hallingdalselva ( en, Hallingdal River) is a river which flows through the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal in Buskerud County, Norway. Within the valley, the river is often referred to as the Great River (''Storåne''). Halling ...

runs in the bottom of the main valley, forming Strandafjorden, a long, narrow lake for several kilometers. Ål has several hydroelectric dams. Hallingdalselva runs partly in a tunnel from here to Nes municipality, where it drives a large turbine power plant.

Mountains

Djupeskardnosi Djupeskardnosi is a mountain in Ål municipality in Buskerud, Norway. It has an altitude of 1,711 meters above sea level and is the 699 highest mountain in Norway with prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous heig ...

General information

Approximately 5,000 inhabitants spread over several smaller villages including Ål, Torpo, Leveld, Vats, Trillhus, Granhagen, Breie and Strand. There is a strong cultural tradition, with folk music being a big part of people's identity. Folkemusikkveka is held every May for a week. The traditional industry of Ål is mostly small-farming. Many livestock farms are still in operation with small herds of sheep, dairy cattle, and goats. Crop growing is difficult because of the steep valley walls, but wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes have all been grown in the past. The award-winning local paper '' Hallingdølen'' has offices in the village of Ål. It comes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Ål has a Videregående school and a Folkehøyskole for deaf students.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was ''Áll''. The name is identical with the word ''áll'' which means " ditch" or "

gully A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...

". In 1921, the spelling of the name was changed from ''"Aal"'' to ''"Ål"''.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. The arms were granted on 30 November 1984 and show three silver diamond shapes in a vertical line on a red background. The designs are taken from an old and common pattern used in hand-woven tapestries in the area. They also symbolize the three churches in the municipality: Ål, Torpo, and Leveld.

Attractions

* Torpo Stave Church (built around 1190–1200) is located in Torpo *

Ål Bygdamuseum Ål Bygdamuseum, a small museum on the farm Leksvol in Ål municipality in Viken county, Norway, is a subsidiary of Hallingdal Museum Hallingdal Museum Nesbyen (formerly Hallingdal Folkemuseum) is an open-air museum at Nesbyen within Nes in Viken ...

is built around the old Leksvol farm, and is typical of the area. The buildings go back to the 17th century. In later years the museum gained additional buildings, ''Øvre tunet'', ''Stølen'', and ''Husmannsplassen'', where a stone cottage has been reconstructed, similar to those used in the mountain ''sæter''. * Hallingdal feriepark, camping with high ropes course and activities * Ål Skisenter, downhill skiing facility

Notable people from Ål

* Hallgrim Berg (born 1945), folk musician and politician * Lars T. Bjella (1922–2013), politician, active in Ål local politics for 25 years *

Stein Torleif Bjella Stein Torleif Bjella (born 7 April 1968) is a Norwegian songwriter, singer and guitarist. Bjella was born in Ål Ål is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken (county), Viken Count ...

(born 1968), songwriter, singer, and guitarist *

Nils Terje Dalseide Nils Terje Dalseide (29 August 1952 – 10 June 2018) was a Norwegian judge and civil servant. He was born in Ål. He served as State Conciliator of Norway The National Mediator of Norway ( no, Riksmekleren, until 2012 ''Riksmeklingsmannen'') i ...

(1952–2018), judge and civil servant *

Kristian Hefte Kristian Hefte (April 28, 1905 – February 24, 1977) was a Norwegian actor. Hefte made his stage debut in 1929 at the Falkberget Theater as Fredrik in the play ''Bør Børson Jr.'' For more than thirty years, he was a driving force at the Tr� ...

(1905–1977), actor *

Trond Helleland Trond Helleland (born 10 July 1962 in Kvam, Hordaland) is a Norway, Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Party. He is currently a representative of Buskerud (Storting constituency), Buskerud in the ''St ...

(born 1962), politician *

Odd Hoftun Odd Hoftun (27 December 1927 – 15 March 2023) was a Norwegian engineer and missionary. Biography Hoftun was born in Ål to power station operator Erik Hoftun and schoolteacher Martha Indergaard. He was educated as electrical engineer from the ...

(born 1927), engineer and missionary to Nepal * Eldbjørg Løwer (born 1943), politician *

Mikkel Ødelien Mikkel Ødelien (5 October 1893 – 11 February 1984) was a Norwegian scientist, educator and soil researcher. He was born in Ål, Buskerud County, Norway. He took the cand.agric. degree in 1918, and published the journal ''Årbok for beitebruk' ...

(1893–1984), scientist, educator and soil researcher *

Einfrid Perstølen Einfrid Perstølen (15 June 1917 – 7 January 2017) was a Norwegian psychiatrist and language proponent. Life She was born in Ål, and was a specialist in child psychiatry. She was an assisting chief physician in Oslo from 1961 to 1972, and the ...

(1917–2017), psychiatrist and Nynorsk language proponent * Ambjørg Sælthun (1922–2012), farmer and politician *

Ole Larsen Skattebøl Ole Larsen Skattebøl (2 March 1844 – 8 June 1929) was a Norwegian judge and politician for the Conservative Party. He was born in Ål. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway in 1877, representing the constituency of Buskeruds Amt, and wa ...

(1844–1929), judge and politician * Embrik Strand (1876–1947),

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and arachnologist *

Olav Thon Olav Thon (born 29 June 1923) is a Norwegian real estate developer and listed in the ''Forbes'' list of billionaires as the 198th richest person in the world with a net worth of $6 billion as of March 2013. He is Norway's richest person a ...

(born 1923), real estate developer and billionaire

Sister cities

The following cities are

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with Ål: * - Sololá, Sololá Department,

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

Official Tourist Website

Folkemusikkveka
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Al Hallingdal Municipalities of Buskerud Municipalities of Viken (county) Villages in Buskerud