is a village in

Stor-Elvdal Municipality Stor-Elvdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Koppang. Other villages in the municipality include Atna, Evens ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The village is located along the river

Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

in the

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. It includes the municipalities Rendalen, Alvdal, F ...

valley. The Rørosbanen railway and the

Norwegian National Road 3 Norwegian National Road 3 ( no, Riksvei 3, Rv3) is a Norwegian national road that is the main route through the Østerdalen district in Eastern Norway. It has been dubbed which means 'the green shortcut' by the old Hedmark County Municipality. T ...

both run through the village. The railway stops at

Koppang Station Koppang Station ( no, Koppang stasjon) is a railway station located at Koppang in Stor-Elvdal, Norway on the Røros Line. It is located from Oslo Central Station at above mean sea level. Services are provided by the SJ Norge to Røros and Ham ...

. The village has several schools, shops, and a cultural center as well as a movie theater, library, bookstore, bank, and

Koppang Church Koppang Church ( no, Koppang kirke) is a chapel of the Church of Norway in Stor-Elvdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the town of Koppang. It is an annex chapel for the Stor-Elvdal parish which is part of the Sør-Øst ...

. The newspaper ''

Østerdølen ''Østerdølen'' (the Østerdal Resident) is a local Norwegian newspaper published in Stor-Elvdal in Hedmark county. The newspaper was established in August 1999 and is published once a week in Koppang. It covers events in the municipalities of ...

'' has been published in Koppang since 1999. The settlement has a large modern sawmill that employs many residents. There are many opportunities for fitness trips in the area whether by skiing, riding or on foot. The village has a population (2021) of 1,101 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of .

History

From ancient times, people lived in the valley, but repeated flooding caused them to move higher up along its sides. Barns remain at Koppanjordet which have survived many floods. The Old King's Road ( no, Gamle Kongevei) which went from

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

runs through Koppang. It was used not only by the king and his entourage but also by pilgrims on their way to the

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...

in Trondheim. The name comes from the medieval word ''

kaupang Kaupang was a Norse term for ''market-place'' composed of kaup- (buy) and angr (fjord, harbor), hence "buy fjord" or "buy harbor" (similar to the literal translation of Copenhagen). Today, it is generally used as a name of the first town-like m ...

'' which refers to the site of a market place which had been held here since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. From early on, the settlement had a old

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts a ...

( Stor-Elvdal Church) at Koppanjordet, traces of which still remain. According to legend, the church was destroyed by a flood and the logs washed ashore in the shape of a cross at Kirkemoen. A new stave church was built on the site, dedicated to

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

. The

Røros Line The Røros Line ( no, Rørosbanen) is a railway line which runs through the districts of Hedmarken, Østerdalen and Gauldalen in Innlandet and Trøndelag, Norway. The line branches off from the Dovre Line at Hamar Station and runs a more easterl ...

reached Koppang in 1875, the village being served by

. From 1877 to 1885, the trains on the line had an overnight stop at Koppang, leading to increased commerce and an expansion of the settlement.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=March 2022 Stor-Elvdal Villages in Innlandet Populated places on the Glomma River