Nord-Fron is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

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 ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lille ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality is the town of

Vinstra Vinstra is a town in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. The town is located in the Gudbrandsdalen valley, at the confluence of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river and the Vins ...

. Other population centers in Nord-Fron include the villages of

Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settle ...

and

Skåbu Skåbu is a village in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the river Vinstra (river), Vinstra, about southwest of the town of Vinstra. Skåbu has about 600 inhabitants. Skåbu Church is located in the ...

. The municipality is the 95th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Nord-Fron is the 166th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,628. The municipality's

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 ...

is and its population has decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

of Fron was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838 when the new

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 ...

law went into effect. On 1 January 1851, the municipality was divided in two. The northwest portion became Nord-Fron Municipality (population: 4,685) and the southeast portion became

Sør-Fron Municipality Sør-Fron is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hundorp. Other villages in the municipality include Gålå, Ha ...

(population: 3,421). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1965, the

Sjoa The Sjoa is a river in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through the municipalities of Vågå and Sel and it provides the outlet from lake Gjende at Gjendesheim in the Jotunheimen mountains of Norway's Jotunheim National Park. The r ...

area (population: 413) was transferred from Nord-Fron to the neighboring

Sel Municipality Sel is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of cities ...

. Then, on 1 January 1966, the municipalities of Nord-Fron (population: 5,758) and

Sør-Fron Sør-Fron is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hundorp. Other villages in the municipality include Gålå, Ha ...

(population: 3,648) were merged to form a new Fron Municipality (with similar borders to the old Fron municipality that existed from 1838-1851 minus the Sjoa area which was then part of Sel). This merger was not well-liked among the residents of the new municipality. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed and Nord-Fron (population: 6,131) and

(population: 3,509) were recreated using their old borders from 1965.

Name

The municipality (and the

) of Fron was named after the old ''Fron'' farm ( non, Frón since this was the site of the first Fron Church. The meaning of the name is unknown (maybe "earth" or "land"). The prefix of the name, ''Nord-'' means "north", hence the name of the municipality is "(the) northern (part of) Fron" (since the parish of Fron was divided in 1851 into a "north" and a "south" part).

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 18 July 1980. The arms show a gold-colored Dole Gudbrandsdal horse on a red background. The Fron area has a long-standing tradition in

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and is one of the main centres of horse breeding in Norway. Historically, the old Fron municipality used unofficial arms with a horse on it. After Fron was divided into Nord- and Sør-Fron in 1977, Nord-Fron choose these arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

has four parishes () within the municipality of Nord-Fron. It is part of the

Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar which includes all of Innlandet county (plus two municipalities in Viken (county), Viken county) in Norway. The list is divided into several sections ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

History

The ''Nord-Hoge'' farm in the Sødorp parish of Nord-Fron is the legendary home of

Per Gynt Per Gynt (, ) is a Scandinavian folklore, Norwegian fairy tale which originated in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The story of Per Gynt is set in the Districts of Norway, historic district of Gudbrandsdal in Norwa ...

. Per was made famous by both Peter Asbjørnsen's folk tales and

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's play ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

''. The body of Captain Sinclair is buried in

. The small

Kvam Church Kvam Church ( no, Kvam kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Steinkjer municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kvam, along the lake Snåsavatnet. It is the church for the Kvam parish which is part ...

which was built in 1775, was burned down during the

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was rebuilt after the war.

Geography

Nord-Fron is bordered to the northwest by

Sel Sel is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Otta. The municipality also includes several notable villages including ...

municipality, to the east and south by

municipality, in the south by

Øystre Slidre Øystre Slidre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Heggenes. Other villages in the municipality include Hegge, Rog ...

municipality, and in the southwest by

Vågå Vågå () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo. Other village areas in Vågå include Lalm and Besshei ...

municipality. The municipality stretches from the

Rondane Rondane National Park ( no, Rondane nasjonalpark) is the oldest national park in Norway, having been established on 21 December 1962. The park is located in Innlandet county, in the municipalities of Dovre, Folldal, Sel, Nord-Fron, Sør-Fron, Stor ...

mountains in the north to the

Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...

mountains in the southwest. There are two population main centers in Nord-Fron: the town of

in the central part of the municipality and the village of

in the north. Kvam is located at the northern end of the Peer Gynt Road, which passes through high roads with excellent views of the Jotunheimen,

Dovrefjell Dovrefjell is a mountain range in Central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag. The mountain range is located in Innlandet, Møre og Romsdal, and Trøndelag counties in Norway. As a result of its central loca ...

, and Rondane mountain. Lakes in the region include

Feforvatnet Feforvatnet is a lake in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The lake lies about southwest of the town of Vinstra Vinstra is a town in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre ...

Olstappen Olstappen is a lake in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The southeastern shore of the lake forms the municipal border with Sør-Fron Municipality. The lies about south of the village of Skåbu. The Vinstra river, coming from ...

, Øyangen, and Sandvatnet/Kaldfjorden/Øyvatnet. Mountains in the region include Gravdalsknappen,

Heimdalshøe Heimdalshøe is a mountain on the border of Nord-Fron Municipality and Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is located in the Jotunheimen mountains and in the upper Sikkilsdalen valley. The mountain sits about so ...

Hornflågene Hornflågene is a mountain in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is located in the Rondane mountains within Rondane National Park. The mountain sits about northeast of the town of Vinstra. The mountain is su ...

, Ingulssjøhøi, Saukampen, Sikkilsdalshøa, Styggehøe, and

Smiubelgen Smiubelgen is a mountain range in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the western part of Rondane National Park, separated from the eastern part by the lake Rondvatnet. The Smiubelgen mountains have sharper ridges than the eastern part of ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Nord-Fron, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

representatives, which in turn elects a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The municipality falls under the Vestre Innlandet District Court and the

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal ( no, Eidsivating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Innlandet and eastern Viken. These ...

Municipal council

The

of Nord-Fron is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Nord-Fron (incomplete list): *1977-1983: Tollef Beitrusten ( Ap) *1984-2007: Gunnar Tore Stenseng ( Ap) *2007-2011: Tove Haugli ( Ap) *2011-2015: Olav Røssum ( Sp) *2015–2021:

Rune Støstad Rune Støstad (born 8 January 1972) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. From 2021 he represents Oppland and the Labour Party at the Parlament. Career Born on 8 January 1972, Støstad is a journalist by education from the Volda Uni ...

( Ap) *2021–present: Anne-Marie Olstad ( Ap)

Attractions

Royal residence

The Royal Mountain Chalet, Prinsehytta is located in the

Sikkilsdalen Sikkilsdalen is a valley in Nord-Fron municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The valley is located in the eastern part of the Jotunheimen mountains, about to the southwest of the town of Otta, Norway, Otta. The valley is surrounded by several ...

valley in Nord-Fron. It is used as a

Royal residence A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whic ...

by the Norwegian Royal Family for

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

trips as well as during the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

and

winter holidays ''Winter Holidays'' ( it, Vacanze d'inverno) is a 1959 Italian comedy film directed by Camillo Mastrocinque and Giuliano Carnimeo (collaborating director), based on story by Oreste Biancoli. The music score is by Armando Trovajoli. Cast *Alber ...

Eidefoss petroglyphs

The Rock carvings at Eidefoss are located on the east side of the river south of the white water.

National parks

Rondane National Park Rondane National Park ( no, Rondane nasjonalpark) is the oldest national park in Norway, having been established on 21 December 1962. The park is located in Innlandet county, in the municipalities of Dovre, Folldal, Sel, Nord-Fron, Sør-Fron, Stor ...

, which lies partially in Nord-Fron, was the first Norwegian National Park, established on 21 December 1962. In 2003, Rondane National Park was enlarged and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged. *

Jotunheim National Park Jotunheimen National Park ( no, Jotunheimen nasjonalpark, "Home of the Giants") is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country's premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers and is part of the larger area Jotunhe ...

is not technically in Nord-Fron, but its southern border brushes Nord-Fron's western border.

Sister cities

Nord-Fron has

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

agreements with the following places: * -

Hedemora Hedemora is a town in Dalarna County and the seat of Hedemora Municipality, Sweden, with 7,273 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Hedemora is for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city'', and as such the oldest ...

Dalarna County Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmark ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

* -

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Notable people

* Peder Per Veggum (1768 in Nord-Fron – 1836) a Norwegian artist and rose painter, a cabinet carpenter and woodcarver; associated with the decorative folk art of

Rosemaling Rose-painting, , or is a Scandinavian decorative folk painting that flourished from the 1700s to the mid-19th century, particularly in Norway. In Sweden, rose-painting began to be called , c. 1901, for the region where it had been most popular ...

* Ole Paulssøn Haagenstad (1775 in Fron – 1866) a Norwegian farmer and politician * Jacob Smith Jarmann (1816 in Nord-Fron – 1894) a Norwegian firearms designer, invented the

Jarmann M1884 The Jarmann M1884 is a Norwegian bolt-action repeating rifle designed in 1878 adopted in 1884. The Jarmann's adoption, and subsequent modifications, turned the Norwegian Army from a fighting force armed with single-shot black-powder weapons int ...

rifle * Hallstein Høgåsen (born 1937 in Nord-Fron) a Norwegian

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimen ...

, main field

elementary particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and b ...

Grete Berget Grete Anni Berget (25 March 1954 – 9 November 2017) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She was born in Vinstra, Nord-Fron, Oppland, and worked as a journalist in her early career. Berget was private advisor to the Prime Minister ...

(1954 in Vinstra – 2017) a Norwegian politician and journalist *

Geir Helgemo Geir Helgemo (born 14 February 1970) is a professional bridge player who was born in Norway but is now a citizen of Monaco. Through 2012 he had won three world championships in competition. As of August 2018 he ranked first among Open World Gra ...

(born 1970 in Vinstra) a professional bridge player, Monaco resident *

Øystein Skar Øystein Skar (born 15 October 1985 in Vinstra, Norway) is a Norwegian pianist and composer, known from bands like Cakewalk, Glow, Highasakite and Klang Kollektif. Career Skar was raised in Vinstra, Oppland and started at the local music school ...

(born 1985 in Vinstra) a Norwegian pianist and composer

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 ...

* {{use dmy dates, date=June 2022 Gudbrandsdalen Municipalities of Innlandet 1851 establishments in Norway 1966 disestablishments in Norway 1977 establishments in Norway