Vestnes is a municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county, Norway. Vestnes is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. 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 village of Vestnes. Other villages in the municipality include Vikebukt, Vik, Vågstranda, Øverås, Fiksdal, Tomrefjord, and

Tresfjord Tresfjord is former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1899 until its dissolution in 1964. It encompassed about in the southern part of the present-day Vestnes Municipality. The municipality include ...

. The area is known for nature and outdoor pursuits, and has a long history in ship building and maritime crafts. The village of Vestnes (Helland) dates back to early medieval times, and has 24-hour ferry and water taxi service with the town of

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

to the northeast. The ferry takes about 35-minutes each way. The municipality is the 239th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vestnes is the 142nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 6,936. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 6.1% over the previous 10-year period.

History

The municipality of Vestnes was established in the fall of 1838 when the western district of the large

Veøy Municipality Veøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. It initially consisted of all of the present-day Vestnes Municipality, as well as the southern part of Molde M ...

was separated to form its own municipality (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 ...

law). On 1 January 1899, the southern district of the municipality (population: 1,408) was separated from Vestnes to form the new municipality of Sylte. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Vestnes (population: 3,895) and

, formerly known as ''Sylte'', (population: 1,319) were merged to form a new, larger municipality called Vestnes. On 1 January 2021, the Vågstranda area in the northwestern part of Rauma Municipality was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Vestnes. A Viking barrow burial was uncovered at Villa Farm near Vestnes in 1894. Now in the British Museum's collection in London, the rich grave finds include a pair of oval brooches and other dress accessories, a comb, remnants of a bucket and a box, a bridle-bit, agricultural tools, a bronze bowl, a whalebone plaque, a weaving batten and a whetstone.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Vestnes'' farm ( non, Vestnes), since the first

Vestnes Church Vestnes Church ( no, Vestnes kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Vestnes. It is the church for the Vestnes parish which is part of the Ind ...

was built there. The first element is ''vestr'' which means " west" and the last element is ''nes'' which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

". Before 1889, the name was written ''Vestnæs''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 11 April 1980. The arms have a red background with two triangular gold spikes pointing right. The arms represent the geography of the municipality: a headland between two fjords—the Tresfjorden and the Tomrefjorden.

Museums

The Møre og Romsdal Agricultural Museum (''Landbruksmuseet for Møre og Romsdal'') was established in the municipality at the Gjermundnes Farm in 1979.

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 five parishes () within the municipality of Vestnes. It is part of the

Indre Romsdal prosti Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administra ...

(

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 Møre.

Geography

Vestnes is located in an area of great natural splendour on the southern shores of the vast Romsdal Fjord. The Tresfjorden and Tomrefjorden branch off Romsdal Fjord to the south. Vestnes borders Rauma Municipality to the east, as well as Stordal Municipality and Ørskog Municipality to the south. Across the

Moldefjorden The Moldefjorden is a fjord in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is a long branch off of the main Romsdal Fjord. The fjord begins at the Julsundet strait (in the west) and heads east, past the city of Molde, then it cont ...

to the north is

Midsund Municipality Midsund is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre was the village of Midsund on Otrøya island. Other settlements on the island included Uglvik and Raknes in ...

and Molde Municipality.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Vestnes, 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 services, unemployment 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, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Møre og Romsdal District Court Møre og Romsdal District Court ( no, Møre og Romsdal tingrett) is a district court located in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Volda, Ålesund, Molde, and Kristiansund. T ...

and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Vestnes is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Vestnes (incomplete list): *2015–present:

Geir Inge Lien Geir Inge Lien (born 30 May 1972) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernm ...

( Sp) *2007-2015: Øyvind Uren ( Ap) *2003-2007:

Knut Magne Flølo Knut Magne Flølo (born 18 November 1949) is a Norwegian politician. He was elected deputy representative to the Storting for the period of 2017–2021 for the Progress Party. He replaced Jon Georg Dale Jon Georg Dale (born 16 June 1984) ...

( FrP) *1999-2003: Roald Fiksdal (Ap) *1987-1999: Petter Inge Bergheim (Sp)

Economy

Vestnes is a relatively good agricultural community with emphasis on livestock and

milk production A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

. Vestnes, however, is primarily a manufacturing district. The main industry is the ship-building industry with a number of different companies located in Vestnes. A total of 63% of industry employment (2004) in Vestnes is part of the ship-building industry. Other that shipbuilding, there are several companies in the food, textile and clothing, wood products, furniture, and metal products industries in Vestnes.

Media

The newspaper ''

Vestnesavisa ''Vestnesavisa'' (The Vestnes Gazette) is a local Norwegian newspaper published in Vestnes in Møre og Romsdal county. The newspaper was established in 1987. It is managed by Jon Ragnar Halkjelsvik and edited by Helene Henriksen. ''Vestnesavisa'' ...

'' is published in Vestnes.

Transportation

The

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in Eu ...

highway goes through Vestnes on its way from Sjøholt to

. The European route E136 highway goes through Vestnes on its way from Ålesund to Dombås. The two highways intersect and share part of the route through Vestnes. The new Tresfjord Bridge carries the E136 highway over the Tresfjorden rather than the previous roadway that follows the shoreline all the way around the fjord.

Notable residents

Peter L. Rypdal Peter Larsson Rypdal (10 February 1909 – 9 January 1988) was a Norwegian fiddler and famous traditional folk music composer. Rypdal was born and died at Tresfjord in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. Of the many pieces he composed, two of his wedd ...

(1909 in Tresfjord – 1988) a fiddler and traditional folk music composer *

Jakob Rypdal Jakob Rypdal (19 July 1926 – 6 December 2015) was a Norway, Norwegian triple jumper. He hailed from Tresfjord and represented the small, local sports club Tresfjord IL. He competed at the 1958 European Athletics Championships without reaching t ...

(1926 in Tresfjord – 2015) a Norwegian triple jumper * Terje Rypdal (born 1947) a Norwegian guitarist and composer, lives in Tresfjord *

Lodve Solholm Lodve Solholm (born 14 March 1949 in Vestnes) was the county governor of Møre og Romsdal (from 2009 until retirement in 2018). He used to be a politician representing the Progress Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Møre ...

(born 1949 in Vestnes) county governor of

, 2009 to 2018 * Barry Gjerde (born 1951 in Vestnes) Canadian-Japanese voice actor, works in Japan IMDb Database
retrieved 23 March 2021 * Bjørn Rune Gjelsten (born 1956 in Tomrefjord) powerboat racer, joint owner of Wimbledon F.C. * Kjetil Rekdal (born 1968 in Vestnes) football manager and a former footballer with 484 club caps and 83 for Norway * Bernt Hulsker (born 1977), a retired footballer with over 250 club caps, grew up in Vestnes

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 ...

Vestnes official web site
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Møre og Romsdal 1838 establishments in Norway