Leikanger () is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the

Sognefjorden The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...

in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Hermansverk, which also was the administrative center of the old Sogn og Fjordane county. The Leikanger/Hermansverk urban area had 2,144 inhabitants (2019), about 90% of the municipal population. This urban area is often called Systrond, which is why a person from Leikanger is often called ''Systrending''. The municipality is the 342nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Leikanger is the 302nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,331. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 8.1% over the last decade.

General information

Leikanger 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 ...

law). The original municipality was large and it was identical to the old Leikanger parish ''(

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 ...

)'' with the six sub-parishes () of Leikanger,

Fresvik Fresvik is a village in the municipality of Vik in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the Sognefjorden, just west of where the Aurlandsfjorden joins the Sognefjorden. Fresvik sits about south of Leikanger-Hermansver ...

, Rinde, Vangsnes, Tjugum, and Mundal. In 1849, the sub-parishes of Vangsnes, Tjugum, and Mundal were transferred into the newly created

Balestrand Balestrand is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Balestrand. Other villages in th ...

parish ''(prestegjeld)''. The new parish was separated from Leikanger municipality in 1850 to form the new Balestrand Municipality. This split left Leikanger with 2,368 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Hella-Eitorn area (population: 31) was transferred from

back to Leikanger. Also, the Tingstad area (population: 5) was transferred to neighboring

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages i ...

municipality. These changes left Leikanger with 2,680 residents. On 1 January 1992, the sub-parishes of Leikanger lying south of the

, including

Feios Feios is a village in Vik Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern shore of the Sognefjorden, about southeast of the village of Vangsnes and about northwest of the village of Fresvik. The village lies in a ...

and

(total population: 572) were transferred to the municipality of Vik. This move left Leikanger with only one sub-parish: Leikanger. On 1 January 2020, Leikanger was merged with the neighboring municipalities of

and

to form a much larger municipality called Sogndal.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm ''Leikanger'' ( non, Leikvangir), since the first Leikanger Church was built there. The first element is ''leikr'' which means " sports" or "athletics" and the last element is the plural form of ''vangr'' which means "meadow". Prior to 1889, the name was written ''Lekanger''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 5 September 1963. The arms are green with a yellow-colored

apple tree An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

branch with two apples and three leaves attached. The apple tree branch is a symbol for the many orchards in the municipality and thus for the local economy. The three leaves symbolised the three parishes that used to make up the municipality (before two of them were transferred to Vik in 1992).

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 ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Leikanger. It was part of the

Sogn prosti Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

(

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Leikanger, 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

Sogn og Fjordane District Court Sogn og Fjordane District Court ( no, Sogn og Fjordane tingrett) is a district court (Norway), district court located in Vestland county, Norway. This court is based at two different courthouses which are located in Førde (town), Førde and Sognd ...

and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six Court of appeal (Norway), courts of appeal in the Norway, Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen (city), Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the cou ...

Municipal council

The municipal council of Leikanger was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayor

The mayor ''(ordførar)'' of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the municipal council who is elected either by the majority of the council. Jon Håkon Odd of the Labour Party was elected mayor for the 2015–2019 term.

Geography

Leikanger is located on the north side of the

and to the east of the

Fjærlandsfjorden Fjærlandsfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It is a fjord arm that branches off the main Sognefjorden to the north, running through Sogndal Municipality. The long fjord begins at the village of Fjærland in Sogndal, flowing to the so ...

. It is bordered on the north and east by the municipality of

, on the west by

, and on the south (across the Sognefjorden) by Vik.

Buildings and structures

East of Leikanger, there are the

Sognefjord Span The Sognefjord Spans are the second, third, and fourth longest span (architecture), spans in the world situated east of Leikanger, Hermansverk, Norway and are part of different powerlines. As Sognefjord Span is a deep valley the pylons of these span ...

s, three powerline spans with length over , which are currently the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th longest spans in the world. In 1955, the first

was built near Leikanger. It was the longest span in the world from 1955 until 1997.

Sister cities/Twin towns

Leikanger has sister city agreements with the following places: * Ribe, Denmark

Notable people

* Iver Erikssøn Leganger (1629 in Leikanger – 1702) a priest, author and farm owner *

Georg Burchard Jersin Georg Burchard Jersin (20 January 1767 – 5 October 1827) was a Norwegian Lutheran minister who served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly. Georg Burchard Jersin was born at Leikanger in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. H ...

(1767 in Leikanger – 1827) a Lutheran minister, rep. on the

Norwegian Constitutional Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

Olaf Huseby Olaf Huseby (December 12, 1856–October 3, 1942) was a Norwegian-American bookseller and publisher. Biography Olaf Antunson Huseby was born at Leikanger in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. He was the oldest of five siblings. He studied art in ...

(1856 in Leikanger – 1942) a Norwegian-American bookseller and publisher *

Jakob Sverdrup Jakob Sverdrup may refer to: *Jakob Sverdrup (politician) (1845–1899), Norwegian bishop and politician *Jakob Sverdrup (philologist) (1881–1938), Norwegian philologist *Jakob Sverdrup (historian) Jakob Sverdrup (30 November 1919 – 5 December ...

(1881 in Leikanger – 1938) a Norwegian philologist and lexicographer *

Kjell Bondevik Kjell Bondevik (11 March 1901 – 21 December 1983) was a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party. He was born in Leikanger. He graduated with the cand.philol. and mag.art. (PhD equivalent) degrees in 1927. He worked as a tea ...

(1901 in Leikanger – 1983) a Norwegian politician, also wrote history books *

Oddvar Flæte Oddvar Johannes Flæte (born 31 March 1944) is a Norwegian politician and civil servant. He was born in Leikanger and grew up in Årdal, and graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration with a ''siviløkonom'' degr ...

(born 1944 in Leikanger) a politician, County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane 1994-2011 *

Silje Nes Silje Nes (born November 25, 1980 in Leikanger) is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, singer and sound artist. She has released two albums on British label Fat Cat Records. She released her first album, ''Ames Room'', in December 2007. Nes' second ...

(born 1980 in Leikanger) a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, singer and sound artist *

Elise Thorsnes Elise Hove Thorsnes (born 14 August 1988) is a Norwegian Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Vålerenga Fotball Damer, Vålerenga and the Norway women's national football team, Norwegian nat ...

(born 1988 in Leikanger) a Norwegian footballer, played 125 games with the Norway women's national football team

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 Leikanger municipality website

{{authority control Sogndal Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway