is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. 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

Vålebru Ringebu or Vålebru is the administrative centre of Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river. The European route E6 highway and the Dovrebanen railw ...

(the village is also known as ''Ringebu''). The municipality is the 85th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Ringebu is the 195th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,385. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 3.9% 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 Ringebu 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). In 1864, the northern part of Ringebu (population: 386) was separated to become the new municipality of Sollia. (In 1890, Sollia switched from Oppland county to Hedmark county.) On 1 January 1899, an unpopulated part of Ringebu (in Oppland county) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Sollia (in Hedmark county).

Name

The municipality (and parish) was named after the old ''Ringebu'' farm ( non, Ringabú or ) since this was the site of the old

Ringebu Stave Church Ringebu Stave Church ( no, Ringebu stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ringebu in the Gudbrandsdalen valley. It is the church for the Ringebu ...

. The first element is probably derived from ' which means "ring" (but in what context is unknown). The last element is ''bú'' which means "rural district".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted in 1992. The arms show three orange flames on a red background. This represents the municipality's three valleys and three parishes: Ringebu, Fåvang, and Venabygd. Fire was chosen to represent the need for heat and light by all people.

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 three parishes () within the municipality of Ringebu. It is part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti (

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 stave church at Ringebu was built around the year 1220 and it is one of fewer than 30 surviving stave churches in Norway and is one of the largest. About north of the church lies the old Hundorp farm which is the legendary home of

Dale-Gudbrand Dale-Gudbrand is a historical Norwegian person that appears in the '' Separate Saga of St. Olaf'' in Snorri Sturluson's ''Heimskringla''. He is said to have lived at the farm in Hundorp in the Gudbrand Valley around the year 1000, and to have ...

. Dale-Gudbrand is mentioned in the '' Heimskringla'' ( en, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

. The account of King Olaf's (A.D. 1015-1021) conversion of Dale-Gudbrand to Christianity is popularly recognized.

Geography

Ringebu is bordered to the west by

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, Harpe ...

municipality, to the southwest by Gausdal municipality, to the southeast by Øyer municipality, and to the east and north by Stor-Elvdal municipality. The administrative center of Ringebu municipality is the village of

which is located at an elevation of above sea level in the valley along the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, but 50% of the area within the municipal borders lies at an elevation greater than above sea level. From Ringebu, two

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

es provide road access into the Østerdal valley to the northeast; one of these is closed during the winter. Because these mountain areas reliably provide good snow conditions, the area is a popular tourist destination. The Kvitfjell ski area in Ringebu was expanded to serve as a downhill venue for the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Ringebu, 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 elects a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Vestre Innlandet District Court Vestre Innlandet District Court ( no, Vestre Innlandet tingrett) is a district court (Norway), district court located in Innlandet county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Gjøvik (town), Gjøvik, Fag ...

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 municipal council of Ringebu is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Ringebu: *1838–1853: Vilhelm Fegth *1854–1871: Nils Iversen Elstad *1872–1873: Nils Johannessen Jevne *1874–1877: John Kristiansen Mæhlum *1878–1881: Ole Chr. Elstad *1882–1883: Nils Iversen Elstad *1884–1893: Ole Chr. Elstad ( H) *1894–1897: Simen Kolstad ( V) *1898-1899: Ole Chr. Elstad ( H) *1899–1910: Simen Kolstad ( AD) *1911–1913: Jon Nordrum ( H) *1914–1925: Simen Kolstad ( AD) *1926–1928: Einar Vestad ( Sp) *1929–1934: Johan Hustveit ( AD) *1935–1937: Einar Vestad ( Sp) *1938–1941: Johan Hustveit ( AD) *1942–1945: Sigurd Mytting ( NS) *1945–1959: Asbjørn Haug ( Ap) *1960–1967: Ole Ringen ( V) *1968–1985: Birger Sæther ( Ap) *1985–1995: Erik S. Winther ( Ap) *1996–2007: Anders A. Fretheim ( Sp) *2007–2011: Arnhild Baukhol ( Ap) *2011–2015: Erik Odlo ( Sp) *2015–present: Arne Fossmo ( Ap)

Sister cities

Ringebu has sister city agreements with the following places: * - Filipstad, Värmland County,

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 ...

Notable people

Frederik Petersen Frederik Kastrud Petersen (9 November 1759 – 22 August 1825) was a Norwegian painter known primarily for his portraits. Biography Petersen was born at Ringebu in Oppland, Norway. His father, Peter Kastrud (1732–1799) was a woodcarver ...

(1759 in Ringebu – 1825) a Norwegian painter of portraits *

Jehans Nordbu Jehans Persson Nordbu (1768–1860), also Johannes Nordboe, was a Norwegian-American immigrant to the United States and an early settler in the state of Texas. Jehans Persson Nordbu was born at Ringebu in Oppland, Norway. He was the son of Peder ...

(1768 in Ringebu — ca.1860) a Norwegian-American immigrant to the USA and an early settler in Texas *

Hans Engen Hans Kristian Engen (22 August 1912 – 6 April 1966) was a Norwegian journalist, diplomat and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Ringebu. During the German occupation of Norway from 1940 to 1945, he was a coordinator of the coopera ...

(1912 in Ringebu – 1966) a Norwegian journalist, diplomat and politician, Norwegian ambassador to the United States from 1963 to 1966 *

Emil Nyeng Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

(born 1991) a Norwegian cross-country skier

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 ...

* * *
Frya Leir Motel
{{use dmy dates, date=June 2022 Municipalities of Innlandet 1838 establishments in Norway