Vestnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal 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 Vikebukt is a village in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Along the eastern side of the mouth of the Tresfjorden, it is located just south of where the fjord meets the Romsdalsfjorden. The village has a population (2013) ...

Vik Vik (Old Norse: vík) means wick or bay in Norwegian and Swedish (''vig'' in Danish), and it may refer to the following: Places Iceland * Vík í Mýrdal, a village in southern Iceland Iran * Vik, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Norway ...

, Vågstranda, Øverås,

Fiksdal Fiksdal or Fiksdalen is a village in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the west side of the Tomrefjorden, about northwest of the village of Tomra. Fiksdal Church is located in this village. Fiks ...

Tomrefjord Tomra or Tomrefjord is a village located in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located just south of the village of Vik at the end of the Tomrefjorden. The village of Fiksdal lies to the northwest. The village h ...

, 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 Vestnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Vestnes is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vestnes. Other villages in the municipality include Vikebuk ...

(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 ...

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 ...

was separated to form its own municipality (see formannskapsdistrikt 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 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 Munici ...

. 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 Rauma is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre is the town of Åndalsnes. Other settlements in Rauma include the villages of Måndalen, Innfjorden, Veb ...

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 The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

'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 ...

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

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

s—the

Tresfjorden Tresfjorden ( en, Tres Fjord) is a fjord in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord branches off of the main Romsdal Fjord, and it is one of the two main fjords that cut into the municipality. The village of Ves ...

and the

Tomrefjorden Tomrefjorden is a fjord in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord branches off of the main Romsdalsfjorden and it is one of the two big fjords that cut into the municipality. The fjord is located about west o ...

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 (

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 residence ...

) 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 Romsdalsfjord or Romsdal Fjord ( no, Romsdalsfjorden) is the ninth-longest fjord in Norway. It is long and located in the Romsdal district of Møre og Romsdal county. It flows through the municipalities of Molde, Ålesund, Vestnes, and Rauma. T ...

. The

and

branch off Romsdal Fjord to the south. Vestnes borders

to the east, as well as

Stordal Municipality Stordal is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It merged with Norddal municipality to establish the new Fjord municipality in 2020. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre of the municipality was the ...

and

Ørskog Municipality Ørskog is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Sjøholt. The other main village was Vaksvika, about south of Sjøholt. The European Route ...

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 co ...

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 the ...

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, 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 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 council ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal ( no, Frostating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. ...

Municipal council

The

() 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 ( Sp) *2007-2015: Øyvind Uren ( Ap) *2003-2007: Knut Magne Flølo ( 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 Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

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'' 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 Eur ...

highway goes through Vestnes on its way from

Sjøholt Sjøholt is a village in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located along the northern shore of the Storfjorden, about east of the village of Skodje. The village of Stordal is located about to the south, ...

. The

European route E136 European route E 136 is a European highway located entirely in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties in Norway. The highway begins in the town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county on the west coast of Norway, and it goes east up through ...

highway goes through Vestnes on its way from

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative cen ...

Dombås is a village or small town in Dovre Municipality in northern Innlandet county, Norway. The village serves as the commercial centre for the upper Gudbrandsdalen valley. It lies at an important junction of roads with the European route E6 highway ...

. The two highways intersect and share part of the route through Vestnes. The new

Tresfjord Bridge The Tresfjord Bridge ( no, Tresfjordbrua) is a box girder bridge in Vestnes Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The bridge crosses the Tresfjorden from Remmem (just south of the village of Vestnes) on the west shore to the villa ...

carries the E136 highway over the

rather than the previous roadway that follows the shoreline all the way around the fjord.

Notable residents

* Peter L. Rypdal (1909 in Tresfjord – 1988) a fiddler and traditional folk music composer * Jakob Rypdal (1926 in Tresfjord – 2015) a Norwegian triple jumper * Terje Rypdal (born 1947) a Norwegian guitarist and composer, lives in Tresfjord * Lodve Solholm (born 1949 in Vestnes) county governor of Møre og Romsdal, 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 Bjørn Rune Gjelsten (born 17 September 1956 in Tomrefjord) is a Norwegian businessman and Offshore powerboat racing World Champion. He was also a joint owner of Wimbledon Football Club and involved in the controversial relocation of the team fr ...

(born 1956 in Tomrefjord) powerboat racer, joint owner of

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. N ...

Kjetil Rekdal Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Eliteserien club Rosenborg. Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Ligu ...

(born 1968 in Vestnes) football manager and a former footballer with 484 club caps and 83 for Norway *

Bernt Hulsker Bernt Nikolai Hulsker (born 9 September 1977) is a retired Norwegian footballer as well as author, comedian, radio host, and betting ambassador. He was born in Den Haag, but grew up in Vestnes, Norway. Media career Hulsker participates in the f ...

(born 1977), a retired footballer with over 250 club caps, grew up in Vestnes

References

External links

* *
Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway
Vestnes official web site
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Møre og Romsdal 1838 establishments in Norway