Alvdal is a

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

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. Østerdalen is often subdivide ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality is the village of Alvdal. Other villages include Barkald, Plassmoen, and

Strømmen Strømmen is a town in Lillestrøm municipality, Akershus county, Norway. It is about twenty kilometers east of Oslo, and considered part of Greater Oslo. It has around 11,400 residents. The town has its origins from floating lumber and sawmills ...

. The municipality is located to the south of

Tynset Municipality Tynset is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tynset (town), ...

, north and west of

Rendalen Municipality Rendalen is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bergset. Other villages in the municipality include Hanestad, Otne ...

, north of

Stor-Elvdal Municipality Stor-Elvdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village o ...

, and east of

Folldal Municipality Folldal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Folldal. The municipality was established in 1914 when it was separ ...

. The Rørosbane

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and the

Norwegian National Road 3 Norwegian National Road 3 (, Rv3) is a Norwegian national road that is the main route through the Østerdalen district in Eastern Norway. It has been dubbed which means 'the green shortcut' by the old Hedmark County Municipality. The route ru ...

both pass through Alvdal. The municipality is the 124th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Alvdal Municipality is the 254th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,509. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

is and its population has increased by 3.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

In 1864, the parish of ''Lille-Elvdalen'' (later renamed "Alvdal") was separated from the large

to become the new Lille-Elvdalen Municipality. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 3,216. On 1 January 1914, the western part of Alvdal Municipality (population: 2,284) was separated to become the new

. This left Alvdal Municipality with 2,135 residents. Historically, the municipality was part of

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed

county (after

and

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

counties were merged).

Name

The area was historically known as Elvdalen or Øvre Elvdalen (). The first element is meaning "upper", the next part is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of which means "

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

", and the last element is which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

" or "dale". Thus the name means "(upper) river

", referring to the upper part of the

Glåma The Glomma or Glåma is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the river r ...

river valley. When the municipality was established in 1864, it was named ''Lille-Elvdalen Municipality'', which meant "Little" Elvdalen in order to distinguish it from the nearby Store Elvedalen Municipality ("the large Elvedalen"). On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Alvdal'', to better represent the local pronunciation of the name.

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 25 November 1988. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''" Azure, two skis in bend issuant from base sinister"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a set of two diagonal

ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

s. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design symbolizes the history and importance of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

in the area. One of the oldest pairs of skis discovered by archeologists in Norway was found in Alvdal. The skis were dated to about 500 AD. The arms were designed by Helge Ness from Alvdal. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has one parish () within Alvdal Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Østerdal prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 of ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () 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 Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

Geography

Alvdal is bordered by

to the north,

to the east and south,

to the south, and

to the west. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Storsølnkletten. Another notable mountain in the municipality is Tronfjell. The lake Savalen is partially located in Alvdal. The rivers Sivilla and

both flow through the municipality. The Jutulhogget canyon is located in this municipality as well.

Economy

Agriculture and forestry are the most important industries in Alvdal Municipality. The municipality rented public land to a

bitcoin mining The bitcoin protocol is the set of rules that govern the functioning of bitcoin. Its key components and principles are: a peer-to-peer decentralized network with no central oversight; the blockchain technology, a public ledger that records all ...

operation. In 2022, the municipality decided not to continue renting land to this company since no jobs were created from that enterprise, although one local company did some service work on occasion at the site. In 2023, the municipality was sued for by the operator of the former bitcoin mining facility (on municipal property).

Government

Alvdal Municipality is responsible for

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

(through 10th grade), outpatient

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

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

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. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

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

economic development In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. 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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Østre Innlandet District Court and the

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar, with jurisdiction over the Eidsivating judicial district (), comprising the counties of Innlandet, Østfold, a ...

Municipal council

The

of Alvdal Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Alvdal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: *1864–1865: Fritz Emil Aas *1866–1873: Morten Mortensen *1874–1881: Fritz Emil Aas *1882–1883: Johan Steien *1884–1891: Morten Mortensen *1892–1893: Johan Steien *1894–1895: Morten Sandvold *1896–1898: P. Randmæl *1899–1901: Jacob Stamoen *1902–1904: P. Randmæl *1905–1907: Haldo Müller *1908–1910: P. Randmæl *1911–1916: Per Hoel *1917–1919: P. Randmæl *1920–1922: Per Hoel *1923–1925: Arne Mellesmo *1926–1931: Per Hoel *1932–1934: Martin Müller *1935–1942: Olav Nyeggen *1942–1945: Embret Mellesmo *1946–1955: Harald Reinertsen *1956–1963: Eivind Kveberg *1963–1967: Lars Holen *1968–1969: Oddgeir Skarpsno *1970–1971: Asmund Westgård *1971–1979: Kåre Blystad ( Sp) *1979–1983: Per Arnfinn Bergebakken ( Sp) *1983–1991: Sverre Dalen ( Sp) *1991–1995: Sverre Sørbø ( Sp) *1995–1999: Per Hvamstad ( Sp) *1999–2007: Svein Borkhus ( Ap) *2007–2011:

Olov Grøtting Olov Grøtting (born 14 September 1960) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. She was born in Alvdal Municipality as a daughter of farmers. After finishing her secondary education at the school in Tynset in 1979, she worked in touris ...

( Sp) *2011–2015: Svein Borkhus ( Ap) *2015–2019: Johnny Hagen ( Ap) *2019–present: Mona Murud ( Sp)

Notable people

* Ivar Mortensson-Egnund (1857–1934), an author, journalist, theologian, researcher, translator, writer, philosopher, and advocate of

nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

* Lars Olsen Aukrust (1886–1965), a farmer and politician * Arvid Nilssen (1913–1976), an actor, revue artist, singer, and comedian. Retrieved 19 November 2020. *

Kjell Aukrust Kjell Aukrust (19 March 1920 – 24 December 2002) was a Norwegian author, poet, artist and humorist. Aukrust is principally known for his Flåklypa stories and Flåklypa drawings. Personal life Aukrust was born in Alvdal Municipality in Hed ...

(1920–2002), an author, humourist, poet, and artist; the Huset Aukrust, (Norwegian Wiki) is dedicated to him and he is famous for creating the fictional Norwegian village of '' Flåklypa'' and its cast of idiosyncratic characters * Ola Jonsmoen (born 1932), an educator, poet, novelist, and children's writer * Svein Borkhus (born 1955), a politician and Mayor of Alvdal from 1999 to 2007 *

(born 1960), a politician and Mayor of Alvdal from 2007 to 2011 * Anne Nørdsti (born 1977), a

dansband (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish language, Swedish term for a band that plays (; "dance band music"). ' is often danced to in partner dance, pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. T ...

singer who was influenced by country music

Sport

* Per Samuelshaug (1905–1990), a cross-country skier who participated at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

* Kristian Bjørn (1919–1993), a cross-country skier who competed at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

* Torgeir Bjørn (born 1964), a retired cross-country skier who competed at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

* Harald Stormoen (born 1980), a retired footballer with over 200 club caps

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, 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 year on its web site. All rele ...

{{Authority control Municipalities of Innlandet 1864 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1864