Eidfjord Municipality


Eidfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eidfjord, where the majority of the municipal population lives. The other major population centre in the municipality is the village of Øvre Eidfjord.
Eidfjord is situated at the end of the Eid Fjord, an inner branch of the large Hardangerfjorden. The village of Eidfjord is a major cruise ship port of call and has plans to install a power connection big enough for ships to turn off their engines. Eidfjord has several tourist sites, like the Sima Power Plant which is built into the mountain itself, the Måbødalen valley, and the Vøringsfossen waterfall which has a free fall of. Large parts of the Hardangervidda are located in Eidfjord. The Hardangervidda Natursenter, a visitors centre and museum for Hardangervidda National Park, is located in Øvre Eidfjord.
The municipality is the 57th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Eidfjord Municipality is the 338th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 967. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 1.9% over the previous 10-year period.
WWW eidfjord.kommune.no

General information

The parish of Graven was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. This large municipality/parish included two annexes: Ulvik and Eidfjord. On 1 January 1859, Ulvik became the main parish, making Granvin and Eidfjord annexes to Ulvik, and the name of the large municipality was changed from Graven Municipality to Ulvik Municipality.
On 1 May 1891, the large Ulvik Municipality was divided into three separate municipalities as follows:
In 1895, a small part of Eidfjord Municipality was transferred back into Ulvik Municipality.
Eidfjord Municipality existed from 1891 until 1964 when a major municipal merger took place as a result of municipal reform in Norway due to the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Ullensvang Municipality:
This merger was not well-liked by the population of the old Eidfjord Municipality, and so on 1 January 1977, part of the merger was undone, and the area of the "old" Eidfjord Municipality was separated to form its own municipality once again.
Historically, this municipality was part of the old Hordaland county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Vestland county.
On 1 January 2022, the roughly Ytre Bu area of Ullensvang Municipality was transferred to the neighboring Eidfjord Municipality. The Ytre Bu area is located around the southern end of the Hardanger Bridge.

Name

The municipality is named after the Eid Fjord since the first Eidfjord Church was built there. The first element comes from the old Eid farm. The name of the farm derives from the word which means "isthmus", referring to the land between the fjord and the lake Eidfjordvatnet. The last element is which means "fjord".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 13 July 1984. The official blazon is "Azure, a reindeer antler argent". This means the arms have a blue field and the charge is a reindeer antler. The antler has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The reindeer antler was chosen because the first known settlers of the area were reindeer hunters. The reindeer has been important for the population in the Hardangervidda area for many centuries. The antler also symbolizes the rivers that run from the mountain into the fjord. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within Eidfjord Municipality. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
EidfjordEidfjord ChurchEidfjord1981
EidfjordOld Eidfjord ChurchEidfjord1309

Geography

Eidfjord Municipality sits at the innermost part of the Hardangerfjorden and it stretches inland to include part of the vast Hardangervidda plateau. Part of the Hardangervidda National Park lies in the municipality. Eidfjord Municipality borders Ullensvang Municipality to the southwest, Nore og Uvdal Municipality and Hol Municipality to the east, and Ulvik Municipality to the north.
Eidfjord Municipality begins at sea level along the fjord, the valleys leading away from the fjord are surrounded by high mountains which lead up to the alpine plateau called Hardangervidda. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain at the top of the Hardangerjøkulen glacier on the border with Ulvik Municipality. The Måbødalen valley is a narrow valley that leads upland to the Vøringfossen waterfall. The Simadalen valley is also located in the municipality, heading inland from the Simadalsfjorden. There are several lakes in Eidfjord Municipality including Eidfjordvatnet, Nordmannslågen, and Sysenvatnet. The lakes Halnefjorden, Skaupsjøen, and Tinnhølen are all partially located in Eidfjord. The rivers Bjoreio, Eio, Sima, and Veig are all located in the municipality.

History

The parish of Eidfjord was very special because historically it belonged to the Bishop of Stavanger from 1125 until 1630. The Ancient Diocese of Stavanger was created out of the Ancient Diocese of Bergen and it included all of present-day Rogaland and Agder counties, plus the districts of Hallingdal in Buskerud county and Valdres in Innlandet county, and the parishes of Røldal and Eidfjord in Vestland county. The reason for including Eidfjord was that the regions of Hallingdal and Valdres belonged to the bishop of Stavanger and the easiest way to reach them from Stavanger was by sailing up the Hardangerfjord to Eidfjord, and then traveling over the Hardangervidda plateau to Hallingdal and Valdres.

Government

Eidfjord Municipality is responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Eidfjord 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.

Mayors

The mayor of Eidfjord Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
  • 1891–1892: Amund H. Folkedal
  • 1893–1895: Thorfinn Skaar
  • 1896–1907: Anved A. Tveit
  • 1908–1913: Halstein Garathun
  • 1914–1916: Anved A. Tveit
  • 1917–1919: Halstein Garathun
  • 1920–1925: John P. Lægreid
  • 1926–1928: Halstein Garathun
  • 1929–1934: John P. Lægreid
  • 1934–1943: Conrad Hereid
  • 1943–1945: Torgils Lægreid
  • 1946–1955: Johan Jensen
  • 1955–1959: Olav A. Myklatun
  • 1959–1963: Thorbjørn T. Lægreid
*
  • 1979–1983: Jacob Sæbø
  • 1983–1987: Samson Instanes
  • 1987–1991: Leiv Anders Vambheim
  • 1991–1999: Samson Instanes
  • 1999–2003: Anved Johan Tveit
  • 2003–2007: Ola B. Hereid
  • 2007–2019: Anved Johan Tveit
  • 2019–2023: Anders Vatle
  • 2023–present: Timo Knoch

Police

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Ullensvang and Eidfjord be closed.

Notable people