Sør-Fron Municipality


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, Harpefoss, and Lia.
The municipality is the 153rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sør-Fron Municipality is the 225th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,128. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 2.3% over the previous 10-year period.
WWW sor-fron.kommune.no

General information

Fron Municipality was established as on 1 January 1838 when the new formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect. On 1 January 1851, the municipality was divided in two. The northwest portion became Nord-Fron Municipality and the southeast portion became Sør-Fron Municipality. On 27 July 1956, a small area of Sør-Fron Municipality was transferred to the neighboring Vestre Gausdal Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1966, Nord-Fron Municipality and Sør-Fron Municipality were merged to form a new Fron Municipality.
The 1966 merger was not well-liked among the residents of the new municipality. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed and Nord-Fron Municipality and Sør-Fron Municipality were recreated using their old borders from 1965.
Historically, the municipality was part of the old Oppland county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Fron farm since the first Fron Church was built there. The first element is which means "southern". The last element is uncertain, but it may come from the word which means "earth" or "land". Thus the name of the municipality is " southern Fron". Historically, it was called Søndre Fron, using another word which also means "south". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Søndre Fron. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sør-Fron, using an alternate word for "south".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 4 March 1988. The official blazon is "Vert, a club argent in bend". This means the arms have a green field and the charge is a club. The club 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 club is reminiscent of the club that Kolbein Sterke used in the year 1021 when King Olav Haraldsson met the people of Fron and Dale-Gudbrand at Hundorp. This meeting is recorded in a book by Snorre Sturlusson. "Look, our god is coming with a lot of light," said King Olav. Dale-Gudbrand and the farmers looked at the sun that was just rising. Kolbein then took the club and smashed to pieces the statue of the god Thor standing at Hundorp. After this, the people of the area were Christians, according to Snorre. The arms were designed by Amund Rudi. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within Sør-Fron Municipality. It is part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti in the Diocese of Hamar.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
Sør-FrønSør-Fron ChurchHundorp1792
Sør-FrønEspedalen ChapelEspedalen1974

Government

Sør-Fron 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 Gudbrandsdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Sør-Fron Municipality is made up of 19 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 Sør-Fron 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 :
  • 1851–1853: Østen Nørstegaard
  • 1853–1855: Niels Forseth
  • 1871–1877: Knud B. Forr
  • 1878–1883: Iver Isum
  • 1884–1885: J. Bjerke
  • 1886–1894: Anton Kongsli
  • 1894–1895: Ivar Steig
  • 1896–1897: Anton Kongsli
  • 1898–1901: Thorvald Isum
  • 1902–1904: Anton Kongsli
  • 1905–1910: Ivar Steig
  • 1911–1913: Even Sveipe
  • 1914–1919: Ivar Ivarsen Fosse
  • 1920–1922: Ole Kjorstad
  • 1923–1925: Anton O. Ringdal
  • 1926–1928: Olaf Listad
  • 1929–1941: Egil Hernæs
  • 1942–1945: Aksel Bjerke
  • 1945–1961: Egil Hernæs †
  • 1962–1963: Asbjørn Fevolden
  • 1964–1965: Iver Malerbakken
  • 1977–1983: Jon Tofte
  • 1983–1991: Arne Hernæs
  • 1991–1995: Torstein Rudihagen
  • 1995–1999: Willy Heimstad
  • 1999–2011: Aksel Eng †
  • 2011–2011: Laila Nyhus Toppen
  • 2011–present: Ole Tvete Muriteigen

Geography

Sør-Fron Municipality is bordered to the west by Nord-Fron Municipality, to the southwest by Øystre Slidre Municipality, to the south by Gausdal Municipality, to the east by Ringebu Municipality and Stor-Elvdal Municipality, and to the north by Folldal Municipality. The river Gudbrandsdalslågen runs through the central part of the municipality.
The lakes Atnsjøen, Olstappen, and Vinstervatna are located in the municipality. The municipality includes parts of the Gudbrandsdalen and Espedalen valleys. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Blåkollen.

Rondane National Park

Rondane National Park, which lies partially in Sør-Fron, was the first Norwegian National Park, established in 1962. In 2003, Rondane National Park was enlarged and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged adjacent to the park.

Culture

The famous play Peer Gynt is staged annually at Lake Gålå in a mountainous region of Sør-Fron as part of a festival. The play itself is supposed to have been set in a Norwegian location such as Gålå.

Notable people