Vennesla

Infobox_Kommune
name = Vennesla
idnumber = 1014
county = Vest-Agder
landscape = Sørlandet
capital = Vennesla
demonym = Venndøl
language = Neutral


munwebpage = www.vennesla.kommune.no
governor = Torhild Bransdal (KrF)
governor_as_of = 2003
arearank = 244
area = 384
arealand = 362
areapercent = 0.12
population_as_of = 2004
populationrank = 89
population = 12,356
populationpercent = 0.27
populationdensity = 34
populationincrease = 5.1
lat_deg = 58 | lat_min = 18 | lat_sec = 38 | lon_deg = 7 | lon_min = 51 | lon_sec = 25
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6463859 | utm_easting = 0433033 | geo_cat = adm2nd

Vennesla is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Vennesla was separated from Øvrebø in 1861. Øvrebø and Hægeland were merged with Vennesla again on 1 January 1964. It lies about 17 kilometers north of Kristiansand and it is the third-largest municipality of the county.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old "Vennesla" farm (Old Norse "Vendilslá"), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of "vendill" which means "small twig" (maybe used as a name of an arm of Venneslafjorden) and the last element is "lá" which means "swamp".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 May 1971. The wavy bend in the arms symbolises the Otra river, which runs through the municipality. The trees symbolize forestry and the cogwheels symbolize industry. [cite web|url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/v/vennesla.htm|author=Norske Kommunevåpen|date=1990|title=Nye kommunevåbener i Norden|accessdaymonth=27 September|accessyear=2008]

Geography

Vennesla is bordered in the west by the municipalities of Marnardal and Songdalen, in the east by Birkenes and Iveland. In the northeast by Evje og Hornnes, and in the south by Kristiansand.

Economy

Vennesla has mainly been considered an industrial small town, with Hunsfos ASA, a paper factory, as the cornerstone of the community. During recent decades, however, the number of employees has drastically declined from around 1,200 in the 1970s, to 200 in 2005 and 120 in 2007

Vikeland hovedgård

There is a mansion in Vennesla, Vikeland hovedgård, which is said to be haunted by a ghost known as "the Blue Lady" "(den Blå Dama)". Mari, the Blue Lady, was a worker on the farm located there, and fell in love with the farm owner's son. They were not allowed to marry, so it is said Mari committed suicide by hanging herself in the "blue room", hence the title "the Blue Lady". Today, when weddings are held in the mansion, the owners of the property allow the Blue Lady's ghost to join the wedding festivities by setting an extra place for her at the table.

Vindbjart Football club

The local team in Vennesla is Vindbjart FK. They are currently playing in the Norwegian Second Division and have their stadium at Moseidmoen.

References