Gausdal

Infobox_Kommune
name=Gausdal
idnumber=0522
county=Oppland
landscape=Gudbrandsdalen
capital=Segalstad bru
governor=Olav Olstad (Sp)
governor_as_of=2003
arearank=84
area=1192
arealand=1149
areapercent=0.37
population_as_of=2004
populationrank=163
population=6,186
populationpercent=0.14
populationdensity=5
populationincrease=-2.1
demonym=Gausdøl
language=Neutral
lat_deg=61| lat_min=16| lat_sec=36| lon_deg=9| lon_min=55| lon_sec=21
utm_zone=32V| utm_northing=6793977 |utm_easting=0549462| geo_cat=adm2nd


munwebpage=www.gausdal.kommune.no

Gausdal is a municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway.

Gausdal was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Gausdal was divided into Vestre Gausdal and Østre Gausdal in the period 1879-1962.

Follebu is a township and sub-parish in eastern Gausdal.

Name

The Norse form of the name was "Gausdalr". The first element is the river name Gausa, the last element is "dalr" m 'valley, dale'. The river name is derived from the verb "gjósa" 'stream forcefully'.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from 1986. The form is meant to represent the profile of the mountain Skeikampen.

Geography

Gausdal is bordered on the northwest by Sør-Fron municipality, on the northeast by Ringebu and Øyer, on the southeast by Lillehammer, on the south by Nordre Land, on the southwest by Nord-Aurdal and Øystre Slidre.

The famous Peer Gynt mountain road begins here and leads to Vinstra.

A popular ski area is located on the south slope of Skeikampen mountain.

Western tributaries of the Gudbrandsdalslågen include the Gausa River, which flows through Gausdal valley.

Norway's smallest national park, Ormtjernkampen National Park, lies within the municipality.

History

The Follebu stone church was built in the early Middle Ages (~1250). It is unusual in that the chancel and nave were built as one continuous piece.

In the 1880s there was mining for Nickel in Espedalen. The search for Nickel was taken up again in 2004 by Blackstone Venture, a Canadian company. As of 2006 they are still drilling for mineral samples only.

Commerce

Logging, farming and tourism are important occupations.

Famous residents

* Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910) was a Norwegian author and Nobel Prize in Literature winner in 1903. "Aulestad" in Follebu, Gausdal was his primary residence from 1874 until his death in 1910.
* Reidar Engjom- politician
* Brynhild Marie Foss - politician
* Iver Holter (1850–1941) was a composer and was conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra from 1882 until 1886.
* Jan Erik Kristiansen - politician
* Inge Krokann (1893–1962) was a Norwegian writer who wrote dialect and idiosyncratic nynorsk works which are largely inaccessible to international readers but reputed to be very powerful, lived his later years and died in Gausdal.
* Else Kveine - poet
* Olav Olstad - politician
* Abraham Pihl - theologian, astronomer and architect
* Christen Smed - mountaineer
* Hans Aanrud (1863–1953) was a Norwegian writer who wrote plays, poetry, and stories depicting rural life in Norway.

External links

* [http://www.gausdal.com/ Tourist information]
* [http://www.gausdolen.no/ Gausdølen] - local newspaper, Norwegian only