Hemsedal

Hemsedal kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Buskerud within Norway
Hemsedal within Buskerud
Coordinates: 60°54′21″N 8°30′53″E
Country	Norway
County	Buskerud
District	Hallingdal
Administrative centre	Trøym
Government
• Mayor (2003)	Oddvar Grøthe (Sp)
Area
• Total	753 km2 (290.7 sq mi)
• Land	711 km2 (274.5 sq mi)
Area rank	145 in Norway
Population (2004)
• Total	1,876
• Rank	341 in Norway
• Density	3/km2 (7.8/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	13.2 %
Demonym	Hemsedøl
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0618
Official language form	Nynorsk
Website	www.hemsedal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Hemsedal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym. In 1897, Hemsedal was separated from the municipality of Gol to become a municipality of its own.

Hemsedal is the second largest ski resort in Norway. From the museum farm Øvre Løkji, there are several trails up into the mountains.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Hemsudalr. The first element is the genitive case of a river name Hemsa (now Hemsil) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The meaning of the river name is unknown.

The Norwegian word hems ("bed built in a small loftroom") is named after the valley of Hemsedal.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 2 October 1992. They were designed by Stein Davidsen. The arms show a gold-colored head of a lynx on a red background.

See also: Coats-of-arms of Bygland and Hamarøy

History

Early history

For how long it has been a settlement in Hemsedal is unclear, but the oldest houses are of very ancient origin. Charcoal found in many places in the valley testify iron recovery. The oldest charcoal that has been found has been dated to ca. 200–300 years after Christ. Probably the first settlers made a living as hunters and gatherers, and the area has had a large population of wild reindeer in the past.

Sophus Bugge believed that the name could come from the old Norwegian expression loft, or hefnsa Hofn, meaning harbor immediately. Many also believe that the name may have its origin from the name of the river valley, but it has never been drawn any conclusions about this. However, it seems clear that the name has a certain connection with the meaning of the word loft.

Early in the 13th century was the parish church, Hemsedal stave church, which was probably built around 1207-1224. The church is first mentioned in the papal nuntiers (sendebuds) the accounting and diaries that were taken during the collection of tithes for the Nordic countries during the period 1282-1324, when as "Ecclesia Aamsodal. The church is also mentioned under the name "Skodvin Kirkja in Hemsudali" in 1327, and it is perhaps not so strange when you know that the farm where the church stood Kirkebøen formerly Skodvin and Harm Farm. Stave Church, however, was demolished in 1882 and replaced by a new and larger church, Hemsedal church.

One of the last stave churches to be dismantled was the Hemsedal stave church, dismantled in 1882. After the dismantling of this church, the interest changed and the remaining churches in Hallingdal survived.

People who originally belong to the village called loft døler. They speak a dialect which is located in the transition between Østnorsk and west Norwegian, a goal that has deep roots in ancient Norwegian. The valley has traditionally consisted of small and medium-sized farms that dot the valley floor, on both sides of the river and up along the valley sides. Because of the high position in the landscape has farming is mostly concentrated on livestock and dairy farming. Støling has in this respect has been important to the operation of farms, which could not survive on the pasture land that existed in the village. Most farms have therefore had a summer farms in the mountains, where the cattle were moved in the summer.

In tax land register of 1647 there were only one full house in the village, which otherwise consisted of 24/2 farms and 15-16 sake put Ødegaard. In addition, there were a number of uses that were not assessed. The population was anslagvis around 400 people (the exact number is unknown).

Until the middle of the 19th century increased the population in Hemsedal evenly. In 1845 there were 1,775 people in the village, but in the next 75 years the population decreased again, probably as a result of emigration to North America. In 1920 the population was down to 1 358 people, before the population again began to rise.

Late history

Hemsedal's modern history can be said to begin in the period just after the turn of the 20th century, when the Skogstad Hotel was clear that the first hotel in the village in 1905. Prior to this, in the latter half of the 19th century, was ferdelsåra through the village has been developed, in the hope that the new road would be trunk road to the West Coast. When the Bergen Line was opened in 1909, however, this was dramatically changed. Hemsedal was again a bidal, while the upper Hallingdal took over as the main thoroughfare.

In the 1920s began, however, a burgeoning development of the first lodges in the area. Utenbygds Halling People bought houses and moved to the mountains, first to the cabin sites that were acquired by Lykkja, located under the Forest Horn and the Great Lakes. Back then there was the fresh mountain air and hunting and fishing people came to enjoy, not winter sports.

After the Second World War, there arose new accommodations in the valley. Vangen House in Tuv (1947) and Lykkja Home Bed (1953) were two of them. Hemsedal Tourist Trafikklag, which was founded in 1939, aired all of 1952 the idea of building a ski lift in the village, but it took a few more years before it happened. In 1959, however, Spurs opened the elevator. It was a 350 meter long ski lift, which was set up by Fossheim House in the hills behind the guest house in Hemsedal. The ski lift, however, was torn down again early in 1961.

Tottenham lift may well be said to be the beginning of the village's "golden age". A few years later began planning what would eventually lead to the conclusion that Hemsedal was nicknamed "Scandinavian Alps". Towards 1980, the community's development towards tourism and carefully controlled, but in the next five years, growth was so significant that a number of new tourist businesses were established. From this and forward to today, the tourism industry only become more and more significant for the village, which has about 500 000 nights spread over 6,500 beds for rent during the winter months. Over half the guests are foreign. Today, however, Hemsedal also popular in the summer, due to the fishing, hiking, mountaineering, cycling, golf courses and numerous other activities and good accommodation.

Geography

A look at Tuv

The municipality is bordered to the north by Vang and Vestre Slidre (both in Oppland county), to the east by Nord-Aurdal (in Oppland county) and Gol, to the south by Ål and Hol, and to the west by Lærdal (in Sogn og Fjordane county).

Hemsedal is located 220 km (136.70 mi) northwest from Oslo and 273 km (169.63 mi) from Bergen. Hemsedal lies on the Riksvei 52, the main road from Oslo to Bergen.

Lakes in the region include Juklevatnet.

Economy

Hemsedal's economy is based on agriculture and tourism.

Tourism

One of the first tourists in Hemsedal was the famous Norwegian polar explorer Fritjof Nansen who visited in 1898 and stayed at the Bjøberg Fjellstue. Tourism had little impact on Hemsedal before 1960s. Before then people only came to spent Christmas and Easter in the Mountains. Activities were primarily hunting, fishing and hiking. The main industry was still agriculture. In 1961 Hemsedal Ski Area was formed and the first ski lift installed.

Until 1980 the development was quite conservative, but from the years 1980-85 there was a significant growth and new hotels, apartments, cabins, restaurants and shops have been built alongside the development of new activities and attractions.

The largest growth has been from 1985 until today. Today Hemsedal is a popular destination where Hemsedal Skisenter is the main attraction.

About 70 % of all visitors come in winter season (December–May) and the rest of 30 % on other time, of which most come during the summer months .

Most of the tourists come to Hemsedal in winter season, because Hemesedal is a World-class Alpine skiing resort. Hemsedal has a nickname "Skandinavian Alpes". Most tourists come from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Holland and the UK.^{[citation needed]}

The ski center was opened in Holdeskaret in 1961. The first piste was Tottenløypa. Pist preparation was done by volunteers until 1968. In 1983 opened the first chairlift, Olaheisen.

Solheisen is a couple of lifts located in Grøndalen. Both skisenters were bought by Swedish Sälenstjärnen in 2000. The following year the company changed their name to Skistar. Skistar also owns Trysil skisenter, Sälen and Åre, Vemedalen and Hammarbybacken in Sweden .

Hemsedals cross-country stadium is located at Gravset. A starting point for a vast network of trails to Lykkja and Gol. There are 10 km (6.21 mi) of lighted trails from Gravset. With TracTrac you can see where you find freshly prepared cross-country trails .

Summer season

Tourism in summer has grown with its winter counterpart. Hemsedal’s close proximity to Sognefjørd in Grøndalen with its beautiful mountain landscapes, a wide range of activities and two golf courses have also given summer tourism a rise .

Attractions

• The Hemsedal Bygdetun is located at Øvre Løkji in the village of Ulsåk. The museum has houses and artifacts from the first part of the 18th century and all the way to modern times. The farm is located in the middle of an agricultural landscape formed by old methods.

• The waterfall Rjukandefossen located in the vicinity of the village Tuv.

• During every autumn, winter and part of spring tourists travel to Hemsedal for skiing.

Skogshorn

• In the summer, Hemsedal offers a great deal of activities such as hiking (Hemsedal Top 20), climbing, mountain walking, mountain biking, paragliding, and fishing.

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Hemsedal:

• - Essunga, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
• - Kalvola, Southern Finland, Finland
• - Tõrva, Valga County, Estonia

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Buskerud travel guide from Wikitravel
• Hemsedal travel guide from Wikitravel