Gausdal Municipality

The parish of Gausdal was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838, under the formannskapsdistrikt law. On 1 January 1867, a small area of the neighbouring Øyer Municipality, with a population of 40, was transferred to Gausdal Municipality. In 1879, Gausdal Municipality was divided into two municipalities: Vestre Gausdal Municipality in the northwest, with 2,362 inhabitants, and Østre Gausdal Municipality in the southeast, with 5,911 inhabitants. On 27 July 1956, a small area of Sør-Fron Municipality, with seven residents, was transferred to the neighbouring Vestre Gausdal Municipality.

During the 1960s, many municipal mergers took place across Norway as a result of the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, Vestre Gausdal Municipality, with a population of 2,590, and Østre Gausdal Municipality, with a population of 3,942, were merged to re-establish Gausdal Municipality. The new municipality broadly corresponded to the Gausdal Municipality that had existed from 1838 to 1879, although the borders were not identical.

Historically, the municipality was part of the former Oppland county. On 1 January 2020, Gausdal became part of the newly created Innlandet county, formed by the merger of Hedmark and Oppland.

Name

The municipality, originally the parish, is named after the Gausdalen valley, recorded in Old Norse as Gausdalr, since the municipality lies in the valley. The first element comes from the river Gausa, which flows through the valley. The river name is derived from the verb gjósa, meaning "to gush", "burst out" or "stream forcefully". The final element is dalr, meaning "valley" or "dale".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 19 September 1986. The official blazon is "Per fess azure and argent, a single stair step section slanting outwards" (Norwegian: Delt av blått og sølv ved enkelt trappesnitt skrått utover). This means that the arms are divided horizontally by a stepped line slanting to the right. The field, or background, above the line has a blue tincture. Below the line, the field has a tincture of argent, which is usually shown as white, or as silver when metal is used.

The design was made to resemble the outline of Skeikampen, one of the main mountains in the municipality. The argent lower part represents the snow-covered mountain, while the blue upper part represents the sky. The arms were designed by Inger Line Thallaug. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has five parishes, or sokn, within Gausdal Municipality. They are part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti, or deanery, in the Diocese of Hamar.

The old Follebu Church was built of stone in the early Middle Ages (around 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 the Espedalen valley in the northwest part of the municipality. 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.

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

Western tributaries of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river include the Gausa River, which flows through Gausdalen valley. The lake Dokkfløyvatn is located in the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,552.51-metre (5,093.5 ft) tall mountain Nordre Langsua, on the border with Sør-Fron Municipality.

The famous Peer Gynt mountain road begins here and leads to the town of Vinstra. A popular ski area is located on the south slope of Skeikampen mountain. Langsua National Park, partially lies within the municipality.

Gausdal Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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 (Kommunestyre) of Gausdal Municipality is made up of 23 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 (Norwegian: ordfører) of Gausdal 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 (incomplete list):

• 1838-1839: Østen O. Ovren
• 1839-1840: Sven J. Waalen
• 1840-1845: Paul Nygaard
• 1846-1847: Erlend Midtvold
• 1848-1849: Simen O. Ovren
• 1850-1851: Christian Gundersen Fougner
• 1852-1855: John Svendsen Waalen
• 1856-1859: Christian Gundersen Fougner
• 1860-1863: John Svendsen Waalen
• 1864-1867: Per Bø
• 1869-1869: Christian Gundersen Fougner
• 1870-1871: John Svendsen Waalen
• 1872-1875: Christian Gundersen Fougner
• 1876-1878: John Svendsen Waalen
• (1879-1961: Gausdal Municipality did not exist)
• 1962-1971: Reidar Engjom (Ap)
• 1971-1975: Bjørn Midtlien (Ap)
• 1975-1983: Kristian Baukhol (Ap)
• 1983-1991: Nils Nygard (Ap)
• 1991-1993: Liv Røe Johnsen (SV)
• 1994-2001: Inger Enger (Sp)
• 2001-2007: Olav Olstad (Sp)
• 2007-2011: Mona B. Nicolaysen (Sp)
• 2011-2019: Hans Oddvar Høistad (Ap)
• 2019-present: Anette Musdalslien (Sp)

Public service

• Abraham Pihl (1756 in Gausdal, 1821), a clergyman, astronomer, and architect
• Hakon Adelsteen Sommerfeldt (1811 in Gausdal, 1888), a Norwegian naval officer and ship designer
• Sigurd Fougner (1879 in Østre Gausdal, 1959), a Norwegian Supreme Court judge
• Reidar Engjom, (Norwegian Wiki) (1907 in Gausdal - 1970), a Norwegian politician
• Amund O. Ringsrud (1854 in Gausdal - 1931 in Elk Point, South Dakota) business owner, first Secretary of State for South Dakota, member of United States Constitutional Convention of 1889, Republican candidate for governor of South Dakota in 1896 (barely defeated, with it requiring an official count of the ballots to decide the election)

The Arts

• Simen Fougner (1701 in Follebu, 1783), a farmer, poet, and non-fiction writer
• Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910), an author and Nobel Prize in Literature winner in 1903; lived in Aulestad in Follebu, 1874-1910
• Iver Holter (1850 in Gausdal, 1941), a composer and conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra from 1882-1886
• Ole Amundsen Buslett (1855 in Gausdal, 1924), a Norwegian-American author, newspaperman, and politician
• Clara Tschudi (1856-1945), a writer who lived in Gausdal
• Hans Aanrud (1863-1953), a writer of plays, poetry, and stories of rural life in Gudbrandsdalen; raised in Auggedalen
• Inge Krokann (1893, 1962 in Gausdal), a writer who wrote idiosyncratic nynorsk works
• Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen (1903-1984), a violinist and composer of Norwegian folk tunes; lived in Gausdal from 1947-1966
• Magne Elvestrand (1914 in Østre Gausdal, 1991), a pianist, harpsichordist, and organist
• Else Kveine, (Norwegian Wiki) (1933 in Gausdal - 2013), a poet

Sport

• Christen Smed, (Norwegian Wiki) (1797 in Gausdal - 1846), a mountaineer who climbed Romsdalshornet
• Mattis Stenshagen (born 1996 in Follebu), a cross-country skier

Gausdal has sister city agreements with the following places:

• , Mora, Dalarna County, Sweden