Eidsvoll

Eidsvoll kommune
—  Municipality  —
Sundet, the municpal center, with the old bridge
Coat of arms Akershus within Norway
Eidsvoll within Akershus
Coordinates (city): 60°20′51″N 11°15′3″E / 60.3475°N 11.25083°E / 60.3475; 11.25083Coordinates: 60°20′51″N 11°15′3″E / 60.3475°N 11.25083°E / 60.3475; 11.25083
Country	Norway
County	Akershus
District	Romerike
Municipality ID	NO-0237
Administrative centre	Sundet
Government
- Mayor (2009)	Terje Teslo (Senterpartiet)
Area (Nr. 222 in Norway)
- Total	457 km2 (176.4 sq mi)
- Land	385 km2 (148.6 sq mi)
Population (2004)
- Total	18,338
- Density	48/km2 (124.3/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	9.4 %
- Rank in Norway	52
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form	Bokmål
Norwegian demonym	Eidsvolling[1]
Website	www.eidsvoll.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Eidsvoll (help·info) is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.

General information

Name

The first element is the genitive case of the word eid (Old Norse: eiđ) and the last element is voll (Old Norse: völlr) which means "meadow" or "field". The meaning of the word eid in this case is "a road passing around a waterfall". People from the districts around the lake (Mjøsa) who were sailing down the river Vorma, and people from Romerike sailing up the same river, both had to enter this area by passing the Sundfossen waterfall. Because of this, the site became an important meeting place long before the introduction of Christianity.

Prior to 1918, the name was spelled "Eidsvold". The town of Eidsvold in Queensland, Australia still uses this spelling.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 20 November 1987. The arms show a balance as a symbol of justice. In the early Middle Ages a local court was established in Eidsvoll.^[2]

History

The parish of Eidsvold was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The municipality of Feiring was merged with Eidsvoll on 1 January 1964.

Eidsvoll is mentioned in Old Norse manuscripts. In the 11th century, it became the site of court and assembly (ting) for eastern parts of Norway, replacing Vang, now a part of Hamar in Hedmark. Because of its access to the river Vorma and the lake Mjøsa has long provided a thoroughfare to northern parts of inland Norway. Eastern parts of Eidsvoll were for a short time the site of a minor gold rush when gold was found in 1758, and these areas are still known as Gullverket, (the Gold works).

Eidsvoll Verk was opened to smelt iron ore by King Christian IV of Denmark in 1624, relying on the excellent water power from the Andelva river. In 1688, it was owned by the director of the Kongsberg Silver Mines, Schlanbusch, and remained in his family until 1781. Carsten Anker came into possession of works in 1794, at which time it was in decay since many of the surrounding forests required for charcoal had been depleted. He restored it and set up the production of stoves and similar iron goods. He also took residence in Eidsvoll in 1811, rebuilding the house which is now the Eidsvollbygningen.

Until recently, the main industry of Eidsvoll was agriculture, though the soil is rich in clay.

Eidsvoll was the site where the constitutional assembly met to draft and sign the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814. The building (Eidsvollbygningen) in which the meetings were held is today a famous museum.

In 1854, Eidsvoll became the end point for the first train line in Norway from Oslo. This became the transit point for travel with the steamship Skibladner to Hamar, Gjøvik, and Lillehammer.

Geography

Eidsvoll municipality is bordered on the north by Østre Toten (on the west side of Mjøsa) and by Stange (on the east side of the lake) and to the east by Nord-Odal (all in Hedmark county). In the county of Akershus to the southeast lies Nes, to the south lies Ullensaker, and to the west lies Nannestad and Hurdal.

In addition to being a commuter town for Oslo, it also has agriculture and forestry industries. The main population and commercial centers are Sundet and Råholt.

Notable residents

• Dagmar Lahlum - resistance worker in World War II and fiancée of Eddie Chapman was born here.
• Ola Skjåk Bræk - politician and Minister of Industry
• Henrik Wergeland, a poet, was the eldest son of Professor Nicolai Wergeland (1780–1848), who had been a member of the constitutional assembly in Eidsvoll, was pastor of Eidsvoll. Although not born there, the poet and his sister, Camilla Collett, were brought up in the rectory in Eidsvoll.

Sister cities

The following cities are twinned with Eidsvoll:^[3]

• - Egilsstaðir, Iceland
• - Skara, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
• - Sorø, Region Sjælland, Denmark
• - Suolahti, Länsi-Suomi, Finland

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eidsvoll

Look up Eidsvoll in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Akershus travel guide from Wikitravel
• Eidsvollbygningen museum

v • d • e Municipalities of Akershus Ås · Asker · Aurskog-Høland · Bærum · Eidsvoll · Enebakk · Fet · Frogn · Gjerdrum · Hurdal · Lørenskog · Nannestad · Nes · Nesodden · Nittedal · Oppegård · Rælingen · Skedsmo · Ski · Sørum · Ullensaker · Vestby