Øyer is a
municipalityNorway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
in
Opplandis a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
countyNorway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It is part of the
traditional regionThe country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...
of
GudbrandsdalThe Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal...
. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingberg.
The parish of
Øier was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistriktFormannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...
). It is one of very few municipalities in Norway with unchanged borders since that date.
Name
The
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
form of the name was
Øyja (
accusative caseThe accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
and
dative caseThe dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
) which comes from the word
Øyi (
nominative caseThe nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
). Two lakes in Norway had the name
Øyi(r) in Norse times (now called
ØymarkØymark is a former municipality now located in Marker municipality in Østfold county, Norway.Øymark was originally a part of Aremark formannskapsdistrikt , but on 1 July 1903 Øymark was separated from Aremark to form a separate municipality. At that point Øymark had a population of 1,832...
and
ØyerenØyeren is a lake in the Glomma river watershed, southeast of Lillestrøm. It is located within the municipalities of Enebakk, Skedsmo, Fet and Rælingen in Akershus county and Spydeberg and Trøgstad municipalities in Østfold county....
), and these names are derived from the word
øy which means "flat and fertile land along the edge of the water". This name is probably given to this area because the Lågen river widens out in the central part of the municipality and creates two river-lakes (called the
Jemnefjorden and
Gildbusfjorden).
Øyi was probably the old name of one (or both) of these "
fjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
s". Prior to 1918, the name was spelled
"Øier".
Coat-of-arms
The
coat-of-armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is from modern times. They were granted on 29 April 1983. The arms show a silver-colored wooden ring, or
hærder, on a green background. It was made of wood and was used to fasten a tree trunk to a rope in order to haul it over the land. Similar devices were used all over Norway, but this shape is typical for the area.
History
The
Black DeathThe Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
reached Norway in the winter of 1349/50. Øyer was one of the parishes most severely impacted; estimates based on tax payments suggest that between 2/3 and 3/4 of all residents died. Many of the farms there became deserted (
øygarder), which remained vacant until the late 17th century. The parish of
TrettenTretten is a parish and a small village in the northern part of the Øyer municipality, Norway.Its population is 880. Tretten is located on the Losna lake, which is part of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river. The village had its own sports team Tretten IL until 1990, when a merger created Øyer-Tretten...
was merged into Øyer after the Black Death, because the decimated population of Tretten no longer could maintain their own priest.
Geography
In Oppland, Øyer is bordered by
Ringebuis a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vålebru.The municipality of Ringebu was established on 1 January 1838...
municipality to the north,
Ringsakeris a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Brumunddal.The municipality of Ringsaker was established on 1 January 1838...
to the southeast, and
Lillehammeris a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...
to the south. To the east lies
Stor-ElvdalStor-Elvdal is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Koppang....
municipality (located in
Hedmarkis a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...
county). The municipality is divided in two parishes: Øyer in the south and Tretten in the north.
Economy
Øyer has traditionally been a
farmingAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and
loggingLogging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
municipality.
Recreation is increasingly important economically. Since it opened in 1989, Øyer's
HafjellHafjell is a village and a ski resort in Norway, in the Øyer municipality in the county of Oppland.Hafjell hosted the alpine skiing technical events at the 1994 Winter Olympics; the speed events were held at Kvitfjell, a regular stop on the World Cup tour for men's speed events in March...
Alpine Ski Center has grown to include over 14 lifts and 28 runs as wells as extensive
cross-country skiingCross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
runs. It is 15 kilometers from Lillehammer, making it very accessible.
TobogganA toboggan is a simple sled which is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites...
ing,
lugeA Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
, and
bobsledBobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
racing (on the 1994 Olympic course) are also found in the area.
Notable residents
- Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson was a Norwegian-born American newspaper editor and author. He frequently wrote about Norwegian immigrant frontier and pioneer life. He is most associated with his novel, From Fjord to Prairie or in the New Kingdom.-Biography:Simen Johannessen was born in Øyer in Oppland County,...
(1874–1970), Norwegian-American author
- Erling Jevne
Erling Jevne is a former Norwegian cross country skier who competed from 1987 to 2005 who also raced sheep when he was not skiing...
, skiier
- Kjetil Haraldstad, member of Satyricon
Satyricon is a Norwegian black metal band, and the first one in the genre to join a multi-national record label .-Biography:Satyricon was formed in 1990 by Czral and Wargod. Ulver and Satyr soon joined them...
and 13491349 is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1997. Their name comes from the year the Black Death reached Norway.- History :1349 formed in 1997 and comprises several former members of the band Alvheim...
Sister cities
The following cities are
twinnedTwin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with Øyer: -
FärgelandaFärgelanda Municipality is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Färgelanda....
,
Västra Götaland CountyVästra Götaland County is a county or län on the western coast of Sweden.The county is the second largest of Sweden's counties and it is subdivided into 49 municipalities . Its population of 1,550,000 amounts to 17% of Sweden's population...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
-
MuhosMuhos is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Oulu half an hour drive on route 22 from the city of Oulu, the capital of Northern Finland and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
,
Oulu ProvinceOulu was a province of Finland from 1775 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Lapland, Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia and Russia.- Historical Province :For History, Geography and Culture see: Ostrobothnia...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
External links
- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Statistics Norway is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876.Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...
- Church Records for those with ancestors from Øyer. Baptisms and deaths between 1671 and 1857.