Granvin Municipality Granvin herad | |
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View of the village of Granvin | |
![]() Hordaland within Norway | |
![]() Granvin within Hordaland | |
Coordinates:60°31′37″N06°43′10″E / 60.52694°N 6.71944°E /60.52694; 6.71944 | |
Country | Norway |
County | Hordaland |
District | Hardanger |
Established | 1 May 1891 |
• Preceded by | Ulvik Municipality |
Disestablished | 1 Jan 2020 |
• Succeeded by | Voss Municipality |
Administrative centre | Eide |
Government | |
• Mayor(2011-2019) | Ingebjørg Winjum (V) |
Area (upon dissolution) | |
• Total | 211.28 km2 (81.58 sq mi) |
• Land | 203.86 km2 (78.71 sq mi) |
• Water | 7.42 km2 (2.86 sq mi) 3.5% |
• Rank | #326 in Norway |
Population (2019) | |
• Total | 933 |
• Rank | #403 in Norway |
• Density | 4.6/km2 (12/sq mi) |
• Change(10 years) | ![]() |
Demonym | Gravensar[1] |
Official language | |
• Norwegian form | Nynorsk |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
ISO 3166 code | NO-1234[3] |
Granvin is aformer municipality in the oldHordaland county,Norway. The municipality existed from 1891 until its dissolution in 2020 when it merged withVoss Municipality. The municipality was located in thetraditional district ofHardanger. Theadministrative centre of Granvin was the village ofEide, which is also called "Granvin". About half of the residents of the municipality lived in the municipal centre. The rest lived in the rural valley areas surrounding theGranvin Fjord or the lakeGranvinsvatnet in the central part of the municipality.
Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 211-square-kilometre (81 sq mi) municipality is the 326th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Granvin is the 403rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 933. The municipality'spopulation density is 4.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (12/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 4.5% over the last decade.[4]
Theparish ofGraven was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (seeformannskapsdistrikt law). This new municipality was very large and it included two annexes to the parish:Ulvik andEidfjord. On 1 January 1859, "Ulvik" became the main parish, so that Granvin and Eidfjord became annexes to Ulvik, and the name of municipality was changed accordingly.[5]
On 1 May 1891, the municipality of Ulvik was divided into three parts by creating two new municipalities. The western annex (population: 1,331) became the new municipality of Granvin and the southeastern annex (population: 1,018) became the new municipality ofEidfjord. On 1 January 1964, the Lussand-Kvanndal area ofKinsarvik municipality (population: 72) was transferred to Granvin.[5]
On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Granvin andVoss were merged into a new large municipality calledVoss.[6]
The municipality (originally theparish) is named after the oldGranvin farm (Old Norse:Grǫnvin) since the firstGranvin Church was built there. The first element isgrǫn which means "spruce". The last element isvin which means "meadow" or "pasture". The area is one of the few places inWestern Norway that has spruce forests. The name of the parish was spelled as "Graven" before 1858. It was then spelled as "Granvin" from 1858 until 1891. When it became a separate municipality in 1891, the old spelling of "Graven" was used again briefly until 1898. Since 1898 the spelling of "Granvin" has been used.[7]
Thecoat of arms was granted on 13 May 1988 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The officialblazon is"Vert, a fiddleOr inbend sinister" (Norwegian:På grøn grunn ei gul fele, skråstilt venstre-høgre). This means the arms have a greenfield (background) and thecharge is a diagonalhardanger fiddle (Hardingfele), a type of Norwegian folk instrument. The fiddle has atincture ofOr which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design was chosen to symbolize the richfolk-music traditions in theHardanger region and it also symbolizes an active and creative community. The fiddle is a simplified representation of the richly decorated Hardanger fiddles. This fiddle, used to play folk dance music, has two sets or layers of four strings and has a very characteristic sound. The lower set ofsympathetic strings is not directly touched by the fiddler, but they vibrate when the other strings are played. The arms were designed by Øyvind Kvamme. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[8][9][10]
TheChurch of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Granvin. It is part of theHardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in theDiocese of Bjørgvin.
Parish (sokn) | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
---|---|---|---|
Granvin | Granvin Church | Granvin | 1726 |
The municipality was situated along both sides of theGranvin Fjord (a small arm off of the mainHardangerfjorden) and the valley extending inland from the end of the fjord, in the region ofHardanger. The large lakeGranvinsvatnet lies right in the center of the valley, just north of the village ofEide. On both sides of the fjord and valley, there are high mountains.Espeland Falls is located in the Espelandsdalen valley near the border with Ulvik. TheSkjervefossen waterfall is also located in Granvin.
Norwegian National Road 13 entered Granvin via theTunsberg Tunnel which runs through the high mountains to the northwest. The highway then ran through Granvin before entering theVallavik Tunnel which runs through the high mountains to the southeast. The Vallavik Tunnel connects up with theHardanger Bridge in Ulvik which crosses the Hardangerfjorden. A car ferry service connects Kvanndal (in southwest Granvin) with the villages ofUtne andKinsarvik (inUllensvang municipality) on the south side of the Hardangerfjord. From 1935 to 1988,Hardanger railway line ran between Granvin andVossevangen. The line was closed in 1988 and the rails were later removed.
In April 1940, during theGerman invasion of Norway duringWorld War II, there was some fighting between German and Norwegian forces in Granvin. German forces landed in the village ofGranvin on 25 April as part of theirpincer movement towards the Norwegian military camps atVossevangen. There was fighting atSkjervefossen for most of that day, until the Norwegian forces retreated late at night to avoid encirclement. Four Norwegian soldiers and at least 30 German soldiers fell in the fighting.[11]
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Source:Statistics Norway[12][13] and Norwegian Historical Data Centre[14] |
Upon the dissolution of the municipality, the population of Granvin had been dropping sinceWorld War II. In 1951, the population was 1,158. Since then, it has dropped by 21.3% to 911 in 2014. This situation is common in many smaller, rural municipalities in Norway.[15]
While it existed, this municipality was responsible forprimary education (through 10th grade), outpatienthealth services,senior citizen services,unemployment,social services,zoning,economic development, and municipalroads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by amunicipal council ofdirectly elected representatives. Themayor wasindirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[16]
Themunicipal council(Heradsstyre) of Granvin was made up of 13 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Theparty breakdown of the council is as follows:
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 5 | |
Socialist Left Party(Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 3 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 3 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 4 | |
Socialist Left Party(Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 5 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 6 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 4 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 1 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 1 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 5 | |
Socialist Left Party(Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 2 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 6 | |
Socialist Left Party(Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 6 | |
Socialist Left Party(Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 6 | |
Socialist Left Party(Sosialistisk Venstreparti) | 1 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 6 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 6 | |
Joint list of theLiberal Party(Venstre) andChristian Democratic Party(Kristelig Folkeparti) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Conservative Party(Høgre) | 2 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
Joint list of theLiberal Party(Venstre) andChristian Democratic Party(Kristelig Folkeparti) | 1 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 4 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
Local list for Granvin(Bygdelista for Granvin) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 4 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
Local List(s)(Lokale lister) | 2 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 4 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 6 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 3 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 3 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Centre Party(Senterpartiet) | 7 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 3 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Farmers' Party(Bondepartiet) | 8 | |
Liberal Party(Venstre) | 1 | |
Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties(Borgarlege Felleslister) | 1 | |
Total number of members: | 13 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 | |
Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties(Borgarlege Felleslister) | 9 | |
Total number of members: | 12 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Local List(s)(Lokale lister) | 12 | |
Total number of members: | 12 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Local List(s)(Lokale lister) | 12 | |
Total number of members: | 12 |
Party name(in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives | |
---|---|---|
Labour Party(Arbeidarpartiet) | 1 | |
Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties(Borgarlege Felleslister) | 11 | |
Total number of members: | 12 | |
Note: Due to theGerman occupation of Norway duringWorld War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |
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Themayors (Nynorsk:ordførar) of Granvin (incomplete list):
Granvin is a major setting in Moe Cidaly's short story "Summer Episode".[34]
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