Lesja

Lesja is a municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway. It is bordered in the north by the municipalities of Nesset, Sunndal and Oppdal, in the east by Dovre, in the south by Vågå and Lom, in the south-west by Skjåk, and to the west by Rauma.

1 The name
2 Coat-of-arms
3 Geography
- 3.1 Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park
4 Commerce and industry
5 History
6 Famous residents
7 External links
8 References

[edit] The name

The Norse form of the name was Lesjar (plural form). The meaning of the name is unknown. (Maybe derived from læs f 'pasture'.)

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1987). The form is meant to represent the spire of Lesja church (which is visibly from miles ahead).

[edit] Geography

Lesja is highly mountainous, and lies on the east-west watershed, with Lesjaskogsvatnet lake draining both east to the Rauma river and west to the Gudbrandsdalslågen river. The largest part (82%) of the community area is over 900 m above sea level. The most populated areas lie between 500 and 650 m along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river and highway E136. The higher elevations serve as summer farms (seter or sæter) for grazing dairy cattle and goats.

[edit] Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park

Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park was founded in 2002 and encompasses part of the former Dovre National Park area, as originally founded in 1974. It is 1,693 km² encompassing areas in Lesja and Dovre in Oppland as well as areas in Sør-Trøndelag, and Møre og Romsdal. It includes the Dovrefjell mountain range.

[edit] Commerce and industry

The community is primarily agricultural. Recent censuses show over 40% of the occupations in the community in farming.

Rail service is provided by the Raumabanen, connecting with the Dovrebanen at Dombås in Dovre and extending to the terminus in Åndalsnes on the Fjord in Møre and Romsdal County.

Lesja is located in a mountain region, comprising the south-westerly portion of the Dovrefjell range. It is the site of the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, lies just north of Jotunheimen National Park and lies just west of Rondane National Park, so tourism and outdoor sports such as skiing are also important. The Bjorli ski area lies in Lesja.

Lesja landscape.

[edit] History

~1015 - Lesja is mentioned in the Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorri Sturluson. The account of King Olaf's (A.D. 1015-1021) conversion of Dale-Gudbrand to christianity is popularly recognized.

1029 – King Olaf's success was short-lived, for in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, rallied round the invading Knut the Great, and Olaf had to flee. To avoid engaging a fleet of 25 ships, 400 of King Olav’s men and 100 loyal peasant farmers from Romsdal built a road up from the Romsdalfjord to Lesja municipality. Using this road, his men fled across Gudbrandsdal. There he was not warmly received since he had killed King Thorer of Gudbrandsdal, so he went on to Hedmark. From there he proceeded to Sweden and on to Russia. On his return a year later he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad.

1659 to 1812 – Lesjaverk (Lesja Iron Works) was an important Norwegian iron works.

1710 to 1773 - Jakob Bersveinson Klukstad, who was born in Lom but spent most of his career on Klukstad farm in Lesja, was the foremost Norwegian sculptor and painter. His work can still be seen in churches at Lesja, Skjåk and Heidal.

Jakob Klukstad's altarpiece at Lesja Church.

1867 - The Lesja area in the Gudbrandsdal was source of numerous emigrants to America: “...during the great famine of 1867; a year memorable in the annals of Northern Europe, when, in consequence of an early and heavy frost in summer, the crops were destroyed, and desolation and death spread over vast districts. The lichen and the bark of the birch tree, mixed with a little flour, became the food of the people after the cattle had been eaten up and nothing else was left. The year following a strong tide of emigration set out for America.” (Reference: Du Chaillu)

1940 - After the German invasion of April 1940, while King Haakan and the Norwegian government were moving from Elverum to the west coast, the King and Crown Prince Olaf arrived in Otta on the night of April 13th. The prime minister and his colleagues, who were then in Lesja, were summoned and a communiqué, ending “God save Norway,” and urging resistance to the unprovoked attack was issued. They now intended to relocate to the west coast, but the Germans had dropped paratroopers higher in the Gudbrandsdalen, at Dombås, cutting off the rail route. It was not until the evening of the 21st that the King was able to travel by road from Otta to Lesja on the east-west watershed and then down the narrow Romsdal to Åndalsnes. (Reference: Greve)

During the war a British fighter squadron (flying 'Gloster Gladiators') flew from the icebound surface of lake Lesjaskogsvatnet.

Lesja Church.

[edit] Famous residents

Jakob Klukstad, artist
Lars Berger, biathelete

[edit] External links

Norway's National Mountains Norwegian Government's pages on the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park
Map of the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park
Bjorli ski center in Lesja (Norwegian text only)
Map of Lesja from Kulturnett.no (in Norwegian).

[edit] References

List of farms in Lesja
East Norway & its Frontier by Frank Noel Stagg, 1956.
Årsskrift for Lesja historielag, 2000 (in Norwegian)
The Land Of The Midnight Sun, by Paul B. Du Chaillu; Publisher: George Newnes, Limited; London; 1899. Page 123
Haakon VII of Norway by Tim Greve and translated by Thomas Kingston Derry, Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1983 ISBN 0-88254-812-3
Lesja og Dovre by Ivar Kleiven
Setrane i Lesja - i teikning og teks, ( Manors in Lesja - in drawings and text ) by Arnfinn Kjelland, 1988. 256 p. (drawings by Per Einbu).
Bygdebok for Lesja bd 1. Gards- og slektshistorie for Lesjaskogen, by Arnfin Kjelland, (Rural district for Lesja 1. Farm and genealogical history of Lesja woods) 1987. 634 p.
Bygdebok for Lesja bd 2. Gards- og slektshistorie for nørdre del av Lesja hovudsokn, by Arnfinn Kjelland, 1992. 736 p.
Bygdebok for Lesja bd 3. Gards- og slektshistorie for søre del av Lesja hovudsokn, by Arnfin Kjelland, 1996. 800 p.

Municipalities of Oppland
Dovre \| Etnedal \| Gausdal \| Gjøvik \| Gran \| Jevnaker \| Lesja \| Lillehammer \| Lom \| Lunner \| Nord-Aurdal \| Nord-Fron \| Nordre Land \| Ringebu \| Sel \| Skjåk \| Søndre Land \| Sør-Aurdal \| Sør-Fron \| Vang \| Vestre Slidre \| Vestre Toten \| Vågå \| Østre Toten \| Øyer \| Øystre Slidre