Galtung was a Norwegian noble family dating from the ennoblement of Lauritz Galtung in 1648. However, when he was ennobled, it was expressed that there existed an older noblement. A connection between these two families in male-line has however not been found, though it has been suggested reliable genealogic connections in female-line between them.
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The first family called Galte, belongs to what is called the uradel in the middle ages. The Galte family apparently died out in male-line about 1413. They had their main seat at Torsnes in Hardanger. It is believed the families are related to present day reminisicient and that is the oldest surviving noble family in Norway.
The other family can be traced in male-line back to Laurits Johanneson who was born around 1519. It was his great-grandson Lauritz Galtung who later renewed the nobility of the family in 1648, then to Galtung rather than Galte. The present family belonged to an influential family circuit in the Hardanger-area, amongst others on the farms Aga and Torsnes, and had many well-known naval officers and admirals.
Historian H. J. Huitfeldt-Kaas said, in 1885, that in the period 1670-1870 the family started marrying commoners, and thus, they lost their nobility (later to be rumoured that it was further influenced by the Danish and their succession of their own nobility. The whole family lived around 1800 on the old family farm of Torsnes, where members remain at present. By the end of the 18th century, many of the family's members did however end up in the cities' higher classes as lawyers, doctors and such.
Living descendants today include sociologist Johan Galtung, recognised for his contributions to peace research and practice of conflict-solving, the so called transcend-method. According to Statistics Norway 100 persons have Galtung as their surname as of 2009.[1]