Nord-Fron is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vinstra. Other population centers in the municipality include the villages of Fefor, Kvam, and Skåbu.

The municipality is the 95th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Nord-Fron Municipality is the 174th most populous municipality in Norway, with a population of 5,553. The municipality's population density is , and its population has decreased by 3.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The prestegjeld of Fron was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838 when the new formannskapsdistrikt law was enacted. On 1 January 1851, Fron Municipality was divided in two. The northwest portion became Nord-Fron Municipality (population: 4,685), and the southeast portion became Sør-Fron Municipality (population: 3,421).

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Sjoa area (population: 413) was transferred from Nord-Fron Municipality to the neighboring Sel Municipality. Then, on 1 January 1966, Nord-Fron Municipality (population: 5,758) and Sør-Fron Municipality (population: 3,648) were merged to form a new Fron Municipality (with similar borders to the old Fron Municipality that existed from 1838 to 1851 minus the Sjoa area which was then part of Sel Municipality).

The 1966 merger was not well-liked among the residents of the new municipality. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed. Nord-Fron Municipality (population: 6,131) and Sør-Fron Municipality (population: 3,509) were recreated using their old borders from 1965.

Historically, the municipality was part of the old Oppland county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fron farm () since the first Fron Church was built there. The first element is which means "northern". The last element is uncertain, but it may come from the word , which means "earth" or "land". Thus the name of the municipality is "(the) northern (part of) Fron" (since the parish of Fron was divided in 1851 into a "north" and a "south" part). Historically, it was called Nordre Fron, using another word that also means "north". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Nordre Fron. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Nord-Fron, using an alternate word for "north".

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 18 July 1980. The official blazon is "Gules, a horse forcené Or" (). This means the arms have a red field (background), and the charge is a Dole Gudbrandsdal horse rearing up on its hind legs. The horse has a tincture of Or, which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The Fron area has a long-standing tradition in horse breeding and is one of the main centres of horse breeding in Norway. Historically, the old Fron municipality used unofficial arms with a horse on it. After Fron was divided into Nord- and Sør-Fron in 1977, Nord-Fron chose these arms. Hallvard Trætteberg designed the arms. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has four parishes () within Nord-Fron Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Churches in Nord-Fron MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtKvamKvam ChurchKvam1952KvikneKvikne ChurchKvikne1764SkåbuSkåbu ChurchSkåbu1927SødorpSødorp ChurchVinstra1752Sødorp ChapelVinstra1929

History + Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Nord-Fron by country of origin in 2017AncestryNumber 74 53 39 31 28 21 18 The Nord-Hoge farm in the Sødorp parish of Nord-Fron Municipality is the legendary home of Per Gynt. Per was made famous by Peter Asbjørnsen's folk tales and Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt.

The body of Captain Sinclair is buried in Kvam.

The small Kvam Church, built in 1775, was burned down during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was rebuilt after the war.

Geography Nord-Fron Municipality is bordered to the northwest by Sel Municipality, to the east and south by Sør-Fron Municipality, in the south by Øystre Slidre Municipality, and to the southwest by Vågå Municipality. The municipality stretches from the Rondane mountains in the north to the Jotunheimen mountains in the southwest. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Heimdalshøe, on the border with Vågå Municipality.

There are two main population centres in Nord-Fron: the town of Vinstra in the central part of the municipality and the village of Kvam in the north. Kvam is located at the northern end of the Peer Gynt Road, which passes through high roads with excellent views of the Jotunheimen, Dovrefjell, and Rondane mountain.

Lakes in the area include Feforvatnet, Olstappen, Øyangen, and Vinstervatna. Mountains in the region include Gravdalsknappen, Heimdalshøe, Hornflågan, Ingulssjøhøi, Saukampen, Sikkilsdalshøa, Styggehøe, and Smiubelgen.

Government Nord-Fron Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Gudbrandsdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council of Nord-Fron Municipality is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Nord-Fron Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:

1851–1853: John J. Harildstad 1854–1854: Rev. N.W. Christie 1855–1855: John J. Harildstad

1862–1862: Peder O. Brandvold

1870–1871: Peder O. Brandvold 1872–1877: Tjøstel Harildstad 1878–1881: Johan A. Bøe 1882–1893: Johannes Kongslie 1894–1898: Ole Iversen Teige (V) 1899–1901: Ole Larsen 1902–1907: Ole Iversen Teige (V) 1908–1910: Johannes Solbraa 1910–1919: Johannes Krukhaug (Ap) 1919–1922: O.E. Hagen (Ap) 1922–1928: Hans Kjørum (Ap) 1928–1931: Albert Kvammen (Ap) 1931–1934: Thor Aasmundstad (Bp) 1931–1940: Albert Kvammen (Ap) 1941–1942: Petter M. Sandbu (NS) 1942–1945: Per M. Myrhaugen (NS) 1945–1955: Albert Kvammen (Ap) 1956–1965: Paul Brenna (Ap) (1966–1977: part of Fron Municipality) 1977–1983: Tollef Beitrusten (Ap) 1983–2007: Gunnar Tore Stenseng (Ap) 2007–2011: Tove Haugli (Ap) 2011–2015: Olav Røssum (Sp) 2015–2021: Rune Støstad (Ap) 2021–present: Anne-Marie Olstad (Ap)

Attractions

Royal residence The Royal Mountain Chalet, Prinsehytta, is located in the Sikkilsdalen valley in Nord-Fron. It is used as a royal residence by the Norwegian royal family for hunting trips and during the Easter and winter holidays.

Eidefoss petroglyphs The rock carvings at Eidefoss are located on the east side of the river south of the white water.

National parks Rondane National Park, which lies partially in Nord-Fron Municipality, was the first Norwegian National Park, established on 21 December 1962. In 2003, Rondane National Park was enlarged, and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged. Jotunheim National Park is not technically in Nord-Fron Municipality, but its southern border brushes Nord-Fron's western border.

Sister cities Nord-Fron has sister city agreements with the following places: - Hedemora, Dalarna County, Sweden - Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Notable people Peder Per Veggum (1768 in Nord-Fron – 1836), an artist and rose painter, a cabinet carpenter and woodcarver; associated with the decorative folk art of Rosemaling Ole Paulssøn Haagenstad (1775 in Fron – 1866), a farmer and Norwegian politician Jacob Smith Jarmann (1816 in Nord-Fron – 1894), a firearms designer, invented the Jarmann M1884 rifle Hallstein Høgåsen (born 1937 in Nord-Fron), a theoretical physicist, main field elementary particle physics Grete Berget (1954 in Vinstra – 2017), a journalist and Norwegian politician Geir Helgemo (born 1970 in Vinstra), a professional bridge player and resident of Monaco Øystein Skar (born 1985 in Vinstra), a pianist and composer

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway