Sør-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 village of Hundorp. Other villages in the municipality include Gålå, Harpefoss, and Lia.

The municipality is the 153rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Sør-Fron Municipality is the 225th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,128. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 2.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Fron Municipality was established on 1 January 1838, when the new formannskapsdistrikt law came into force. On 1 January 1851, the municipality was divided in two: the northwestern part became Nord-Fron Municipality, with a population of 4,685, while the southeastern part became Sør-Fron Municipality, with a population of 3,421. On 27 July 1956, a small area of Sør-Fron Municipality, with seven residents, was transferred to the neighbouring Vestre Gausdal Municipality.

During the 1960s, many municipal mergers took place across Norway as a result of the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1966, Nord-Fron Municipality, with 5,758 inhabitants, and Sør-Fron Municipality, with 3,648 inhabitants, were merged to form a new Fron Municipality. Its borders were broadly similar to those of the old Fron Municipality that had existed from 1838 to 1851, except that the Sjoa area had been transferred from Nord-Fron Municipality to Sel Municipality.

The 1966 merger was not widely supported among residents of the new municipality. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed, and Nord-Fron Municipality, with a population of 6,131, and Sør-Fron Municipality, with a population of 3,509, were re-established along their 1965 borders.

Historically, Sør-Fron belonged to the former Oppland county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created Innlandet county, formed through the merger of Hedmark and Oppland.

Name

The municipality, originally the parish, is named after the old Fron farm, recorded in Old Norse as , since the first Fron Church was built there. The first element is , meaning "southern". The final element is uncertain, but may derive from , meaning "earth" or "land". The name therefore refers to the southern part of Fron, after the parish was divided in 1851 into northern and southern sections. Historically, the municipality was called Søndre Fron, using another word meaning "south". The name was also spelled Søndre Fron until 3 November 1917, when a royal resolution changed the official spelling to Sør-Fron.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 4 March 1988. The official blazon is "Vert, a club argent in bend" (). This means that the arms have a green field, or background, and that the charge is a club placed diagonally. The club has a tincture of argent, which is usually shown as white, or as silver when metal is used.

The club refers to the weapon associated with Kolbein Sterke in the account of the meeting between King Olav Haraldsson, the people of Fron and Dale-Gudbrand at Hundorp in 1021. The episode is recorded by Snorre Sturlusson. According to the saga account, King Olav directed attention to the rising sun while saying that their god was coming with light. As Dale-Gudbrand and the farmers looked toward the sun, Kolbein used the club to break the statue of Thor that stood at Hundorp. Snorre presents the event as leading to the Christianisation of the local population. The arms were designed by Amund Rudi. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish, or , within Sør-Fron Municipality. It is part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti, or deanery, in the Diocese of Hamar.

Churches in Sør-Fron MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtSør-FrønSør-Fron ChurchHundorp1792Espedalen ChapelEspedalen1974

Government Sør-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 Sør-Fron Municipality is made up of 19 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 Sør-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 († denotes dying in office):

1851–1851: Peder Nilsen 1852–1853: Østen Nørstegaard 1853–1856: Niels Forseth 1857–1865: Peder Nilsen 1866–1870: Knud B. Forr 1870–1870: Johan Bø 1871–1877: Knud B. Forr 1878–1883: Iver Isum 1884–1885: J. Bjerke 1886–1894: Anton Kongsli 1894–1895: Ivar Steig 1896–1897: Anton Kongsli 1898–1901: Thorvald Isum 1902–1904: Anton Kongsli 1905–1910: Ivar Steig 1911–1913: Even Sveipe (V) 1914–1919: Ivar Ivarsen Fosse 1920–1922: Ole Kjorstad 1923–1925: Anton O. Ringdal 1926–1928: Olaf Listad (Bp) 1929–1941: Egil Hernæs (Ap) 1942–1945: Aksel Bjerke (NS) 1945–1961: Egil Hernæs (Ap)† 1962–1963: Asbjørn Fevolden (Ap) 1964–1965: Iver Malerbakken (Ap) (1966–1977: part of Fron Municipality) 1977–1983: Jon Tofte (Ap) 1983–1991: Arne Hernæs (Ap) 1991–1995: Torstein Rudihagen (Ap) 1995–1999: Willy Heimstad (Ap) 1999–2011: Aksel Eng (Ap)† 2011–2011: Laila Nyhus Toppen (Ap) 2011–present: Ole Tvete Muriteigen (Sp)

Geography + Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Sør-Fron by country of origin in 2017AncestryNumber 85 37 32 18 16

Sør-Fron Municipality is bordered to the west by Nord-Fron Municipality, to the southwest by Øystre Slidre Municipality, to the south by Gausdal Municipality, to the east by Ringebu Municipality and Stor-Elvdal Municipality, and to the north by Folldal Municipality. The river Gudbrandsdalslågen runs through the central part of the municipality.

The lakes Atnsjøen, Olstappen, and Vinstervatna are located in the municipality. The municipality includes parts of the Gudbrandsdalen and Espedalen valleys. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Blåkollen.

Rondane National Park Rondane National Park, which lies partially in Sør-Fron, was the first Norwegian National Park, established in 1962. In 2003, Rondane National Park was enlarged and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged adjacent to the park.

Culture The famous play Peer Gynt is staged annually at Lake Gålå in a mountainous region of Sør-Fron as part of a festival. The play itself is supposed to have been set in a Norwegian location such as Gålå.

Notable people Dale-Gudbrand (1100s), a historical Norwegian Hersir who lived at a farm in Hundorp Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (1684–1754), a writer, philosopher, historian, and playwright who was brought up in Sør-Fron Andreas Brandrud (1868 in Sør-Fron – 1957), a professor, theologian, and church historian Oddvar Nygaard (1919 in Hundorp – 1985), an accordionist and composer

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway