Aurlandsvangen

847 inhabitants for each km ²

The place Aurlandsvangen, sometimes called short Aurland, is the administrative seat of the Norwegian municipality of Aurland. It is located in Aurlandsdal on the east side of the Aurlandsfjord, a branch of the Sognefjord, Sogn og Fjordane in the province. Due to the settlement of the Aurland river flows separates the northern center of the southern district of Onstad.

History

The first traces of settlement of Aurlandsvangen can be found in the district of Onstad. There, court was held, there was a trading center and a guest house. In 1740, the two-storey house was built lensmannsgard in the Empire style, which was based on the urban architecture of Bergen. There was the local police. The local shop and the inn were pooled from two smaller houses to a greater. It was the end of the 18th century, partially rebuilt and got its present appearance in 1870. The northern district grew in the second half of the 19th century. The oldest branch is located north of the town square with the Vangen Motell and Åbelheim pensjonat in the center. In the 1860s, the site of a school and other stores that also settled in the north received a post office, a little later. The place generally has a large variety of house types and styles, where the settlement history can be read.

Population

In the 1845 census, the city had only 42 inhabitants. By 1860 the site already counted 120 inhabitants and 60 houses. 14 of which were leased. Many of the residents, however, had no land. They worked as artisans or laborers and subsisted mainly on fish. This earned them the name " strandsittarar " ( German: beach Seated ) a. In Sogn this was a known social structure, and concentrated in settlements along the fjords, as in Lærdalsøyri and Vikøyri.

Religion

In the late Middle Ages, there were two churches in Aurlandsvangen. The Rygg Kyrkja is no longer available. It is not known when this church was consecrated, but it is believed that was built in the 12th century and used as Sognkirche. There was a wooden church, probably a stave church, which occupied a central place in the north area of ​​the resort. From there, she was both the fjord and from the Aurland Valley from visible. With the spread of the plague in the 14th century there was a sharp decline in population in the municipality of Aurland. The church was not so frequently visited and their maintenance was neglected. In a letter written in 1544, King Frederik II described the Church as good as forfeited and ordered its demolition. The cemetery of the church was nevertheless continue to be used until 1806.

The stone church Vangen Kyrkja from the year 1202 was only 200-300 meters from the Rygg Kyrkja away. Since the church is not listed in public documents at the time of the plague, underlines the assumption that it was a private church of an estate or a family. Until the Reformation, in 1537 all the churches in Norway in private ownership were, because they belonged either to a court or acted as Sognkirche, and belonged to the people of the jeweilen Sogns. With time and the Degradation of the Rygg Kyrkja the Vangen Kyrkja took over until the Reformation, more and more function than Sognkirche. From 1537 all the churches and church property passed into state ownership and were sold only in the 18th century to supplement the state treasury. The Vangen Kyrkja, like all the other churches in the municipality of Aurland, the Vogt Hans Thiis Nagel bought in 1725., You remained in private ownership until 1889, when the community it bought. The church was restored three times in total, for the first time in the 18th century, then in the 1860s and most recently 1926. During the last restoration, opened the roof and put the old wall painting restores previously covered. The stained glass windows are from the artist Emanuel Vigeland. The porch in front of the west pediment was removed and parts of the former ceiling construction with the ceiling paintings was exploited for the establishment of a separate bell tower.

Economy and infrastructure

Traffic

In 1916 a road was built between Aurlandsvangen and the neighboring village of Flåm. 1991 direction of the mountains and the Flenjatunnel Gudvangatunnel were opened and in June 2001 the Lærdalstunnelen by Laerdal. The latter is currently (2013 ) with more than 24 km, the longest road tunnel in the world. Thus, the continuous hardy road link E16 from Oslo to Bergen was created. Aurlandsvangen today lies directly in this important for Norway connection. The old road Fv 243 over the mountains into the neighboring municipality of Laerdal. Is known under the name Snøvegen and only as a side road today used. Since 1980 is across the street Fv 50 connect to the Hallingdal.

Before the construction of winter roads fixed Aurlandsvangen was to reach in winter only by boat. Since the mid 19th century, developed in the municipality of foreign tourism and so received Aurlandsvangen in the 1870s, an investor who was suitable for steamships. In addition, the site now has a small marina in Onstad.

Tourism

Since the 1850s, the English Lord Garvagh came with his servants, regularly Aurlandsvangen. Furthermore, he invited his friends and brought his son born in 1852 with the Aurland. The English nobility found shelter at the local inn. Since then the house popularly known as Lord House or English house was known. Lord Garvagh purchased the fishing rights for the Flåmselvi and Aurland, which he retained until his death in 1872. His fishing rights over his son, who also undertook numerous trips to Aurland. After the fish travel song, which ended in the fall, he indulged the reindeer hunting in the surrounding mountains. There he had several hunting lodges built are obtained from the two.

By connecting to the neighboring town of Flåm Aurlandsvangen today benefits from tourism. There is a port located on the railway line Flåmsbana and an investor for large cruise ships. In Aurlandsvangen the Snøvegen starts after Lærdalsøyri, one of 18 nationally funded tourist routes in Norway. From the viewpoint Stegastein, which lies on this route, you have a view over the town, the Aurlandfjord and Aurlandsvangen opposite mountains Flenjaeggi. The latter part of the World Heritage Nærøyfjorden.

Education

Aurlandsvangen has a kindergarten and a school for grades one through ten. The school has a sports ground. The Sogn og jord - Hagebruksskule is a secondary school for horticulture and agriculture.

When the last cop Ole AM Onstad died in 1929, the home club took over the house lensmannsgard and set up a museum of local history in it. Among other things, it has a collection of counter- Standen, who belonged Per Sivle, a Norwegian writer from the neighboring village of Flåm.