Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hensgardane, Nystuen, Øye, Ryfoss, and Tyinkrysset.
The municipality is the 55th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Vang Municipality is the 299th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,648. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 2.7% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
thumb|left|View of the Øye area
thumb|left|Drawing from 1820 of locals in their traditional clothing
thumb|left|[[Høre Stave Church]]
On 1 January 1838, the prestegjeld of Vang was established as a civil municipality (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1882, a small area of Vang Municipality (population: 31) was transferred into the neighboring Øystre Slidre Municipality. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time.
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 Vang farm () since the first Vang Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "field" or "meadow".
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted by royal decree on 26 June 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, within a tressure floury three swords bendwise Or" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three diagonal swords. The arms also have a border line with fleur-de-lis designs (tressure floury) going around the edge of the arms. The charge and border have a tincture of Or which means they are commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms are based on historic descriptions and depictions of the personal arms the a local medieval nobleman Sigvat of Leirhol. He was named as one of the members of the delegation that followed King Håkon V Magnusson to Copenhagen in 1309. Later, he became the local governor of Valdres and Hallingdal (Vang is part of the Valdres region). He played a major role in the development of the region and the arms can be seen on different places, including in the local Vang Church. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has four parishes () within Vang Municipality. It is part of the Valdres prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Vang Municipality
!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Heensåsen||Heensåsen Church||Hensgardane||1902
|-
|rowspan="1"|Høre||Høre Stave Church||near Ryfoss||1180
|-
|rowspan="1"|Vang||Vang Church||Vang i Valdres||1840
|-
|rowspan="3"|Øye||Øye Church||Øye||1747
|-
|Øye Stave Church||Øye||1965
|-
|St. Thomas Church||Nystuen||1971
|}
History
thumb|left|170px|[[Vang stone|Vangssteinen ]]
Vang, like the rest of Valdres, was originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet. In 1153, recognizing this, Cardinal Breakspear included these valleys in the Diocese of Stavanger.
The ancient Vang Church was the site of a legal court (thing) held by King Haakon VI in 1368. Here, he settled a boundary dispute. The boundary stone which resulted stands to this day.
|-
!Ancestry!!Number
|-
| || 55
|-
| || 44
|-
| || 25
|}
Smeddalen (Smith's Valley) immediately to the west of Nystuen, was for centuries the site of the church of St. Thomas på Filefjell. The earliest reference to it is in 1615, but it was apparently a stave church, so would have been much older. According to F.N. Stagg "It was reconditioned (c. 1615)… the priest at Vang preached there once a year–on July 2nd… many sought cures for their ailments in the miraculous powers possessed by splinters from its timbers…" The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestoppland og Valdres District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council
The municipal council of Vang Municipality is made up of 17 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 Vang 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:
- 1838–1838: Rev. Thomas Stang
- 1839–1840: Anfind O. Qvame
- 1841–1843: Nils N. Helle
- 1844–1844: Rev. Peter Schnitler
- 1844–1845: Nils N. Helle
- 1847–1849: Ole Pedersen Framstad
- 1850–1861: Nils Wangensteen
- 1862–1877: Nils Trondsen Thune
- 1878–1881: Torger E. Haalien
- 1881–1884: Thomas H. Kjersteen
- 1884–1897: Thorstein H. Kvale
- 1897–1898: Knut E. Berge
- 1898–1901: Jørgen Wangensten
- 1901–1904: Lars O. Kvien (H)
- 1905–1919: Kristoffer K. Lerhol (H)
- 1919–1922: Ivar A. Opdal
- 1923–1925: Ole Wangensten (Bp)
- 1925–1926: Ivar A. Opdal
- 1926–1928: Olav Nystuen (Bp)
- 1929–1931: Ole Kvale (Bp)
- 1931–1934: Andris Larsen Wangensten (Bp)
- 1934–1937: Olav Nystuen (Bp)
- 1937–1945: Andris Larsen Wangensten (Bp)
- 1945–1945: Helge Ellingbø (LL)
- 1945–1945: Endre Holien (LL)
- 1946–1948: Torstein Hamre (LL)
- 1948–1952: Nils Thune (LL)
- 1952–1959: John Opdal (LL)
- 1960–1968: Ove W. Kvien (LL)
- 1968–1975: Jørgen Garstad (LL)
- 1976–1995: Erling Øraker (Sp)
- 1996–2011: Knut Haalien (Sp)
- 2011–2023: Vidar Eltun (Ap)
- 2023–present: Jørand Ødegård Lunde (LL)
Geography
thumb|right|View from Øye
Vang is bordered to the north by Lom Municipality and Vågå Municipality, to the east by Øystre Slidre Municipality, to the southeast by Vestre Slidre Municipality, to the south by Hemsedal Municipality (in Buskerud county), and to the west by Lærdal Municipality and Årdal Municipality (in Vestland county).
Vang is part of the Valdres region in central, southern Norway. This region is situated between the Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal valleys.
Vang Municipality is on a north–south axis and on an east–west axis. The highest point is Kalvehøgde with a height of above sea level.