Gran, Norway

Gran kommune
Municipality

View of Jaren in Gran

Coat of arms
Oppland within
Norway

Gran within Oppland
Coordinates: 60°26′28″N 10°29′44″E / 60.44111°N 10.49556°E / 60.44111; 10.49556Coordinates: 60°26′28″N 10°29′44″E / 60.44111°N 10.49556°E / 60.44111; 10.49556
Country Norway
County Oppland
District Hadeland
Administrative centre Jaren
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Inger Staxrud (GBL)
Area
 • Total 756 km2 (292 sq mi)
 • Land 658 km2 (254 sq mi)
Area rank 143 in Norway
Population (2010)
 • Total 13,363
 • Rank 82 in Norway
 • Density 20/km2 (50/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 4.2 %
Demonym(s) Gransokning
Granasokning[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0534
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.gran.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

 Gran  is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jaren. There is also a village of Gran located within the municipality.

The municipality of Gran was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Brandbu was separated from Gran on 1 January 1897, but it was merged back into the municipality of Gran on 1 January 1962.

General information

The Sister Churches

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gran farm (Old Norse: Grǫn), since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word grǫn which means "spruce".[2]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 11 December 1987. The coat-of-arms is red with two gold triangles stretching upwards with a bottony cross on the tip of each triangle. It is meant to represent the spires of the medieval Sister Churches which are located in the municipality. The arms were designed by Kari Ruud Flem from Jevnaker.[3]

History

Rural buildings at Hadeland Folkemuseum
Tingelstad Old Church

Granavollen is the site of the Sister Churches (Norwegian: Søsterkirkene), two stone churches from the Middle Ages. They are constructed side by side. The smaller and older is the Mariakirke, a single nave church built in the Romanesque style. The neighbouring Nikolaikirke is a three-aisled basilica, probably inspired by the construction of the St. Halvardskirke in Oslo. According to local folklore, the churches were built by two sisters. These two detested each other so much they could not share the same church. A more likely explanation however, is that the Mariakirke was built for the local congregation, while the Nikolaikirke was the main church for Hadeland parish. The Granavollen stone is located behind the Nikolaikirken.

At Tingelstad, there is another medieval stone church. It is dated to the 12th century and is called the Tingelstad old church. This church has survived even though it has not been in regular use for some 140 years. This is also the location of Hadeland Folkemuseum with a collection of buildings from the area, farm implements as well as a grave mound from the Viking Age and a copy of the 11th century Dynna stone. It also holds an archive of photographs and documents.

Economy

The economy of the municipality was in 2002 of NOK 24,098 in free income per inhabitant, and net debt per inhabitant was NOK 41,835 (also municipal economy, not private). Health care spendings represents about one third of the total budget, which is 7.5 per cent higher than the average for Norway.

Geography

Gran town hall.

Gran is part of the Hadeland region. It is bordered to the north by the municipalities of Søndre Land and Vestre Toten, to the east by Hurdal and Nannestad, to the south by Lunner and Jevnaker, and to the west by Ringerike. Areas of concentrated population include Moen, Brandbu, Gran, and Jaren.

Sister cities

View of Brandbukampen in Gran municipality

The following cities are twinned with Gran:[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (Anden halvdel) (in Norwegian) (4 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 140.
  3. ↑ "Informasjon om kommunevåpenet" (in Norwegian). Gran kommune. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  4. ↑ "Vennskapskommuner" (in Norwegian). Gran kommune. Retrieved 2009-01-01.

External links

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