world.wikisort.org - Norway

Gjerstad is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Sørlandet, in the southeastern part of the county, along the border with Telemark county.[3] The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gjerstad. Other villages in the municipality include Ausland, Eikeland, Fiane, Gryting, Østerholt, Rød, Sundebru, and Vestøl.

Gjerstad kommune
Municipality
View of Gjerstad from the Gjerstadvatnet
Flag Coat of arms Agder within Norway
Gjerstad within Agder
Coordinates: 58°53′33″N 08°57′24″E
Country	Norway
County	Agder
District	Østre Agder
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Gjerstad
Government
• Mayor (2015)	Inger Løite (Ap)
Area
• Total	322.13 km2 (124.38 sq mi)
• Land	307.57 km2 (118.75 sq mi)
• Water	14.56 km2 (5.62 sq mi)  4.5%
• Rank	#256 in Norway
Population  (2022)
• Total	2,427
• Rank	#258 in Norway
• Density	7.9/km2 (20/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−2.1%
Demonyms	Gjersdøl Gjersdøling[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4211
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

The 322-square-kilometre (124 sq mi) municipality is the 256th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gjerstad is the 258th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,427. The municipality's population density is 7.9 inhabitants per square kilometre (20/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]

General information

The parish of Gjerstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The borders have not changed since that time.[6]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gjerstad farm (Old Norse: Geirreksstaðir), since the Gjerstad Church was built there. One explanation of the name says that the first element is the genitive case of the male name Geirrekr and the last element is staðir which means "homestead" or "farm".[7][8] Another possibly explanation of the first part of the name says that it comes from the word geirr which means "spear". Historically, the name has been spelled Gerikstadum (c. 1400), Gierestat (c. 1567), Gierrestad, and Gjerrestad.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 18 April 1986. The arms show three white or silver knives on a red background. The knife was chosen as a symbol for the smithies and knife makers in the municipality. Knife making has long been a local tradition for which the village is well known.[9]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gjerstad. It is part of the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Churches in Gjerstad

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Gjerstad	Gjerstad Church	Gjerstad	1848

History

Until about 1650, the prestegjeld of Gjerstad (the precursor to today's municipality) was named Vissedal (from vidr-ser-dalr meaning "wood-sea-dale"), a very proper description of the area. Gjerstad has been inhabited from the Stone Age and Viking Age through modern times. Agriculture has long been important, and until only decades ago the more marginal outfields in Upper Gjerstad were still utilized. Forestry also provided an important historic economic contribution, and logs were driven on rivers and streams in the municipality. To aid log transport by floating, numerous dams were constructed. Eikeland Ironworks were a significant contribution to the economy as well.

Geography

Gjerstad municipality has numerous glacially formed features, including a U-shaped valley, tarns, and lakes, most notably the large lake Gjerstadvatnet. It located in Agder county and it is bordered to the north by Nissedal and Drangedal municipalities (both in Vestfold og Telemark county); to the east by Kragerø municipality (also in Telemark); to the south by Risør municipality; and to the southwest by Vegårshei municipality. There are several larger roads that traverse Gjerstad: European route E18, Norwegian County Road 417, and Norwegian County Road 418.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Gjerstad, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.[10] The municipality falls under the Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Gjerstad is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:

Attractions

• The remains of Eikeland Ironworks can still be seen in the upper valley. Gjerstad was known for its handmade knives and the coat-of-arms recognizes this heritage.
• Horga was a former pagan place of sacrifice which was destroyed by Olav Trygvason, during the introduction of Christianity to Gjerstad. It lies 300 metres (980 ft) from Holmen Gård.
• Holmen Gård in Gjerstad (Norwegian: Holmen Gård i Gjerstad) is the site of a former farm. It was a Norwegian national center for folk art and handicraft until it was sold into private ownership in 2013. The site has been awarded the St. Olaf's Rose (Olavsrosa), a hallmark for Norwegian Heritage which designates especially distinguished places.

• 
  Eikeland verk building
• 
  Road with houses at the Eikeland verk in 1939
• 
  View of the buildings at Holmen Gård, Photo: ©Torgrim Landsverk
• 
  Main house at Holmen Gård, Photo: ©Torgrim Landsverk

Notable residents

• Hans Mathias Abel (1738–1803) the priest at Gjerstad Church 1785 to 1804
• Søren Georg Abel (1772–1820) a Norwegian priest and politician, the priest at Gjerstad from 1804 to 1821
• Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829), a distinguished Norwegian mathematician spent his boyhood in the rectory at Gjerstad, died young of TB
• Svenum Jensen Vævestad (1849 in Gjerstad – 1898) a farmer and politician
• Morten Ansgar Kveim (1892 in Gjerstad – 1966) a pathologist, described the Kveim test
• Magnhild Hagelia (1904 in Gjerstad – 1996) a Norwegian politician
• Jan Olav Olsen (born 1950) a politician, Mayor of Gjerstad, 1991 to 1999
• Inger Løite (born 1958 in Gjerstad) a Norwegian politician
• Knut Magne Valle (born 1974 in Gjerstad) a heavy metal guitarist, songwriter, composer, recording studio owner, record producer and music arranger
• Torbjørn Urfjell (born 1977) a Norwegian politician

References

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Aust-Agder travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Welcome to Holmen Gård in Gjerstad
• Gjerstad.org (in Norwegian)
• Culture in Gjerstad on the map (in Norwegian)

На других языках

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[de] Gjerstad

Gjerstad ist eine Kommune im norwegischen Fylke (Provinz) Agder mit 2427 Einwohnern (Stand: 1. Januar 2022). Die Gemeinde befindet sich im Südosten des Landes.

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- [en] Gjerstad

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[ru] Ерстад

Ерстад (норв. Gjerstad) — коммуна в губернии Эуст-Агдер в Норвегии. Административный центр коммуны — город Ерстад. Официальный язык коммуны — нейтральный[1]. Население коммуны на 2007 год составляло 2519 чел. Площадь коммуны Ерстад — 322,14 км², код-идентификатор — 0911.

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