Everything about Eidsvoll totally explained
» For the town in Australia, see Eidsvold, Queensland
is a municipality in the county of Akershus,
Norway.
Eidsvoll was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt). The municipality of
Feiring was merged with Eidsvoll January 1, 1964.
In addition to being a
commuter town for
Oslo, it also has agriculture and forestry industries. The main population and commercial centers are Sundet and Råholt.
Location
Eidsvoll municipality is bordered on the north by
Østre Toten on the west side of
Mjøsa and
Stange on the east side of the lake, in the east by
Nord-Odal, in Hedmark county. In the adjacent county of
Akershus to the southeast lies
Nes, to the south lies
Ullensaker, and to the west lie
Nannestad and
Hurdal.
History
Eidsvoll is mentioned in Old Norse manuscripts. In the 11th century it became the site of court and assembly (
ting) for eastern parts of Norway, replacing Vang, now a part of
Hamar in
Hedmark. Because of its access to the river
Vorma and the lake
Mjøsa has long provided a thoroughfare to northern parts of inland Norway. Eastern parts of Eidsvoll were for a short time the site of a minor gold rush when gold was found in 1758, and these areas are still known as
Gullverket, (the Gold works).
Eidsvoll Verk was opened to smelt iron ore by
Christian IV of Denmark in 1624, relying on the excellent water power from the
Andelva river. In 1688 it was owned by the director of the
Kongsberg silver mine, Schlanbusch, and remained in his family until 1781.
Carsten Anker came into possession of works in 1794, at which time it was in decay since many of the surrounding forests required for charcoal had been depleted. He restored it and set up the production of stoves and similar iron goods. He also took residence in Eidsvoll in 1811, rebuilding the house which is now the
Eidsvollbygningen.
Until recently, the main industry of Eidsvoll was agriculture, though the soil is rich in clay.
Eidsvoll was the site where the constitutional assembly met to
draft and sign the
Norwegian Constitution on
May 17 1814. The building (
Eidsvollbygningen) in which the meetings were held is today a famous museum.
In
1854, Eidsvoll became the end point for the first
train line in Norway from
Oslo. This became the transit point for travel with the steamship
Skibladner to
Hamar,
Gjøvik, and
Lillehammer.
Henrik Wergeland was the eldest son of Professor
Nikolai Wergeland (
1780–
1848), who had been a member of the constitutional assembly and was pastor of Eidsvoll. Although not born there, the poet and his sister
Camilla Collett were brought up in the rectory there.
The name
The first element is the genitive case of the word
eid (
Norse eiđ), the last element is
voll (Norse
völlr) 'meadow, field'. The meaning of the word
eid is here 'road passing around a waterfall'. People from the districts around the lake
Mjøsa sailing down the river
Vorma, and people from
Romerike sailing up the same river, both had to enter land here to pass the waterfall
Sundfossen. Because of this, the site became an important meeting place long before the introduction of Christianity.
Until 1918 the name was written "Eidsvold".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is modern dating to 1987 and shows a
weighing scale - to represent justice.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Eidsvoll'.
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