The name Flåm is documented as early as 1340 as Flaam. It is derived from the plural dative form of the Old Norse word flá meaning "plain, flat piece of land", and it refers to the flood plains of the Flåm River. at the inner end of Aurlandsfjorden
History
In 1670 Flåm Church was built, replacing an older stave church. In 1923, the construction of the Flåm Line railway was financed by the Norwegian Parliament. In 1942, regular operation of trains started on the Flåm Line. "In the 1960s, cruise ships stayed on the fjord" , according to Dagens Næringsliv. In 2000, the "new pier" was referred to in a government document.
The village of Flåm has since the late 19th century been a tourist destination. It currently receives almost 450,000 visitors a year. Most ride the Flåm Line between Flåm and Myrdal, one of the steepest railway tracks at 1 in 18 in the world. There are also a few spirals. A former rail station building in Flåm now houses a museum dedicated to the Flåm railway. The harbour of Flåm receives some 160 cruise ships per year.
Complaints about and suggested curbs on tourism
In a 2005 Bergens Tidende article, Kjetil Smørås cruise tourists trod down the pristine Norwegian nature, and destroy the foundation for Vestlandet's four entries on Unesco's World Heritage lists". In 2009, Jens Riisnæs said "We have the world's most beautiful nation, we don't need to follow cruise operators' premisser. They can go other places with their polluting ships. It is unwanted noise." In 2009, Dagens Næringsliv said that a report by Vestlandsforskning says that both "Flåm and Geiranger are nearing a limit in capacity. It might be an alternative and rather stand forth as a «relaxed», exclusive and somewhat less of a mass tourism, cruise destination." In a 2014 Dagens Næringsliv article, a farmer said that "Previously the smell of summer was that of grass that had been cut. Now it is tungolje" . Furthermore, "They talk about fish that has disappeared from the fjord. In Norway, cruise ships are permitted to dump overboard their greywater in the postcard-narrow fjord-arms. Furthermore, the news article says that defecation in public by tourists, is already a problem; the village's train station has the only public toilets, and 200,000 tourists are expected in the summer season. In 2014, tourism professor Arvid Viken said that "it is about time this tourism is evaluated somewhat more soberly than how it has been done in many municipalities for some years". Furthermore, this tourism "has low profit per tourist, but is often associated with considerable costs for" the municipal administrations.
