Jostedal


Jostedal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It was located in the Jostedalen valley in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Luster, north of the village of Gaupne. The administrative centre was located near the Jostedal Church in the central part of the valley.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was probably Jǫstrudalr. The first element is then the genitive of Jastra and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The river name is probably derived from jǫstr which means "yeast". The water in the river comes from glaciers, and in summer time the river gets "frothy" or "foamy" due to all of the melting ice and the many waterfalls.

History

Jostedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Jostedal municipality was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Luster and Hafslo which created a new, larger Luster Municipality.

Geography

The former municipality consisted of Jostedalen valley which empties into the Gaupnefjord at the village of Gaupne. The Gaupnefjord is an arm of the Lustrafjorden, which is an arm of the famous Sognefjord, the second largest fjord in the world. There are three major glacial lakes in the area: Tunsbergdalsvatn, Nigardsbrevatn, and Styggevatn. Other lakes in Jostdedal include Austdalsvatnet and Styggevatnet.
The river Jostedøla runs through the valley up to its headwaters at the Jostedalsbreen glacier, a plateau glacier which is the European mainland's largest with an area of. Jostedalsbreen National Park and Breheimen National Park are located on either side of the Jostedalen valley.

Government

Municipal council

The municipal council of Jostedal was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Notable residents