Municipality ID NO-1644 Created from Holtaalen in 1855 Area 718 km² | Adm. Center Ålen Merged into Holtålen in 1972 Local time Sunday 12:56 AM | |
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Weather 6°C, Wind W at 16 km/h, 81% Humidity | ||
Ålen is a village and a former municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is the administrative centre of the municipality of Holtålen. The former municipality encompassed the southeastern half of the present-day municipality of Holtålen.
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Map of 7380 %C3%85len, Norway
The village of Ålen is located along the Gaula River and the Rørosbanen railway line. It is about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of the village of Haltdalen. The village is just northwest of the village of Renbygda. On the east side of the village is Ålen Church.
History
The municipality of Ålen was established in 1855 when it was split from the municipality of Holtaalen. Initially, Ålen had a population of 1,487. An uninhabited part of Ålen was moved to Røros in 1875. The remaining part of Holtålen changed its name to Haltdalen in 1937. On 1 January 1972, Ålen was merged with Haltdalen to re-form the old municipality of Holtålen. Prior to the merger Ålen municipality had a population of 1,944. On 21 April 1989, a small unpopulated part of Røros was transferred to Holtålen.
15 August 2011 Ålen experienced a big flood. This was the larspgest flood since 1940. More than one area was isolated, among them were the village center and Aunegrenda. The flood arrived during the night and consequently some people woke up trapped in their homes. A rescue helicopter was used to aid people to safety. No one was able to anticipate the flood, which was a result of constant, nightly downpour and it is estimated that between 50 mm to 80 mm of rain hailed down that night. There was a lot of damage on homes, cars, roads and public buildings, plus the majority of stores in the town centre were exposed with massive amounts of water often reaching a meter or more on the walls. The river was flowing over all the bridges, and made it impossible to cross with any vehicle. Additionally, the only suspension bridge in the area was twisted, deemed impassable and later rebuilt. Moreover, the municipality of Ålen had invested a large sum in a new football court and with only two days close to the unveiling it was ruined by the river. It was also rebuilt. In the wake of the flood, Ålen received money from the Norwegian government in aid to rebuild the village.