Jølster

General information

The parish of Jølster was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The original municipality was identical to the Jølster parish (prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Ålhus and Helgheim. On 1 January 1964, the farm area of Førde in the neighboring municipality of Breim (population: 38) was transferred to Jølster municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Jølstra river which runs through the lower parts of the municipality. The name (Old Norse: Jólmstr) is a word that describes the noise and rumble of the river.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms were granted on 22 July 1983. The arms are derived from the arms of Audun Hugleiksson from Hegranes in the present municipality, who died in 1302. He was a Middle Ages nobleman who lived in Jølster and built Audunborg, one of only two private stone castles in Norway. On his seals, he used a shield with a rose, surrounded with a bordure of fleur-de-lis. The arms of Jølster are derived from this bordure. The symbol is gold on a red background.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Jølster. It is part of the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Jølster, 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.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Jølster is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:

Mayor

The mayor (ordførar) of a municipality in Norway is a representative of the majority party of the municipal council who is elected to lead the council. Oddmund Klakegg of the Centre Party was elected mayor for the 2011-2015 term.

Geography

The Jølstravatnet lake splits the municipality in half, which creates a centre of population at each end of the lake: Skei in the eastern end of the lake and Vassenden (English: the water-end) in the western part, where the river Jølstra starts. A small end of the lake Breimsvatnet crosses over into the municipality of Jølster.

Jølster is bordered to the north by the municipalities of Stryn and Gloppen, to the east by Luster, to the southeast by Sogndal, and to the south and west by Førde. The Jostedalsbreen National Park lies partially in this municipality.

Economy

Tourism is one of the largest industries in Jølster, and there are hotels, campsites, and a number of tourist facilities in each centre of the municipality. In addition to tourism, agriculture and construction are the other most important industries.

Astruptunet

Astruptunet was the home of the painter Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928) for the last fourteen years of his life. The Astrup Farm (Astruptunet) was the artist's home and small farm, but today it is a museum and art gallery, kept as it was in Astrup's days, nestled among the steep but fertile slopes on the south side of Jølstravatn. The barn was torn down and rebuilt as a gallery, but in the same style as the old barn. The gallery has permanent exhibitions of Astrup's work such as paintings, graphics, wood-engraving plates and sketches. Most of his scenes have been taken from Jølster and Nikolai Astrup has since remained one of the most Norwegian of our national artists.

Nikolai Astrup lived most of his life in Jølster. Astrup often is regarded as the artist of Western Norway, as he found virtually all of his motives in his home surroundings. He's considered the "most Norwegian" of all the national artists of Norway.

Eikaas Gallery

Another Norwegian painter and graphic artist, Ludvig Eikaas, is closely connected to Jølster. The artist grew up in Jølster, but later moved to Oslo. He is among other things famous for his non-figurative art and portraits/self-portraits.

The Eikaas Gallery was originally an old dairy farm in Ålhus that was purchased by the municipality of Jølster and converted to a modern art gallery. The collection contains about 300 works of art by Ludvig Eikaas. Since the opening of the Eikaas Gallery in 1994, many tourists have stopped to enjoy the "humorous madness" and other varieties of the art of Ludvig Eikaas.

Jølstra Museum

The Jølstra museum is a private village green with many original Jølstra buildings and a collection of around 3,000 artifacts. There are also exhibitions of paintings by Ludvig Eikaas and Oddvar Torsheim and of Jølster textiles.

Jølster Alpine Ski Centre

Jølster can offer you several alternatives for skiing enthusiasts. Jølster alpine ski centre lies at Vassenden. Here you can enjoy yourself on the slopes or you can take the lift to the top and crosscountry ski through the valley. There are lighted ski trails in the villages of Årdal and Dvergsdalen. Jølster also has many wild and beautiful mountains for Telemark skiing enthusiasts.

Notable residents