Discover

'Dovre' is a municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway.
Dovre was separated from Lesja in 1861. The area upper Folldal was transferred from Dovre (and Oppland county) to Alvdal (and Hedmark county) in 1884.
The municipality is bordered on the north by the Oppdal municipality, on the east by Folldal, on the south by Sel and Vågå, and on the north-west by Lesja.
The highest peak is Snøhetta with a height of 2286 meters.
The administrative center is Dombås.

Contents

The name

Coat-of-arms

History

National Parks

Rondane National Park

Dovre National Park

Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park

References

External links

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Dovre (Norse ''Dofrar''), since the first church was built here. The meaning of the name is unknown, but a similar place name is also found in Sweden (''Dovra'').

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1986). It shows a muskox.

History

★ People have lived at Dovre for about 6000 years. In the stone age, they were hunters and fishermen.

★ Approximately 2000 years ago, the first farms were developed at this location.

★ Dovre is mentioned in the Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorre Sturlason. In AD 1021 King Olaf laid hold of all the best men, both at Lesja and Dovre, and forced them either to receive Christianity or suffer death, if they were not so lucky as to escape.

★ The old Kings' Road and Pilgrim's Route between Oslo and Trondheim in the 16th century passed up through the Gudbrandsdal and, leaving the valley of the Lågen downriver from present day Dombås, over the Dovre Mountains in the Dovre municipality. The heavy stream of pilgrims which yearly visited the shrine of St. Olaf in Trondheim prior to the Reformation resulted in erection of mountain stations where the pilgrims could find food and shelter. In speaking of this route, Gjerset quotes Peder Claussøn Friis as writing, “But in the winter people of high estate, as well as members of the court, travel mostly this way, because however high and deep the snow may fall, it blows together on the high mountains and becomes so hard men and horses can walk on it. The bonder run over it on ski and snowshoes. There are three stations: Drivstuen, Herdekinn and Fogstuen built on this same mountain in order that travelers may find lodging there. …at the stations there are implements and dry wood, so that the traveler may build themselves fire, and not suffer from cold, when they have to remain over night, and cannot find the way across the mountain.”

★ The Battle of Kringen took place in August 1612, just downstream of Dovre, where the Scottish force stayed on 24th August.

★ Dovre Church was built in 1736.

★ Dovre became a separate municipality in 1861.

National Parks

Rondane National Park

Rondane National Park, which lies partially in Dovre, was the first Norwegian National Park, established on December 21, 1962. In 2003 Rondane National Park was enlarged and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged.

Dovre National Park

Dovre National Park lies primarily in Dovre, although part lies in Folldal in Hedmark. It was established in 2003. Dovre National Park covers an area of 289 km² and the altitude varies from the tree line around 1000 meters to 1716 meters (''Folkstuhøe'' peak). It is located between Rondane, which lies to its southeast, and Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella on its northwest.

Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park

Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park was founded in 2002 and encompasses part of the former Dovre National Park area (as originally founded in 1974). It is 1,693 km² and encompasses areas in Dovre as well as in adjacent Lesja in Oppland and areas in Sør-Trøndelag, and Møre og Romsdal. It includes the Dovrefjell mountain range.

References

★ ''A History of Norway'' by Karen Larson, Princeton University Press, 1948

★ ''The History of the Norwegian People'' by Knut Gjerset, MacMillan, 1915

External links

★ The Battle of Kringen

★ Dovrenett

★ Dovre Kommune — in Norwegian