Dovre
Dovre is a
municipality in the
county of Oppland,
Norway. It 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.
* 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 snow-shoes. 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.
|
Snøhetta (Photo courtesy of Marianne F. Pettersen) |
* Dovre became a separate municipality in
1861.
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.
*
Einbustugu - Museum*
Sigurd Einbu, 1866-1946, teacher and astronomer
A History of Norway by Karen Larson, Princeton University Press, 1948
The History of the Norwegian People by Knut Gjerset, MacMillan, 1915
*
The Battle of Kringen *
Dovrenett*
Dovre Kommune — in Norwegian
