Vennesla
| Vennesla kommune | ||
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| Municipality | ||
Setesdal Line railway museum in Vennesla municipality
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 Vennesla within Vest-Agder |
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Country | Norway | |
| County | Vest-Agder | |
| District | Sørlandet | |
| Administrative centre | Vennesla | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2003) | Torhild Bransdal (KrF) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 384 km2 (148 sq mi) | |
| • Land | 362 km2 (140 sq mi) | |
| Area rank | 244 in Norway | |
| Population (2013) | ||
| • Total | 13,986 | |
| • Rank | 83 in Norway | |
| • Density | 36/km2 (90/sq mi) | |
| • Change (10 years) | 5.1 % | |
| Demonym(s) | Venndøl[1] | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1014 | |
| Official language form | Neutral | |
| Website | www |
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Vennesla is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Vennesla was separated from Øvrebø in 1861. Øvrebø and Hægeland were merged with Vennesla again on January 1, 1964. Vennesla lies about 17 kilometres (11 mi) north of Kristiansand and has the third largest population in the county.
Contents
General information
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vennesla farm (Old Norse Vendilslá), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of vendill which means "small twig" (maybe used as a name of an arm of Venneslafjorden) and the last element is lá which means "swamp".
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 May 1971. The wavy bend in the arms symbolises the Otra river, which runs through the municipality. The trees symbolize forestry and the cogwheels symbolize industry.[2]
Geography
Vennesla is situated in the Vest-Agder county, Norway, around 17 kilometres (11 mi) north of Kristiansand. The neighboring municipalities are Marnardal and Songdalen in the west, in the east Birkenes and Iveland, in the northeast Evje og Hornnes, and in the south Kristiansand.
Economy
Vennesla has mainly been considered an industrial small town, with Hunsfos Fabrikker AS, a paper mill, as the cornerstone of the community. During recent decades, however, the number of employees has drastically declined from around 1,200 in the 1970s, to 200 in 2005 and 120 in 2007.In 2010 there is 135 employees at the paper mill. In 2011 Hunsfos Fabrikker AS will celebrate their 125 years as a paper mill. www.hunsfos.com
Vikeland hovedgård
There is a mansion in Vennesla, Vikeland hovedgård, which is said to be haunted by a ghost known as "the Blue Lady" (den Blå Dama). Mari, the Blue Lady, was a worker on the farm located there, and fell in love with the farm owner's son. They were not allowed to marry, so it is said Mari committed suicide by hanging herself in the "blue room", hence the title "the Blue Lady". Today, when weddings are held in the mansion, the owners of the property allow the Blue Lady's ghost to join the wedding festivities by setting an extra place for her at the table.
Vindbjart Football Club
The football club of Vennesla is Vindbjart FK, founded in 1896. Vindbjart is currently playing in the Norwegian Second Division and the stadium is Moseidmoen gress.
People from Vennesla
- Børre Knudsen (priest and anti abortion activist; 1937—2014)[3]
Twin Towns - Sister Cities
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Børre Knudsen er død
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of Vennesla at Wiktionary- Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Vest-Agder travel guide from Wikivoyage- Welcome to Vennesla - Tourist information
