For the municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway see Vang, Oppland.

Vang is a former municipality in Hedmark

Hedmark

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...

 county, Norway.

Vang was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

). The city of Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

 was separated from Vang in 1849. Furnes was separated from Vang in 1891. Vang was merged with Hamar January 1, 1992.

Prior to the merger of Hamar its administration center was located in Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

 (i.e., outside of its own municipality). Vang had 9,103 residents and an area of 327 km². There was strong local opposition, with one poll showing 95% of former Vang residents opposed to incorporation into Hamar. Support in Hamar was stronger as Vang was a prosperous farming municipality, while Hamar suffered from urban decay.

The sponsor for the consolidation was Odd Aspeli (of the Arbeiderpartiet). He took over as Mayor in Hamar after consolidation and remained as Mayor until 1999. Another chief sponsor against consolidation, Einar Busterud

Einar Busterud

Einar Busterud is a Norwegian politician.Since 1999 he has been the mayor of Hamar. He was first elected to the Hamar city council in 1991. He does not represent a political party, but the local list By- og bygdelista. In 2010, he announced he would not be seeking reelection.-References:...

, then assumed the position of Mayor.

Gåsbu Ski Center lies in Vang Almenning, and has served as the backup venue for the Holmenkollrennene. The national cross-country skiing championship was last held here in 2002.

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old farm Vang (Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 Vangr), since the first church was built there. The name is identical with the word vangr m 'field, meadow'.

Early history

Archeological evidence provides ties between the Vendel era

Vendel era

In Swedish prehistory, the Vendel era is the name given to a part of the Germanic Iron Age ....

 culture in Uppland

Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...

 and Vang in the period from 600-800 AD. Most notable is finding of a fine examples of a Vendel Culture style ring sword in Vang burial mounds; each sword's hilt is adorned with a heavy gold ring upon which oaths were sworn.

Åker gård (Aaker farm) in Vang was the site of an ancient Thing

Thing (assembly)

A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...

 (ting) place; it was there that Magnus I

Magnus I of Norway

Magnus I , known as the Good or the Noble, was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047. He was an illegitimate son of king Olaf II of Norway, but fled with his mother in 1028 when his father was dethroned. In 1035 he returned to Norway and was crowned king at...

 agreed to share power with his uncle Harald Hardråde and the two became co-rulers. In the 11th century the Thing was moved to Eidsvol

Eidsvoll

is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.-Name:...

.

It remained a king’s farm during the Viking period, as well as a local headquarters for the military. At the end of the Hannibal War

Hannibal War

The Torstenson war, Hannibal controversy or Hannibal War was a short period of conflict between Sweden and Denmark–Norway which occurred in 1643 to 1645 during the waning days of the Thirty Years' War...

 General Georg von Reichwein was granted Åker gård as his residence. During the following years it continued to be the residence of senior military officers. Jørgen Otto Brockenhuus

Jørgen Otto Brockenhuus

Jørgen Otto Brockenhuus was a Dano-Norwegian officer.He was son of colonel Ove Brockenhuus and Sophie Spang. In his youth he served as a second lieutenant in the Netherlands and served in the royal guard in Denmark but belonged to the Norwegian military...

, founder of the Brockenhuss –Schack family, resided there in the early 18th century.

The nineteenth century

Vang municipality was established in 1837, when the municipality law came into effect. The municipality borders were those which had been established by a border commission in 1730. It was named after Vang church; since the early iron age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 the region had been known as Ridabu

Ridabu

Ridabu is a village and borough in Hamar municipality, Norway. Prior to 1992 it was a part of the rural municipality Vang....

.

In 1847 the executive council majority agreed that Hamar should be restored to city status, but the decision was controversial and some believed the basis for the decision was illogical. When Hamar achieved city status in 1849 0.4 km² of land was reassigned to it from Vang. Vang gave up additional land to Hamar in 1878, 1946, 1947 and 1965. In 1891 the district of Furnes was separated from Vang to create a municipality of its own.

The earliest village was Hjellum

Hjellum

Hjellum is a village in Hamar municipality, Norway. Prior to 1992 it was a part of Vang municipality.It is a former station on the Rørosbanen railway. It has a small coking works; the area around it has several coal mines....

 - a contraction of «Hjellum-by`n». It was there that the train station for the Rørosbanen

Rørosbanen

The Røros Line is a long railway line in Norway running between the towns of Hamar and Støren via Elverum and Røros. It connects to the Dovre Line at Hamar to Oslo and at Støren to Trondheim. The narrow gauge line was opened in 1877, running between Hamar and Trondheim, a total of...

 line between Elverum

Elverum

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Elverum...

 and Hamar stopped. In the same place Sanderud asylum (now hospital) was located.

During the Second World War, especially after 1944, many resistance fighters hid in Vangsåsa. About 70 persons found refuge in the Norwegian resistance Milorg

Milorg

Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....

's district 77 rural huts. On October 26, German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 troops assaulted one of the huts and two resistance fighters were killed. A third escaped miraculously.

After 1947 the Østland District Commandos had their headquarters at Åker gård.

After the Second World War more villages developed: Ridabu

Ridabu

Ridabu is a village and borough in Hamar municipality, Norway. Prior to 1992 it was a part of the rural municipality Vang....

, Ingeberg

Ingeberg

Ingeberg is a village in the municipality of Hamar, Norway. Its population is 629. Postal code NO-2323. The first document mentioning the village is dated 1339 and is in the state archives at Hamar....

, Vangli and Wik

Wik

Wik may refer to:* Wik peoples, several Australian Aboriginal groups of Cape York Peninsula* Wik languages...

.

(For additional early history, see also Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

.)

People with connections to Vang

• Werner Hosewinckel Christie
  Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1877–1927)
  Werner Hosewinkel Christie was a Norwegian agricultural researcher.-Personal life:He was born in Hommelvik as a son of engineer Johan Koren Christie and Catherine Frederike Blom. He was a grandnephew of Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie and Edvard Eilert Christie and a nephew of politician Hans...
  
  
• Werner Christie
  Werner Hosewinckel Christie (officer)
  Werner Hosewinckel Christie was a Norwegian air force officer, who reached the rank of major general in the Royal Norwegian Air Force.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Tor Karseth
• Abraham Pihl
• Matthias Stoltenberg