Øystre Slidre

Øystre Slidre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Heggenes. Other villages in the municipality include Hegge, Rogne, Volbu, Moane, Skammestein, Beito, and Beitostølen.

The 969 km2 municipality is the 120th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Øystre Slidre is the 221st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,291. The municipality's population density is 3.7 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 2.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Øystre Slidre was established in 1849 when the old municipality of Slidre (created in 1838) was divided into Øystre Slidre (population: 2,406) and Vestre Slidre (population: 3,130). On 1 January 1882, a small area of Vang Municipality (population: 31) was transferred to the neighboring Øystre Slidre Municipality. On 1 January 1899, a small unpopulated area of Øystre Slidre was transferred to Vestre Slidre. On 1 January 2021, the Skjelgrenda area of Vestre Slidre was transferred to Øystre Slidre.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Slidre farm (Slíðrar) since the old Slidredomen church was built there. The name is probably derived from the word which means "sheath" (which is probably referring to a long depression near the church). In 1849, the municipality (and parish) was divided into two separate municipalities. The word (meaning "eastern") was added to the beginning of the name. Thus, the meaning of the name Østre Slidre is "(the) eastern (part of) Slidre". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Østre Slidre. On 11 September 1925, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Øystre Slidre, switching to a local dialect spelling for the same word.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 17 March 1989. The official blazon is "Plumetty azure and argent" (Dekt av blå og sølv skjell). This means the arms have a field (background) that is covered with a plumetty pattern with alternating tinctures of blue and argent (which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used). The arms are designed to look like tiles made of slate. This recognizes that the slate industry was a formerly important industry in the area. Slate roofing was very common in Valdres. The arms were designed by Odd Karlberg. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Gausdal. It is part of the Valdres prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

History
Båtskaret ("The boat pass") is a narrow pass along the mountain Bitihorn where in medieval times people from Øystre Slidre dragged their boats through, therefore the name. A bit further into the mountain there is a big lake called Vinstre with a lot of fine trout. As a result of a dispute between people from Valdres and people from Gudbrandsdalen, they could not leave their boats behind. Therefore, they had to resort to dragging their boats through Båtskaret. According to local folklore, the dispute began in medieval times with a young bride being married to an old man and a knight stealing his way over the mountains to rescue her.

Hegge Stave Church was originally constructed around the year 1216 in the village of Hegge. It has been extensively rebuilt and is mostly post-reformation. It contains a fine altarpiece (reredos) carved by Eistein Kjørn from Heidal between 1781 and 1782.

Geography
Øystre Slidre shares borders with the municipalities of Nord-Aurdal and Vestre Slidre in the south, Vang in the west, Gausdal, Sør-Fron, and Nord-Fron to the east, and up to the Valdresflya plateau at the border of Vågå in the north. Øystre Slidre is part of the traditional district of Valdres in central, southern Norway, situated between the valleys of Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal. Øystre Slidre measures about 45.1 km on a north–south axis and 39.8 km on an east–west axis.

The highest point is Øystre Rasletind at a height of 2010 m above sea level. About 73% of the land is over 900 m in elevation. More than 10% of the land is over 1300 m above sea level. Some of the notable mountains in the municipality include Gråhøi, Kalvemellen, Kvernhøi, Rabalsmellen, Raslet, Rundemellen, Skaget, and Skarvemellen. The lowest points lie at 410 m above sea level. Lakes and rivers cover 75 km2 of the area. The largest lakes are Vinstre, Yddin, Vangsjøen, Javnin, Olevatn, Nedre Heimdalsvatn, Øyangen, and Sandvatnet/Kaldfjorden/Øyvatnet.

Government
Øystre Slidre Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Vestre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Øystre Slidre is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Øystre Slidre (incomplete list):


 * 1945-1947: Gullik K. Hovi (V)
 * 1948-1955: Haldor Hegge (V)
 * 1956-1959: Knut Bjørnstad (Sp)
 * 1960-1963: Haldor Hegge (V)
 * 1964-1975: Knut Bjørnstad (Sp)
 * 1976-1979: Nils T. Windingstad (Sp)
 * 1980-1991: Knut Bergo (V)
 * 1992–1997: Terje Stenseng (Sp)
 * 1997–1999: Ola Fjelltun (Sp)
 * 1999–2003: Ove Skaret (Ap)
 * 2003-2011: Gro Lundby (Ap)
 * 2011-2019: Kjell Berge Melbybråten (Ap)
 * 2019-2023: Odd Erik Holden (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Bjarne Budal (Ap)

Economy
Because of the rugged landscape, farming is only possible on a small scale, but this is still one of the main sources of income. There are only about 30 km2 of agricultural land in the municipality. About 85% of farmers in the municipality use the high mountain pastures in the summer time.

The winter sports resort of Beitostølen, host to World Cup events in biathlon and cross-country skiing, is located here. It is the biggest tourist area in the municipality, and provides a large fraction of the municipality's income.

Notable people

 * Olav Beito (1901–1989), a linguist and academic
 * Ole Haldorsen Bjelbøle (1879–??), a farmer and politician
 * Torger Hovi (1905–1980), a politician and deputy mayor of Øystre Slidre from 1959–1961
 * Torleiv Bolstad (1915–1979), a Norwegian musician and Hardanger fiddle player