Flesberg

Flesberg is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lampeland.

The economy of Flesberg is dominated by forestry and agriculture, as well as the cluster of high-tech industries in neighbouring Kongsberg.

Etymology
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Flesberg farm (Old Norse: Flesberg), since the first church was built here. The first element is fles which means "rock" and the last element is berg which means "mountain".

Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 10 March 1989. The arms show two tømmerklaver to represent forestry – and also the letter F.

History
Flesberg Stave Church was built around the year 1250. After reconstruction in 1735, the church conformed with cruciform plan. The municipality of Flesberg was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Jondalen was transferred from Flesberg to the neighboring municipality of Kongsberg on 1 January 1964.

Geography
The municipality is divided into the parishes Flesberg, Lyngdal, and Svene. Most of the population lives in the four villages of Svene, Lampeland, Flesberg, and Lyngdal. The municipal area is 560 km². In the western part of Flesberg, the landscape rises steeply to the mountain area of Blefjell, a popular tourist destination.

Notable people

 * Finn Qvale (1873–1955) a military officer, cartographer and sports official
 * Jul Låg (1915-2000) a scientist and soil researcher
 * Hallvard Bakke (born 1943) a Norwegian politician

Sister cities
The following cities are twinned with Flesberg:
 * 🇸🇪 - Falkenberg, Halland County, Sweden
 * 🇺🇸 - Fosston, Minnesota, United States
 * - Lejre, Region Sjælland, Denmark
 * 🇫🇮 - Savitaipale, Etelä-Suomi, Finland