Luster, Norway - Wikiwand

Luster is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative centre is the village of Gaupne. Other villages in Luster include Fortun, Hafslo, Indre Hafslo, Jostedal, Luster, Nes, Ornes, Skjolden, Solvorn, and Veitastrond.

Quick Facts Country, County ...

Luster Municipality Luster kommune
Municipality
Lyster herred (historic name)
View of the village of Luster
Flag Coat of arms
Vestland within Norway
Luster within Vestland
Coordinates: 61°29′38″N 07°19′46″E
Country	Norway
County	Vestland
District	Sogn
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Gaupne
Government
• Mayor (2023)	Andreas Wollnick Wiese (Sp)
Area
• Total	2,706.34 km² (1,044.92 sq mi)
• Land	2,596.74 km² (1,002.61 sq mi)
• Water	109.61 km² (42.32 sq mi) 4.1%
• Rank	#17 in Norway
Population (2023)
• Total	5,302
• Rank	#176 in Norway
• Density	2/km² (5/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+5.2%
Demonym	Lustring^[1]
Official language ^[2]
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4644^[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Luster is centered around the inner branch of the Sognefjord, which is called the Lustrafjorden. Its landscape includes fjords, steep mountains, water-abundant waterfalls, blue glaciers, and valleys. Both Jostedalsbreen National Park and Breheimen National Park are partially located in this municipality. The Sognefjellsvegen road goes over a mountain pass in eastern Luster.

The 2,706-square-kilometre (1,045 sq mi) municipality is the 17th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Luster is the 176th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,302. The municipality's population density is 2 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.2/sq mi) and its population has increased by 5.2% during the previous 10-year period.^[4]^[5]

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Luster be closed.^[6]

General information

Summarize

Perspective

Lyster was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was identical to the Lyster parish (prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Fortun, Dale, Nes, and Gaupne. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the neighboring municipalities of Hafslo and Jostedal were merged with Luster, forming a much larger municipality. After the merger, Luster had 5,854 residents.^[7]

Since the consolidation of the three municipalities of Hafslo, Jostedal and Luster in 1963, the area has been characterized by scattered rural settlements and large distances between these settlements. Luster was the largest municipality by area in the old Sogn og Fjordane county.^[8]

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly created Vestland county after Sogn og Fjordane and Hordaland counties were merged.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Lustrafjorden (Old Norse: Lústr) and the village of Luster which grew up along the fjord. The name is derived from the word ljóss which means "light" or "bright", referring to the bright color of the water from the glaciers.^[9] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Lyster. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Luster.^[10]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 20 April 1990. The official blazon is "Azure, a tilia curled argent forming an annulet" (Norwegian: På blå grunn ein sølv linderanke lagt i sirkel). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a tilia branch curled into a circle. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms are inspired by an old woodcarving found in the Urnes Stave Church which is located in the municipality. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn from Nordfjordeid. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Churches

The Church of Norway has eight parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Luster. It is part of the Sogn prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.^[14]

More information Parish (sokn), Church name ...

**Churches in Luster**
Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Dale	Dale Church	Luster	1250
Fet og Joranger	Fet Church	Fet	1894
Fet og Joranger	Joranger Church	Joranger	1660
Fortun	Fortun Church	Fortun	1879
Gaupne	Gaupne Church	Gaupne	1908
Gaupne	Old Gaupne Church	Gaupne	1647
Hafslo	Hafslo Church	Hafslo	1878
Hafslo	Veitastrond Chapel	Veitastrond	1928
Jostedal	Jostedal Church	Jostedal	1660
Nes	Nes Church	Nes	1909
Solvorn	Solvorn Church	Solvorn	1883
Solvorn	Urnes Stave Church	Ornes	1130

Government

Summarize

Perspective

Luster 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.^[15] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Luster is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.