Place:Voss, Hordaland, Norway

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Voss is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, Oppheim, Stalheim, and Vinje.

The municipality is the 35th largest by area of Norway's 356 municipalities. Voss is Norway's 77th most populous municipality, with a population of 15,740. Its population density is and its population has increased by 6% over the last 10 years.

History

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The parish of Voss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1867, a small area in northern Voss (population 28) was transferred to the municipality of Hosanger. On 1 January 1868, the municipality's northern district (population 2,009) was separated to form the new municipality of Vossestrand. This left 7,592 residents in Voss. On 21 August 1868, an unpopulated area of northern Voss was transferred to Vossestrand. On 1 January 1885, the western district of Voss (population 2,045) was separated to form the new municipality of Evanger. This left Voss with 5,403 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Voss (population 10,575), the municipality of Vossestrand (population 1,573), and most of the municipality of Evanger (population 1,075) were all merged into a new, larger municipality of Voss. (The rest of Evanger was merged into the new municipality of Vaksdal.)

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipality of Granvin merged with Voss, creating a larger Voss municipality. Before the merger, it was known as Voss kommune, but afterward it was called Voss herad, using the title herad which Granvin formerly had used.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Vǫrs, and this might have been the old name of lake Vangsvatnet. If so, the name probably is derived from the word vǫrr, meaning "wave" or "sea" (-s is a common suffix in old Norwegian place names).

Coat of arms

Voss's coat of arms was adopted in 2019 for use starting in 2020 after Granvin and Voss merged. The arms were similar to the old arms of Granvin Municipality and used the colors of the old arms of Voss. The arms are red with a white hardanger fiddle (Hardingfele), a Norwegian folk instrument. The area has an active folk-music tradition.

The old arms were granted on 8 July 1977. They show a deer on a red background. The arms are based on the seal of Peter, who was the owner of the farm Finne in Voss, one of the largest farms in Western Norway during the Middle Ages. He used a silver deer on a red background as his personal coat of arms in 1303. His son also used a deer on his seals, as did most of their relatives until 1460. The shape and position of the deer varied, but it always was the main figure.

Churches

The Church of Norway has seven parishes in Voss. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

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