Editing Oppdal Municipality (section)

==History==
[[File:Oppdal Church.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Oppdal Church]] also known as "Marit Vang" {{credit|Daniel Northall – 28 Dec 2005}}]]
[[File:View_towards_Okla_and_the_ridge_up_against_Snydda_mountains.jpg|thumb|left|Autumn in the mountains, Oppdal Municipality]]
===Prehistory===
Oppdal is an alpine community which dates back to the Norwegian [[Iron Age]]. It is located at a crossroads for traffic from [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]], the [[Dovrefjell]] mountain range, and [[Sunndal Municipality]] on the west coast. This is reflected in the three rays in the coat-of-arms.

Oppdal was first settled sometime before 600 [[Common Era|CE]]. By then there were about 50 farms in the area, and this number grew by about 20 more in the [[Viking Age]]. There are remnants of over 700 [[Norse mythology|Pagan]] [[Tumulus|grave mound]]s from the time at Vang, in which jewelry and other pieces from the [[British Isles]] were found. This indicates that the area was relatively affluent and participated in the Viking trade. Much of the affluence was likely derived from the availability of game, both in the area and from nearby mountain ranges. Several game traps can still be seen in mountains around Oppdal, particularly ditches for [[reindeer]]. There have been more than 80 finds of at least two different types of [[arrow]]heads in the area.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haugland |first=Kjell |title=Oppdals historie – Hovudlinjer og tidsbilde |publisher=Oppdal historielag |year=2002 |isbn=82-7083-269-3}}</ref>

Archeological finds in Oppdal indicate that there were less pronounced economic disparities than elsewhere in Norway. Communal efforts to hold off famine and share burdens appear to have been common throughout several centuries.

===Middle Ages===
During the Christian era, Pagan shrines and grave mounds were replaced by churches and chapels. Five rural churches were built in Oppdal at the time, in Vang, Ålbu, Lønset, Lo, and Nordskogen. The [[Oppdal Church]], built to replace an earlier [[stave church]] in 1653, stands to this day.<ref name="welle-strand" />

Oppdal was a stop for pilgrims on their way to the [[Olaf II of Norway|St. Olav]] shrine at the [[Nidaros Cathedral]] in [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]] during the [[Middle Ages]]. As a result of the heavy stream of pilgrims who followed the [[Pilgrim's Route]] prior to the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], King [[Eystein I of Norway|Eystein]] erected mountain stations where the pilgrims could find food and shelter. [[Kongsvoll]], located on the [[Driva]] River along the route where pilgrims passed from the [[Gudbrandsdal]] valley into Oppdal was one of these stations, and is still an inn today. Drivstua, further north, was another.<ref name="welle-strand" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stagg |first=Frank Noel |url=https://archive.org/details/heartofnorway0000unse |title=The Heart of Norway |publisher=George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. |year=1953 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Oppdal was particularly affected by the [[Black Plague]], which led to the abandonment of a number of farms. With a worsening of the climate, the community hadn't recovered 170 years later, and there were only 35 farms and 350 people left. Only one church at Vang was still in use. As late as 1742, people in Oppdal died of hunger.

===Modern period===
In the early 17th century, Oppdal's fortunes turned and population grew. By 1665, 2,200 people lived in Oppdal, and a new church was built at Vang, the [[Oppdal Church]], which stands to this day. The [[Lønset Chapel]] and [[Fagerhaug Chapel]] have been re-established, and Oppdal houses several other religious communities. Since the 18th century, the inhabitants of Oppdal have made significant investments in education, leading to the establishment of several small rural schools and, recently, a high school.

In the 19th century, increased fertility and reduced mortality led to population growth that could not be sustained by agricultural resources. Many became [[tenant farmer]]s, and eventually a large proportion of people from Oppdal emigrated to the United States. The population decreased until 1910, when the [[Rail transport in Norway|railroad]] from [[Oslo]] to Trondheim via [[Dovre Municipality|Dovre]] (the [[Dovre Line]]) created employment and opened the area for tourism. In 1952, the first ski lift opened, and with further expansions Oppdal now offers one of Norway's largest downhill networks.

During the [[German occupation of Norway]] ([[World War II]]), Oppdal and [[Dombås]] were the locations of the Stalag 380 [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]], relocated in late 1942 from [[Skarżysko-Kamienna]] in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Megargee |first=Geoffrey P. |title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV |last2=Overmans |first2=Rüdiger |last3=Vogt |first3=Wolfgang |publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-253-06089-1 |page=379}}</ref>

In 2013, [[NRK]] said that a Labour Party politician was fighting against the establishment of a refugee center.<ref>[http://www.nrk.no/trondelag/frykter-knivstikking-ved-asylmottak-1.11376574 Ap-politiker: – Asylmottak kan føre til knivstikking]</ref>