Leikanger (Urban East Norwegian: [ˈlæ̂ɪkɑŋər] ) is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Hermansverk, which also was the administrative center of the old Sogn og Fjordane county.

The Leikanger/Hermansverk urban area had 2,144 inhabitants (2019), about 90% of the municipal population. This urban area is often called Systrond, which is why a person from Leikanger is often called Systrending.

The 180-square-kilometre (69 sq mi) municipality is the 342nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Leikanger is the 302nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,331. The municipality's population density is 13.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (34/sq mi) and its population has increased by 8.1% over the last decade.

General information

Leikanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was large and it was identical to the old Leikanger parish (prestegjeld) with the six sub-parishes (sokn) of Leikanger, Fresvik, Rinde, Vangsnes, Tjugum, and Mundal. In 1849, the sub-parishes of Vangsnes, Tjugum, and Mundal were transferred into the newly created Balestrand parish (prestegjeld). The new parish was separated from Leikanger municipality in 1850 to form the new Balestrand Municipality. This split left Leikanger with 2,368 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Hella-Eitorn area (population: 31) was transferred from Balestrand back to Leikanger. Also, the Tingstad area (population: 5) was transferred to neighboring Sogndal municipality. These changes left Leikanger with 2,680 residents. On 1 January 1992, the sub-parishes of Leikanger lying south of the Sognefjorden, including Feios and Fresvik (total population: 572) were transferred to the municipality of Vik. This move left Leikanger with only one sub-parish: Leikanger.

On 1 January 2020, Leikanger was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Balestrand and Sogndal to form a much larger municipality called Sogndal.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Leikanger farm (Old Norse: Leikvangir) since the first Leikanger Church was built there. The first element is leikr which means "game", "sports", or "contest". The last element is the plural form of vangr which means "field" or "meadow". Thus it means a meadow used for sports or games. Prior to 1889, the name was written Lekanger.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 5 September 1963. The official blazon is "Vert, two apples on a branch with three leaves Or" (Norwegian: På grøn botn to gull eple på kvist med tre lauv). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is an apple tree branch with two apples and three leaves attached. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The apple tree branch is a symbol for the many orchards in the municipality and thus for the local economy. The three leaves symbolised the three parishes (Leikanger, Feios, and Fresvik) that used to make up the municipality (before two of them were transferred to Vik Municipality in 1992). The arms were designed by K. Fotland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Leikanger. It was part of the Sogn prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Leikanger

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Leikanger	Leikanger Church	Leikanger	1166

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Leikanger was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Leikanger:

Geography

Leikanger is located on the north side of the Sognefjorden and to the east of the Fjærlandsfjorden. It is bordered on the north and east by the municipality of Sogndal, on the west by Balestrand, and on the south (across the Sognefjorden) by Vik.

Buildings and structures

East of Leikanger, there are the Sognefjord Spans, three powerline spans with length over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), which are currently the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th longest spans in the world. In 1955, the first Sognefjord Span was built near Leikanger. It was the longest span in the world from 1955 until 1997.

Sister cities/Twin towns

Leikanger has sister city agreements with the following places:

• Ribe, Denmark

Notable people

• Iver Erikssøn Leganger (1629 in Leikanger – 1702), a priest, author, and farm owner
• Georg Burchard Jersin (1767 in Leikanger – 1827), a Lutheran minister and representative on the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly
• Olaf Huseby (1856 in Leikanger – 1942), a Norwegian-American bookseller and publisher
• Jakob Sverdrup (1881 in Leikanger – 1938), a Norwegian philologist and lexicographer
• Kjell Bondevik (1901 in Leikanger – 1983), a Norwegian politician who also wrote history books
• Oddvar Flæte (born 1944 in Leikanger), a politician who was County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane from 1994-2011
• Silje Nes (born 1980 in Leikanger), a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and sound artist
• Elise Thorsnes (born 1988 in Leikanger), a Norwegian footballer who played 125 games with the Norway women's national football team

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway