Otta is a city and administration center in Sel municipality in
the Inland. The settlement has 1,715 inhabitants as of 1 January
2020, is located north of Gudbrandsdalen and is the only town in
Nord-Gudbrandsdalen. In addition to the center of Otta, the city
consists of Selsverket, Dahle and Hjellum.
Otta is a regional
hub with Otta station - which is a railway station on the Dovre line
- and the E6, with a common bus station for both train, bus and
taxi. Otta is part of the National Park Kingdom and offers many
outdoor activities. The temperature in Otta is relatively low
because Otta is down by the river with humid air.
Through
Otta, the river Otta, also called Ottaelva, flows into
Gudbrandsdalslågen. The site has several quarries for extraction of
soapstone and slate.
The town of Otta was not established
until the Dovre line was opened here in 1896, before this was the
Nord-Sel center in the municipality. Otta was granted city status in
2000. It is one of the few cities in Norway without its own church
building.
Nord-Gudbrandsdal upper secondary school,
department Otta is located in the industrial area Øya.
Otta is a so-called Tettsted, i.e. a settlement that is counted as a town for statistical purposes. The village is located in the upper Gudbrandsdalen. The Ottadalen valley joins from the west. In Otta, the Otta, which flows through Ottadalen, flows into the Lågen, which flows through Gudbrandsdalen. Close to Otta is the Rondane massif, which became Norway's first national park in 1962 and has some peaks over 2000 meters.
The Battle of Kringen between Norwegian and Scottish soldiers took
place at Otta in 1612.
In 2000, Sel's municipal parliament
decided that Otta should be given city status. Otta's city status has no
legal implications.
Otta station, opened in 1896 on the Dovrebanen railway line, is a
regional transfer point between trains, buses and taxis. The station is
around 290 kilometers by rail from Oslo Central Station, Oslo S. In
Otta, Riksvei 15 branches off from European Route 6 (E6) to Måløy in
Vågsøy.
Tourism is an important source of income for the
municipality. Another important branch of the economy is the industry
with the wood and food industry.
Location scenes of the Norwegian horror film Cold Prey 2 Resurrection were filmed in Otta.
Olaf Heitkötter, nature photographer,
writer and mountain ranger.
Normann Heitkøtter, author and mountain
ranger.
Truls Gjefsen, author.
Ola Dahl, mayor and later county
mayor in Oppland.
Olav Bismo, head of department at Milorg; the
secret military organization and resistance movement in Norway during
World War II.
Paul Botten-Hansen, Norwegian editor, book collector,
archivist.