Vossevangen or Vossavangen, often referred to simply as Vangen,
is a town and administration center in Voss herad in Hordaland. The
settlement has 6,828 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. Vangskyrkja
on Vangen is the largest of the medieval churches in Hordaland.
According to tradition, the Olav Cross on Vangen was erected by Olav
the Holy when he converted the Vossings to Christianity in 1023.
Vossevangen has probably been an old gathering place for the
district. The name Vang indicates a pre-Christian place of worship.
Egil Skallagrimson is said to have visited Harald Hårfagre at
Vangen. Several valleys run together at Vossvangen and the lake
receives supply from Raundalen, Bordalen, Myrkdalen and
Oppheimsvatnet.
In connection with future improvements to the
road and railway between Bergen and Voss, it is planned to develop
4,000 new homes on Vossevangen. These will make room for 9000 new
inhabitants in the municipality (time perspective not stated).
Vangsvatnet is located by Vossevangen. Jernbanen Bergensbanen
has a station at Vossevangen. The station is located 56.5 meters
above sea level. The station was opened in 1883, when the Vossebanen
from Bergen opened. At Vossevangen where I want to live is a song
about Voss and Vossevangen.
The settlement Skulestadmoen is
located close to Vossevangen, but is defined as a separate
settlement by Statistics Norway.
German planes bombed
Vossvangen on 23 and 24 April 1940 in connection with the invasion
of Norway. A total of 85 houses were lost, including the cultural
monuments Tingstova, Kapellansgarden and Prestegarden. A bomb landed
on the church roof but slipped off without doing much damage. During
the reconstruction, 70,000 m2 of mass was driven to raise the street
body in the center as protection against future flooding of
Vangsvatnet. The mass was especially obtained from the tips at the
shale quarries.