Gratangen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| County | Troms | |
| District | Hålogaland | |
| Municipality | NO-1919 | |
| Administrative centre | Gratangen | |
| Mayor (2003) | Eva Helene Ottesen (Ap) | |
| Official language form | Neutral | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage |
Ranked 271 313 km² 306 km² 0.10 % |
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| Population - Total (2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density |
Ranked 387 1,282 0.03 % -13.2 % 4/km² |
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| Coordinates | ||
| www.gratangen.kommune.no |
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Gratangen is a municipality in the county of Troms, Norway.
It was the site of some of the first battles between the German 3rd Mountain Division under Eduard Dietl and the Norwegian 6th Division under General Carl Gustav Fleischer after the German invasion of Norway April 9th 1940.
After initial German success in surprising and routing a battalion from Trøndelag the tide turned as the Norwegians got used to the concept of war.
Shortly after seeing their comrades from I/IR12 suffer heavy casualties from the German assault the men from Finnmark of the soon to be highly respected Alta Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Arne Dagfin Dahl counter-attacked and drove the Germans back from Gratangen.
[edit] The name
The municipality is named after the fjord Gratangen (Norse Grjótangr). The first element is grjót n 'stone', the last element is angr m 'fjord'.
[edit] Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1990). It shows a chevron (to represent 'mountain and sea').
[edit] See also
| Municipalities of Troms |  |
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Balsfjord | Bardu | Berg | Bjarkøy | Dyrøy | Gratangen | Harstad | Ibestad | Karlsøy | Kvæfjord | Kvænangen | Kåfjord | Lavangen | Lenvik | Lyngen | Målselv | Nordreisa | Salangen | Skjervøy | Skånland | Storfjord | Sørreisa | Torsken | Tranøy | Tromsø |
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