Lårdal (municipality)

Lårdal is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The 288-square-kilometre (111 sq mi) municipality[3] existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area centered around the Lårdalen valley and it is now part of Tokke Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Lårdal.[4]

Lårdal herad
Laardal herred (historic)
Laurdal herred (historic)
Former municipality
View of the Lårdal landscape (c. 1885)
View of the Lårdal landscape (c. 1885)
Official logo of Lårdal herad
Telemark within
Norway
Lårdal within Telemark
Lårdal within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°25′27″N 8°11′10″E
CountryNorway
CountyTelemark
DistrictVest-Telemark
Established1 Jan 1838
 • Created asFormannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished1 Jan 1964
 • Succeeded byTokke Municipality
Administrative centreLårdal
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total288 km2 (111 sq mi)
Population
 (1964)
 • Total1,929
 • Density6.7/km2 (17/sq mi)
DemonymLårdøl[1]
Official language
[2]
 • Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-0833
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The parish of Laardal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1879, there was a small border adjustment where a part of Laardal Municipality (population: 6) was transferred to Mo Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Mo Municipality (population: 1,658) and Lårdal (population: 1,929) were merged to form a new municipality called Tokke.[5]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Laardal farm (Old Norse: Lagardalr) since the first Lårdal Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the word lǫgr which means "water" or "river". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Historically, the municipality name was spelled "Laurdal" (although the parish name goes back centuries as Laugerdal). From 1884-1920, it was spelled "Laardal". Prior to the 1917 Norwegian language reform law, the name was spelled with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the letter å was used instead (Lårdal).[4][6]

See also: Lardal § Name

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.[7]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Lårdal was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Lårdal heradsstyre 1960–1963 [8]  
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 14
  Conservative Party (Høgre) 1
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 4
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 2
Total number of members:21
Lårdal heradsstyre 1956–1959 [9]  
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 13
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 2
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) 6
Total number of members:21
Lårdal heradsstyre 1952–1955 [10]  
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 13
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 4
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) 7
Total number of members:24
Lårdal heradsstyre 1948–1951 [11]  
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 14
  Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) 1
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) 2
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) 7
Total number of members:24
Lårdal heradsstyre 1945–1947 [12]  
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 16
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) 8
Total number of members:24
Lårdal heradsstyre 1938–1941* [13]  
Party Name (in Nynorsk)Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) 15
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) 9
Total number of members:24
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Lårdal:[14]

  • 1838-1843: Rev. Bendt Wettergren
  • 1844-1845: Knut Saaveson Aakeren
  • 1846-1848: Olav T. Huvestad
  • 1849-1850: Tarjei Mikkelson Mandt
  • 1851-1854: Kristoffer Skjelbreid
  • 1855-1856: Jørgen Espetveit
  • 1857-1866: Nils Laurirz Wiborg
  • 1867-1870: Steinar P. Mandt
  • 1871-1874: Olav L. Omdal
  • 1875-1876: Steinar P. Mandt
  • 1877-1880: Nils P. Bjaaland
  • 1881-1882: Olav E. Sandland
  • 1883-1884: Tjøstolv Mandt
  • 1885-1889: Olav E. Sandland
  • 1890-1891: Jarand O. Reffelbrekk
  • 1892-1893: John H. Ofte
  • 1894-1898: Nils Heggtveit
  • 1899-1916: J.J. Hegna
  • 1917-1919: Nils Heggtveit
  • 1920-1925: J.J. Hegna
  • 1926-1928: Olav G. Sending
  • 1929-1931: J.J. Hegna
  • 1932-1934: Karl Kleve
  • 1935-1941: Håkon Årneshaugen
  • 1941-1945: Olav G. Sending
  • 1945-1963: Håkon Årneshaugen

See also

References
  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. Helland, Amund (1900). "Mo herred". VIII. Bratsberg Amt. Anden del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 587. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (15 November 2022). "Lårdal (tidlegare kommune)". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  5. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  6. Rygh, Oluf (1914). Norske gaardnavne: Bratsbergs amt (in Norwegian) (7 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 418–419.
  7. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960.
  9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957.
  10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952.
  11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948.
  12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947.
  13. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938.
  14. "Ordførar". Tokke kommune (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 7 August 2023.

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