Årdal Municipality (Rogaland)

Årdal Municipality
Årdal herred
Former municipality
Aardal herred  (historic name)
View of the Old Årdal Church
Rogaland within Norway
Årdal within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°09′10″N 06°09′39″E / 59.15278°N 6.16083°E / 59.15278; 6.16083
CountryNorway
CountyRogaland
DistrictRyfylke
Established1 Jan 1859
 • Preceded byHjelmeland Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1965
 • Succeeded byHjelmeland Municipality and Strand Municipality
Administrative centreÅrdal
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total
505.3 km2 (195.1 sq mi)
 • Rank#206 in Norway
Highest elevation
[1]
1,235 m (4,052 ft)
Population
 (1964)
 • Total
866
 • Rank#495 in Norway
 • Density1.7/km2 (4.4/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
 −0.1%
Official language
[3]
 • Norwegian formNeutral[2]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1131[4]
Data from Statistics Norway

Årdal is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 505.3-square-kilometre (195.1 sq mi) municipality existed from 1859 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Hjelmeland Municipality in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre was the village of Årdal where the Old Årdal Church is located.[5]

Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the 505.3-square-kilometre (195.1 sq mi) municipality was the 206th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Årdal Municipality was the 495th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 866. The municipality's population density was 1.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.4/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 0.1% over the previous 10-year period.[6][7]

General information

The municipality of Aardal (later spelled Årdal) was established in 1859 when the large Hjelmeland Municipality was divided into two: the southern district (population: 1,315) became the new Aardal Municipality and the northern district (population: 3,084) remained as a smaller Hjelmeland Municipality (on the same date the municipality was renamed as Hjelmeland og Fister Municipality). On 6 March 1869, a small area of Aardal Municipality (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring Hjelmeland og Fister Municipality.[8]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Årdal Municipality was dissolved. On that date, the Sunngardene area of the old Årdal Municipality (population: 121) was transferred to the neighboring Strand Municipality. The rest of Årdal municipality was merged with the following areas to form a larger Hjelmeland Municipality:[8]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Årdalen valley (Old Norse: Árdalr) since it is the central geographical feature of the municipality. The first element is the genitive case of the word á which means "river" or "creek". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".[9]

On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aardal with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Årdal, using the letter Å instead.[10][11]

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Årdal Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Hjelmeland prestegjeld and the Ryfylke prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.[7]

Churches in Årdal Municipality
Parish (sokn) Church name Location of the church Year built
Årdal Årdal Church Årdal 1919
Old Årdal Church Årdal 1619

Geography

The municipality was centered around the Årdalsfjorden, a branch off the main Boknafjorden. The municipality stretched from the fjord over 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the mountainous county border to the east. The highest point in the municipality was the 1,235-metre (4,052 ft) tall mountain Skrumleknuten, a tripoint on the borders of Årdal Municipality, Forsand Municipality, and Bykle Municipality (in Aust-Agder county).[1] Hjelmeland Municipality was located to the north, Bykle Municipality (in Aust-Agder county) was located to the east, Forsand Municipality was located to the south, Strand Municipality was located to the southwest, and Fister Municipality was located to the northwest.

Government

While it existed, Årdal Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[12] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Ryfylke District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Årdal Municipality was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Årdal herredsstyre 1963–1965 [13]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 13
Total number of members:13
Note: On 1 January 1965, Årdal Municipality was divided between Hjelmeland Municipality and Strand Municipality.
Årdal herredsstyre 1959–1963 [14]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 13
Total number of members:13
Årdal herredsstyre 1955–1959 [15]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 13
Total number of members:13
Årdal herredsstyre 1951–1955 [16]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Årdal herredsstyre 1947–1951 [17]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Årdal herredsstyre 1945–1947 [18]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Årdal herredsstyre 1937–1941* [19]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
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 mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Årdal Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:[20]

  • 1859–1863: Søren Christophersen Schmidt
  • 1864–1865: Nils Larsen Mæle
  • 1866–1869: Daniel Thorsen Riveland
  • 1870–1873: Nils Larsen Mæle
  • 1874–1885: Ole Pedersen Leerstøl
  • 1886–1887: Gudmund Vallem

Attractions

Old Årdal Church

Main article: Old Årdal Church

Årdal is well known for the Old Årdal Church (Årdal gamle kirke) which received its final shape after expansion shortly after it was built in the early 17th century. The church was marked by the work of two local artists, the German-born painter Gottfried Hendtzschel (d. 1657 in Stavanger) and the craftsman Lauritz Snekker who was his student. The altarpiece and the pulpit was painted by Hendtzschel. They were both carved by Snekker who was also responsible for most of the carpentry work. The artistic efforts of Hendtzschel and Snekker within various churches in the vicinity formed a part of the Stranganger Renaissance (Stavangerrenaissance), the cultural period which peaked in the middle of the 17th century in the area around Stavanger.[21][22][23][24][25]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Kart over Norge" (in Norwegian). Kartverket.
  2. ^ "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1932. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 453–471. 1932.
  3. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  4. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (9 January 2024). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon.
  5. ^ Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (25 November 2024). "Årdal (tidligere kommune i Rogaland)". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  6. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  7. ^ a b Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 1951). Norges Sivile, Geistlige, Rettslige og Militære Inndeling 1. Januar 1951 (PDF). Norges Offisielle Statistikk (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: H. Aschehoug & Co.
  8. ^ a b Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  9. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 314.
  10. ^ "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1000. 1917.
  11. ^ Den Nye rettskrivning : regler og ordlister (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Den Mallingske Boktrykkeri. 1918.
  12. ^ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  13. ^ "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  17. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  20. ^ Grude, Joakim (1887). Amtsformandskabet i Stavanger Amt 1838-1887 (in Norwegian). Stavanger: Dreyers Boktrykkeri.
  21. ^ Henning Alsvik. "Gottfried Anderssøn Hendtzschel". Norsk kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  22. ^ "Årdal gamle kyrkje" (in Norwegian). Kirkenorge.no.
  23. ^ Froysaker, Tine (2003). Church Paintings of Gottfried Hendtzschel in Norway - Part I & II. Goteborg University. ISBN 91-7346-455-4.
  24. ^ Gundhus, Grethe (2005). I Guds og Bevaringens navn Fortellingen om tre altertavler og et øksemord. Kulturminner – en ressurs i tiden.
  25. ^ Kloster, Robert (1936). Stavangerrenessansen i Rogalands kirker. Stavanger Museum.

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