Alvdal Municipality

Alvdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Alvdal. Other villages include Barkald, Plassmoen, and Strømmen. The municipality is located to the south of Tynset Municipality, north and west of Rendalen Municipality, north of Stor-Elvdal Municipality, and east of Folldal Municipality.^[1] The Rørosbane railway and the Norwegian National Road 3 both pass through Alvdal.

The 942-square kilometre (364-square mile) municipality is the 124th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Alvdal Municipality is the 254th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,509. The municipality's population density is 2.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.0 /sq mi) and its population has increased by 3.9% over the previous 10-year period.^[2][3]

General information

In 1864, the parish of Lille-Elvdalen (later renamed "Alvdal") was separated from the large Tynset Municipality to become the new Lille-Elvdalen Municipality. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 3,216. On 1 January 1914, the western part of Alvdal Municipality (population: 2,284) was separated to become the new Folldal Municipality. This left Alvdal Municipality with 2,135 residents.^[4]

Historically, the municipality was part of Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).^[5]

Name

The area was historically known as Elvdalen or Øvre Elvdalen (Old Norse: (øfri) Elfardalr). The first element is øfri meaning "upper", the next part is the genitive case of elfr which means "river", and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Thus the name means "(upper) river valley", referring to the upper part of the Glåma river valley. When the municipality was established in 1864, it was named Lille-Elvdalen Municipality, which meant "Little" Elvdalen in order to distinguish it from the nearby Store Elvedalen Municipality ("the large Elvedalen").^[6] On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Alvdal, to better represent the local pronunciation of the name.^[7]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 25 November 1988. The official blazon is "Azure, two skis in bend issuant from base sinister" (Norwegian: I blått to skrått framvoksende sølv ski). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of two diagonal skis. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design symbolizes the history and importance of skiing in the area. One of the oldest pairs of skis discovered by archeologists in Norway was found in Alvdal. The skis were dated to about 500 AD. The arms were designed by Helge Ness from Alvdal. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^{[8][9][10][11][1]}

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Alvdal Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Østerdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Geography

Alvdal is bordered by Tynset Municipality to the north, Rendalen Municipality to the east and south, Stor-Elvdal Municipality to the south, and Folldal Municipality to the west. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,826.88-metre (5,993.7-foot) tall mountain Storsølnkletten.^[12] Another notable mountain in the municipality is Tronfjell. The lake Savalen is partially located in Alvdal. The rivers Sivilla and Glåma both flow through the municipality. The Jutulhogget canyon is located in this municipality as well.^[1]

Economy

Agriculture and forestry are the most important industries in Alvdal Municipality.^[1] The municipality rented public land to a bitcoin mining operation. In 2022, the municipality decided not to continue renting land to this company since no jobs were created from that enterprise, although one local company did some service work on occasion at the site.^[13][14] In 2023, the municipality was sued for by the operator of the former bitcoin mining facility (on municipal property).^[15][14]

Government

Alvdal Municipality is 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 is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[16] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hedmarken og Østerdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Alvdal Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Alvdal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:^[17]

• 1864–1865: Fritz Emil Aas
• 1866–1873: Morten Mortensen
• 1874–1881: Fritz Emil Aas
• 1882–1883: Johan Steien
• 1884–1891: Morten Mortensen
• 1892–1893: Johan Steien
• 1894–1895: Morten Sandvold
• 1896–1898: P. Randmæl
• 1899–1901: Jacob Stamoen
• 1902–1904: P. Randmæl
• 1905–1907: Haldo Müller
• 1908–1910: P. Randmæl
• 1911–1916: Per Hoel
• 1917–1919: P. Randmæl
• 1920–1922: Per Hoel
• 1923–1925: Arne Mellesmo
• 1926–1931: Per Hoel
• 1932–1934: Martin Müller
• 1935–1942: Olav Nyeggen^[18]
• 1942–1945: Embret Mellesmo^[18][19]
• 1946–1955: Harald Reinertsen
• 1956–1963: Eivind Kveberg
• 1963–1967: Lars Holen
• 1968–1969: Oddgeir Skarpsno
• 1970–1971: Asmund Westgård
• 1971–1979: Kåre Blystad (Sp)
• 1979–1983: Per Arnfinn Bergebakken (Sp)
• 1983–1991: Sverre Dalen (Sp)
• 1991–1995: Sverre Sørbø (Sp)
• 1995–1999: Per Hvamstad (Sp)
• 1999–2007: Svein Borkhus (Ap)
• 2007–2011: Olov Grøtting (Sp)
• 2011–2015: Svein Borkhus (Ap)
• 2015–2019: Johnny Hagen (Ap)
• 2019–present: Mona Murud (Sp)

Notable people

• Ivar Mortensson-Egnund (1857–1934), an author, journalist, theologian, researcher, translator, writer, philosopher, and advocate of nynorsk
• Lars Olsen Aukrust (1886–1965), a farmer and politician
• Arvid Nilssen (1913–1976), an actor, revue artist, singer, and comedian^[20]
• Kjell Aukrust (1920–2002), an author, humourist, poet, and artist; the Huset Aukrust, (Norwegian Wiki) is dedicated to him and he is famous for creating the fictional Norwegian village of Flåklypa and its cast of idiosyncratic characters
• Ola Jonsmoen (born 1932), an educator, poet, novelist, and children's writer
• Svein Borkhus (born 1955), a politician and Mayor of Alvdal from 1999 to 2007
• Olov Grøtting (born 1960), a politician and Mayor of Alvdal from 2007 to 2011
• Anne Nørdsti (born 1977), a dansband singer who was influenced by country music

Sport

• Per Samuelshaug (1905���1990), a cross-country skier who participated at the 1936 Winter Olympics
• Kristian Bjørn (1919–1993), a cross-country skier who competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics
• Torgeir Bjørn (born 1964), a retired cross-country skier who competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics
• Harald Stormoen (born 1980), a retired footballer with over 200 club caps

References

1. ^
2. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian)
3. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian)
4. ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
5. ^
6. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Hedmarkens amt (in Norwegian). 3 ed. Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 376.
7. ^ "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m" (in Norwegian). Norsk Lovtidend. Kristiania, Norge: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri. 1917.
8. ^ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
9. ^ "Alvdal, Hedmark (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
10. ^ "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no. Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 1988-11-25. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
11. ^ "Alvdals kommunevåpen". LokalHistorieWiki.no. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
12. ^ "Høgaste fjelltopp i kvar kommune" (in Norwegian). Kartverket. 2024-01-16.
13. ^ "Alvdal sier nei til russisk bitcoinfabrikk" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang
14. ^ Wegner, Lars Christian. "Bitcoinfabrikk forsvant" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
15. ^ Wegner, Lars Christian. "Kryptobedrift tvangsoppløst" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
16. ^
17. ^ Fiva, Jon H (ed.) (2024). "Local Candidate Dataset"
18. ^ Reinertsen, Harald (1988). Den lange vegen mellom to vårer: daglig liv og sivile og militære motstandsbevegelser i Alvdals-området 1940-1945 (in Norwegian). Alvdal: Alvdal kommune. pp. 92–93. ISBN 8299179718.
19. ^ "Styret i kommunene. Oppnevnelse av ordførere og varaordførere". Aftenposten morgen. No. 600. 1944-12-28. p. 3.
20. ^ Arvid Nilssen at IMDb. Retrieved 19 November 2020.

External links

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)