Soknedal Municipality

For other places with similar names, see Soknedal (disambiguation).

Soknedal Municipality Soknedal herred
Former municipality
Soknedalen herred  (historic name)
View of the local church
Sør-Trøndelag within Norway
Soknedal within Sør-Trøndelag
Coordinates: 62.9510°N 10.1881°E / 62.9510; 10.1881
Country	Norway
County	Sør-Trøndelag
District	Gauldalen
Established	1841
• Preceded by	Støren Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
• Succeeded by	Midtre Gauldal Municipality
Administrative centre	Soknedal
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	440 km^2 (170 sq mi)
Population  (1964)
• Total	1,916
• Density	4.4/km^2 (11/sq mi)
Demonym	Sokndaling[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1649[2]
Data from Statistics Norway

Soknedal is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The 440-square-kilometre (170 sq mi) municipality existed from 1841 until its dissolution in 1964. It is located in the western part of what is now the municipality of Midtre Gauldal in Trøndelag county. The administrative center of the municipality was the village of Soknedal, where the Soknedal Church is located. The municipality was named after the Soknedal valley in which it is located. The valley is named after the river Sokna which runs through the valley.^[3]

History

The municipality of Soknedal was established in 1841 when the old municipality of Støren was split into three separate municipalities: Horg (in the north), Støren (in the central part), and Soknedal (in the southwest). Initially, Soknedal had 1,966 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Budal (population: 529), Singsås (population: 1,554), Soknedal (population: 1,916), and Støren (population: 2,296) were all merged to form the new municipality of Midtre Gauldal.^[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named Soknedal (Old Norse: Sóknardalr) after the valley in which it is located. The first element comes from the name of the river Sokna which flows through the valley. The river name comes from the word sœkja which means "to suck" or "to attack", likely referring to the rough waters of the river. The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".^[5] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Soknedalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Soknedal, removing the definite form ending -en.^[6]

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 elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.^[7]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Soknedal was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Soknedal herredsstyre 1960–1963 ^[8]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
Total number of members:		17

Soknedal herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[9]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
Total number of members:		17

Soknedal herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[10]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	4
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
Total number of members:		16

Soknedal herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[11]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
Total number of members:		16

Soknedal herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[12]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
Total number of members:		16

Soknedal herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[13]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	7
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	4
Total number of members:		16
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 of Soknedal:^[14][15]

• 1840–1841: Anfind Olsen Ertshus
• 1842–1843: Jens Sivertsen Hov
• 1844–1845: Anders Olsen Ertshus
• 1846–1847: Endre Arntsen Bræk
• 1848–1851: Jens Sivertsen Hov
• 1852–1855: Anders Olsen Ertshus
• 1856–1859: Endre Arntsen Bræk
• 1860–1863: Anfind Olsen Ertshus
• 1864–1865: Ole Ingebrigtsen Reitan
• 1866–1869: Erik Haldosen Aasenhus
• 1870–1877: Ole Ingebrigtsen Reitan
• 1878–1881: Nils Olsen Garli
• 1882–1885: Ole Ingebrigtsen Reitan (H)
• 1886–1889: Ole Anfindsen Ertshus
• 1890–1898: Ole Ingebrigtsen Reitan (H)
• 1899–1904: Ole Johnsen Østhus (V)
• 1905–1907: Ole Johnsen Aasenhus (H)
• 1908–1910: Arnt Estensen Solberg (V)
• 1911–1922: Ole Johnsen Østhus (V)
• 1923–1925: Jens Olsen Ertshus (Bp)
• 1926–1928: Ole Olsen Bjørnli (V)
• 1929–1931: Andreas Olsen Ertshus (Bp)
• 1932–1934: Ole Olsen Bjørnli (V)
• 1935–1937: Sivert Hansen Berg (Bp)
• 1938–1940: Nils Johnsen Fossum (Bp)
• 1941–1945: Sivert Hansen Berg (NS)
• 1946–1951: Nils Kristian Vagnild (Bp)
• 1952–1955: Nils Johnsen Fossum (Bp)
• 1956–1959: Ottar Hov (Bp)
• 1960–1963: Ola J. Ertshus (Sp)

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
3. Haugen, Morten, ed. (29 August 2017). "Soknedal – tidligere kommune". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
5. Rygh, Oluf (1901). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt (in Norwegian) (14 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 246.
6. "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1057–1065. 1917.
7. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 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. Haukdal, Jens (1971). Busetnad og folkeliv i Soknedal. Gard og grend (in Norwegian). Vol. 1. Midtre Gauldal kommune.
15. Haukdal, Jens (1972). Busetnad og folkeliv i Soknedal. Gard og grend (in Norwegian). Vol. 2. Midtre Gauldal kommune.