Contents

Hjartdal

Hjartdal Municipality Hjartdal kommune
Municipality
View of the Hjartdal wilderness
Flag Coat of arms
Telemark within Norway
Hjartdal within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°39′54″N 8°43′34″E / 59.66500°N 8.72611°E / 59.66500; 8.72611
Country	Norway
County	Telemark
District	Aust-Telemark
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Sauland
Government
• Mayor (2015)	Bengt Halvard Odden (Ap)
Area
• Total	791.60 km2 (305.64 sq mi)
• Land	737.12 km2 (284.60 sq mi)
• Water	54.48 km2 (21.03 sq mi)  6.9%
• Rank	#146 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	1,588
• Rank	#299 in Norway
• Density	2.2/km2 (6/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−1.3%
Demonym	Hjartdøl[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4024[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Hjartdal is a municipalityinTelemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districtofUpper Telemark and Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sauland. Other villages in the municipality include Tuddal and Hjartdalsbygda.

The 792-square-kilometre (306 sq mi) municipality is the 146th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hjartdal is the 299th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,588. The municipality's population density is 2.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.7/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 1.3% over the previous 10-year period.^[4][5]

General information[edit]

The municipalityofHierdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1860, the Gransherad area of eastern Hjartdal (population: 1,310) was separated to become part of the new Gransherad Municipality. Also in 1860, the administrative centre of the municipality was moved from HjartdalsbygdatoSauland. On 23 January 1905, a small, unpopulated area of Hjartdal was transferred to the neighboring Seljord Municipality.^[6]

Name[edit]

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the valley name, Hjartdalen (Old Norse: Hjartdalr) since the first Hjartdal Church was built there. The first element is the old name for the local river Hjartdøla. The old river name is likely derived from the word hjǫrtr which means "red deer". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Prior to the 20th century, the name was often spelled Hierdal, a corruption of the original name. In the 20th century, the spelling was standardized to Hjartdal, bringing back more of the original spelling.^[7]

Coat of arms[edit]

The coat of arms was granted on 17 February 1989. The official blazonis"Vert, a deer at bay argent" (Norwegian: På grøn grunn ein ståande sølv hjort). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a red deer (Cervus elaphus) standing at bay. The deer has a tinctureofargent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. They are canting arms because the name of the municipality is derived from the word for deer, a common animal in the rural municipality. The color green was chosen to represent the forests in the area. The arms were designed by Svein G. Carlsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Churches[edit]

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Hjartdal. It is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

History[edit]

Up to the 1500s, the Hjartdal parish had been quite large. It stretched from Rauland in the west and Kongsberg to the east. Counting from west to east, the villages of Åmotsdal, Svartdal, Hjartdal, Tuddal, Sauland, Gransherad, Bolkesjø, Jondalen and Lisleherad were all at one point included in the same parish. Sometime after 1687^[12] Lisleherad was transferred to the partish of Heddal. Then in 1860, the Gransherad area was separated. Today, the Hjartdal parish and municipality consists of the three main village areas: Hjartdalsbygda, Sauland, and Tuddal.^[13][14]

Government[edit]

Hjartdal 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 councilofdirectly elected representatives. The mayorisindirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[15] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Mayors[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2023)

The mayors (Norwegian: ordførar) of Hjartdal (incomplete list):

Municipal council[edit]

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hjartdal 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.

Geography[edit]

The rural municipality is located in the mountains of Telemark. The mountain Gaustatoppen is located on the northern border of the municipality. The main river of the municipality is the Hjartdøla which empties into the Heddøla river at Sauland.

Transportation[edit]

The European route E134 highway runs through the municipality. The Mælefjell Tunnel is a road tunnel that is part of the E134 highway and it runs through the Mælefjell mountain.

Notable people[edit]

• Hans Paus (1656–1715), a priest and poet
• Drengman Aaker (1839–1894), an American politician and businessman who served in the Iowa House of Representatives
• Kittel Halvorson (1846–1936), a farmer and U.S. Representative from Minnesota
• Knut Buen (born 1948), a fiddler, composer, folklorist, and publisher who lives in Tuddal
• Sven Tore Løkslid, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1984), the county governor of Telemark and former mayor of Hjartdal

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hjartdal.

• The dictionary definition of Hjartdal at Wiktionary
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Telemark travel guide from Wikivoyage