Tolga
Former nameTolgen herred
Idnumber3426
CountyInnlandet
DistrictØsterdalen
CapitalTolga
Established1 Jan 1838
Precedednone
Disestablished1 Jan 1966
SucceededTolga-Os Municipality
Established 21 Jan 1976
Preceded 2Tolga-Os Municipality
DemonymTolging
LanguageNeutral
Webpagewww.tolga.kommune.no
MayorBjørnar Tollan Jordet
Mayor partySV
Mayor as of2019
Elevation max1604.79 m
Area rank99
Area total1122.56 km²
Area land1097.24 km²
Area water25.32 km²
Area water percent2.3
Population as of2024
Population rank301
Population total1606
Population density1.4 km²
Population increase-3.3
Coordinates62°24′5″N 11°1′20″E

Tolga 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 Tolga. Other villages in the municipality include Hodalen, Øversjødalen, and Vingelen.[1]

The 1,123-square kilometre (434-square mile) municipality is the 99th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Tolga Municipality is the 301st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,606. The municipality's population density is 1.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.6 /sq mi) and its population has decreased by 3.3% over the previous 10-year period.[2][3]

General information

The parish of Tolgen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1911, the new Engerdal Municipality was established by merging the southeastern portion of Tolga Municipality (population: 201) and portions of neighboring Øvre Rendal Municipality, Ytre Rendal Municipality, and Trysil Municipality. On 1 July 1926, the northern parish of Os (population: 1,936) was separated to become the new Os Municipality. This left Tolga Municipality with 1,917 residents. In 1927, a small part of Tolga Municipality (population: 18) was transferred to the neighboring Os Municipality.[4]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1966, Tolga Municipality (population: 1,944) and Os Municipality (population: 2,015) were merged to form the new Tolga-Os Municipality. This merger was not well received by the residents and soon after the merger, they began working towards separating once again. On 1 January 1976, Tolga-Os Municipality was divided into Tolga Municipality (population: 1,865) and Os Municipality (population: 1,859), using their historic borders from before 1966.[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 municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Tolga farm since the first Tolga Church was built there (in 1688). The name comes from the small river which flows through the area (now known as the river Tolja). The name of the river may come from the word toll (Old Norse: þǫll which means "young pine tree".[6] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Tolgen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Tolga.[7]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 14 July 1989. The official blazon is "Gules, a bell Or" (Norwegian: I rødt ei gull klokke). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a bell. The bell has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. Tolga was home to the smeltehytte (a smelting hut) from 1666 to 1871. The bell represents the old bell from Amsterdam that was in a building in the village square since 1708. The smeltery was important because of the prevalence of mining in the area. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[8][9][10][11]

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within Tolga Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Østerdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Churches in Tolga
Parish (sokn)Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
HodalenHodalen ChurchHodalen1934
HoløydalenHoløydalen ChurchØversjødalen1908
TolgaTolga ChurchTolga1840
VingelenVingelen ChurchVingelen1880

Government

Tolga 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.[12] 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 Tolga Municipality is made up of 15 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 Tolga 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:[13][14]

  • 1838–1839: Svend Stenersen
  • 1840–1843: John Simensen Grue
  • 1843–1847: Thore N. Røe
  • 1847–1855: John Simensen Grue
  • 1855–1859: Thore N. Røe
  • 1859–1863: John Simensen Grue
  • 1863–1867: Thore N. Røe
  • 1867–1879: J. Estensen
  • 1879–1893: O.I. Strand
  • 1893–1896: Elias Gjelten
  • 1896–1899: Martinus Gjelten
  • 1899–1902: Iver O. Sagbakken
  • 1902–1908: Anders Urset
  • 1908–1914: Iver O. Sagbakken
  • 1914–1926: Tore Hummelvoll
  • 1926–1931: Per Aaseng
  • 1932–1934: O.I. Sagbakken
  • 1935–1937: Embret Nygård
  • 1938–1941: Nils Bakken
  • 1941–1944: Lars Eide (NS)
  • 1945–1945: Esten P. Moen[15]
  • 1946–1948: Erling Aas-Eng, Sr. (Bp)[16]
  • 1949–1951: Jon Hulbækdal
  • 1952-1965: Erling Aas-Eng, Sr. (Bp)
  • (1966–1975: Part of Tolga-Os Municipality)
  • 1976–1985: Anders Johnsgård (Sp)
  • 1985–1986: Jon Vingelen (Sp)
  • 1986–1999: Lars Buttingsrud (Sp)
  • 1999–2007: Marit Gilleberg (Ap)
  • 2007–2011: Erling Aas-Eng (Sp)
  • 2011–2019: Ragnhild Aashaug (Sp)
  • 2019–present: Bjørnar Tollan Jordet (SV)

Geography

Tolga lies in the northeastern part of Innlandet county. The river Glåma runs through the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,604.79-metre (5,265.1-foot) tall mountain Elgspiggen, located on the border with Rendalen Municipality.[17] The mountain Håmmålsfjellet lies on the border with Os Municipality. The lake Langsjøen is located just south of the village of Øversjødalen in the southeastern part of the municipality.

The municipality is bordered in the east by Tynset Municipality, in the south by Rendalen Municipality, and in the east by Engerdal Municipality and Os Municipality, all in Innlandet county.

Notable people

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. 412.
  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 2023-04-29.
  9. ^ "Tolga, Hedmark (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  10. ^ "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no. Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 1989-09-09. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  11. ^ "Fakta om kommunen" (in Norwegian). Tolga kommune. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  12. ^
  13. ^ Bakken, Nils & Nordvang, Per (eds.) (1937). Kommunejubileet 1837-1937 for Tolga og Os herreder (in Norwegian). Røros: Ødegårds Trykkeri. p. 82.
  14. ^ Fiva, Jon H (ed.) (2024). "Local Candidate Dataset"
  15. ^ "Nye ordførere" (in Norwegian). Glåmdalen. 1944-12-18. p. 2.
  16. ^ "Erling Aas-Eng ordfører i Tolga" (in Norwegian). Østlendingen. 1945-12-28. p. 2.
  17. ^ "Høgaste fjelltopp i kvar kommune" (in Norwegian). Kartverket. 2024-01-16.