Laudal (municipality)

Laudal is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 93-square-kilometre (36 sq mi) municipality existed from 1899 until 1964. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Laudal where Laudal Church is located. The municipality encompassed part of what is now the municipality of Lindesnes in Agder county.^[3]

Laudal Municipality Laudal herred
Former municipality
Vest-Agder within Norway
Laudal within Vest-Agder
Coordinates: 58°14′49″N 07°30′16″E
Country	Norway
County	Vest-Agder
District	Sørlandet
Established	1 Jan 1899
• Preceded by	Øyslebø og Laudal Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
• Succeeded by	Marnardal Municipality
Administrative centre	Laudal
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	93 km2 (36 sq mi)
Population  (1964)
• Total	560
• Density	6.0/km2 (16/sq mi)
Demonym	Laudøl[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1022[2]
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The municipality was established on 1 January 1899 when the old municipality of Øyslebø og Laudal was divided into two municipalities: Øyslebø (population: 991) and Laudal (population: 836). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Laudal municipality was dissolved and its land was merged with parts of the neighboring municipalities of Øyslebø, Bjelland, and Finsland to create the new municipality of Marnardal. Prior to the merger, Laudal had a population of 560.^[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Laudal farm (Old Norse: Laugardalr) since the first Laudal Church was built there. The first element of the name of the farm comes from the old name for the river, Laug, (now the Lågåna river). The old river name is identical to the word laug which means "bath". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Therefore, the name means the bath river valley.^[3][5]

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 directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[6]

Municipal council

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

Laudal herredsstyre 1960–1963 ^[7]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	8
Total number of members:		13

Laudal herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[8]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	8
Total number of members:		13

Laudal herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[9]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	7
Total number of members:		12

Laudal herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[10]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	7
Total number of members:		12

Laudal herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[11]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	3
	Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet)	3
Total number of members:		12

Laudal herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[12]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
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.

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. (9 January 2024). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon.
3. Store norske leksikon. "Laudal" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 November 2016.
4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
5. Rygh, Oluf (1912). Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt (in Norwegian) (9 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri.
6. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
7. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 21 November 2020.