Tolga, Norway

Municipality in Innlandet, Norway

Tolga Municipality Tolga kommune
Municipality
Tolgen herred Flag Coat of arms
Innlandet within Norway
Tolga within Innlandet
Coordinates: 62°24′5″N 11°1′20″E / 62.40139°N 11.02222°E / 62.40139; 11.02222
Country	Norway
County	Innlandet
District	Østerdalen
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1966
• Succeeded by	Tolga-Os Municipality
Re-established	1 Jan 1976
• Preceded by	Tolga-Os Municipality
Administrative centre	Tolga
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Bjørnar Tollan Jordet (SV)
Area
• Total	1,122.61 km² (433.44 sq mi)
• Land	1,097.24 km² (423.65 sq mi)
• Water	25.32 km² (9.78 sq mi) 2.3%
• Rank	#99 in Norway
Population (2023)
• Total	1,555
• Rank	#300 in Norway
• Density	1.4/km² (4/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−7.5%
Demonym	Tolging^[1]
Official language ^[2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-3426^[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

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

The 1,123-square-kilometre (434 sq mi) municipality is the 99th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tolga is the 300th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,555. The municipality's population density is 1.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.6/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 7.5% over the previous 10-year period.^[4]^[5]

General information

The parish of Tolgen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1911, the new municipality of Engerdal was established. The southeastern portion of Tolga (population: 201) was separated from Tolga and merged with portions of neighboring Øvre Rendal, Ytre Rendal, and Trysil to create this new municipality. On 1 July 1926, the northern parish of Os (population: 1,936) was separated to become the new municipality of Os. This left Tolga with 1,917 residents. In 1927, a small part of Tolga (population: 18) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Os.^[6]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1966, the neighboring municipalities of Tolga (population: 1,944) and Os (population: 2,015) were merged to form the new municipality of Tolga-Os. 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, the municipality of Tolga-Os was divided into the municipalities of Tolga (population: 1,865) and Os (population: 1,859), using their historic borders from before 1966.^[6]

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".^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Churches

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

**Churches in Tolga**
Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Hodalen	Hodalen Church	Hodalen	1934
Holøydalen	Holøydalen Church	Øversjødalen	1908
Tolga	Tolga Church	Tolga	1840
Vingelen	Vingelen Church	Vingelen	1880

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.^[13] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Tolga 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.

Tolga kommunestyre 2023–2027 ^[14]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	2
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	5
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	7
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		15

Tolga kommunestyre 2019–2023 ^[15]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	6
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		15

Tolga kommunestyre 2015–2019 ^[16]^[17]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	7
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	4
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
Total number of members:		15

Tolga kommunestyre 2011–2015 ^[18]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	6
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	4
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
Total number of members:		15

Tolga kommunestyre 2007–2011 ^[17]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	8
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	3
	Free Voters (Frie Velgere)	1
Total number of members:		15

Tolga kommunestyre 2003–2007 ^[17]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	6
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	2
	Free Voters (Frie Velgere)	1
Total number of members:		15

Tolga kommunestyre 1999–2003 ^[17]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	7
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	8
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	2 FFFF
Total number of members:		19

Tolga kommunestyre 1995–1999 ^[19]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	2
	Free Voters (Frie Velgere)	3
Total number of members:		19

Tolga kommunestyre 1991–1995 ^[20]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	2
	Free Voters (Frie Velgere)	2
Total number of members:		19

Tolga kommunestyre 1987–1991 ^[21]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Conservative Party (Høyre)	1
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	2
Total number of members:		19

Tolga kommunestyre 1983–1987 ^[22]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Conservative Party (Høyre)	1
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti)	2
Total number of members:		19

Tolga kommunestyre 1979–1983 ^[23]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	9
	Free Voters (Frie Velgere)	6
Total number of members:		19

Tolga kommunestyre 1975–1979* ^[24]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	11
	Free Voters (Frie Velgere)	5
Total number of members:		19
Note: On 1 January 1976, the municipality of Tolga-Os was divided into the two municipalities of Tolga and Os.

Tolga kommunestyre 1963–1966* ^[25]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	2
Total number of members:		17
Note: On 1 January 1966, the neighboring municipalities of Tolga and Os were merged to form the new municipality of Tolga-Os.

Tolga herredsstyre 1959–1963 ^[26]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	10
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	2
Total number of members:		17

Tolga herredsstyre 1955–1959 ^[27]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	10
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	4
Total number of members:		17

Tolga herredsstyre 1951–1955 ^[28]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	11
Total number of members:		16

Tolga herredsstyre 1947–1951 ^[29]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	11
Total number of members:		16

Tolga herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[30]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	4
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	6
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	1
Total number of members:		16

Tolga herredsstyre 1937–1941* ^[31]
Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	9
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	1
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	1
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 (Norwegian: ordfører) of Tolga:^[32]

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^[33]
1946-1948: Erling Aas-Eng, Sr. (Bp)^[34]
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 mountains Håmmålsfjellet and Elgspiggen both lie on the municipal boundaries. The lake Langsjøen is located just south of the village of Øversjødalen in the southeastern part of the municipality.

Notable people

Kaleb Nytrøen (1905 in Tolga – 1994), a police officer who helped develop the Norwegian Police Security Service
Egil Storbekken (1911 in Tolga – 2002), a folk musician and composer
Arnljot Eggen (1923 in Tolga – 2009), a journalist and teacher who wrote poetry, plays and children's books
Olav Jordet (born 1939 in Tolga), a former Norwegian biathlete, bronze medallist at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and team silver medallist in the 1968 Summer Olympics
Hans Fredrik Jacobsen (born 1954), a Norwegian musician and composer who is based in Tolga
Tone Hulbækmo (born 1957 in Tolga), a Norwegian singer and musician
Olav Viksmo-Slettan (born 1965 in Tolga), a Norwegian radio and TV reporter for the NBC
Hans Hulbækmo (born 1989 in Tolga), a composer and musician on drums and percussion
Alf Hulbækmo (born 1992 in Tolga), a composer, singer, and musician on piano, keyboards, harmonica and saxophone

References

^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
^ ^a ^b Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
^ Rygh, Oluf (1900). Norske gaardnavne: Hedmarkens amt (in Norwegian) (3 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 412.
^ "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1057–1065. 1917.
^ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
^ "Tolga, Hedmark (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
^ "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 9 September 1989. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
^ "Fakta om kommunen" (in Norwegian). Tolga kommune. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
^ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^ "Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Innlandet". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
^ "Kommunestyrevalg 2019 - Innlandet". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
^ "Kommunestyrevalg 2015 - Hedmark". Valgdirektoratet.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
^ "Kommunestyrevalg 2011 - Innlandet". Valgdirektoratet.
^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1995" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996.
^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1991" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993.
^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1987" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988.
^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1983" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984.
^ "Kommunestyrevalget 1979" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979.
^ "Kommunevalgene 1975" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977.
^ "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964.
^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960.
^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957.
^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952.
^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948.
^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947.
^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938.
^ Bakken, Nils; Nordvang, Per, eds. (1937). Kommunejubileet 1837-1937 for Tolga og Os herreder (in Norwegian). Røros: Ødegårds Trykkeri. p. 82.
^ "Nye ordførere". Glåmdalen (in Norwegian). 18 December 1944. p. 2.
^ "Erling Aas-Eng ordfører i Tolga". Østlendingen (in Norwegian). 28 December 1945. p. 2.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tolga.

The dictionary definition of Tolga at Wiktionary
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
Weather forecast for Haugan in Tolga

Innlandet county, Norway

Main article: Innlandet
Capitals: Hamar; Lillehammer
County government: Innlandet County Municipality
County lists:

Towns and cities

Lillehammer (1827)
Hamar (1849)
Kongsvinger (1854)
Gjøvik (1861)
Elverum (1996)
Otta (2000)
Fagernes (2007)
Brumunddal (2010)
Moelv (2010)
Vinstra (2013)

Municipalities

Gudbrandsdalen	Dovre Gausdal Lesja Lillehammer Lom Nord-Fron Ringebu Sel Skjåk Sør-Fron Vågå Øyer
Valdres	Etnedal Nord-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal Vang Vestre Slidre Øystre Slidre
Vestoppland	Gjøvik Gran Nordre Land Søndre Land Vestre Toten Østre Toten
Glåmdal	Eidskog Grue Kongsvinger Nord-Odal Sør-Odal Våler Åsnes
Hedmarka	Hamar Løten Ringsaker Stange
Østerdalen	Alvdal Elverum Engerdal Folldal Os Rendalen Stor-Elvdal Tolga Trysil Tynset Åmot

Former Municipalities in Innlandet

Hedmark	Brandval (1867-1964) Furnes (1891-1964) Hof (1838-1963) Kvikne (1838-1966) Nes (1838-1964) Rendal (1838-1880) Romedal (1838-1964) Sollia (1864-1965) Tolga-Os (1966-1976) Vang (1838-1992) Vinger (1838-1964) Ytre Rendal (1880-1965) Øvre Rendal (1880-1965) Aasnes og Vaaler (1849-1854)
Oppland	Biri (1838-1964) Brandbu (1897-1962) Eina (1908-1964) Fluberg (1914-1962) Fron (1838-1851, 1966-1977) Fåberg (1838-1964) Heidal (1908-1965) Kolbu (1908-1964) Land (1838-1847) Slidre (1838-1849) Snertingdal (1910-1964) Sollia (1864-1965) Torpa (1914-1962) Vardal (1838-1964) Vestre Gausdal (1879-1962) Østre Gausdal (1879-1962)
Note: The former counties of Hedmark and Oppland were merged to form Innlandet on 1 January 2020.