Vegusdal is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The 325-square-kilometre (125 sq mi) municipality existed from 1877 until its dissolution in 1967. It was located in the northwestern part of the present-day municipality of Birkenes in Agder county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Engesland where Vegusdal Church is located. The Norwegian County Road 405 (Fv 405) runs through Vegusdal south to the village of Mosby in Vennesla.[1]

Vegusdal Municipality
Vegusdal herred
View of the local Vegusdal Church
View of the local Vegusdal Church
Aust-Agder within Norway
Aust-Agder within Norway
Vegusdal within Aust-Agder
Vegusdal within Aust-Agder
Coordinates: 58°34′45″N 08°08′44″E / 58.57917°N 8.14556°E / 58.57917; 8.14556
CountryNorway
CountyAust-Agder
Established1 Jan 1877
 • Preceded byEvje og Vegusdal Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1967
 • Succeeded byBirkenes Municipality
Administrative centreEngesland
Area
 (upon dissolution)[1]
 • Total
325 km2 (125 sq mi)
Population
 (1967)
 • Total
582
 • Density1.8/km2 (4.6/sq mi)
DemonymsVeggdøl
Veggedøl[2]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-0934[3]

History

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The municipality was established on 1 January 1877 when the old municipality of Evje og Vegusdal was divided into Vegusdal (population: 935) in the east and Evje (population: 870) in the west. In 1900, the municipality had 985 inhabitants distributed among 141 farms. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1967, Vegusdal (population: 582) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Birkenes (population: 1,883) and Herefoss (population: 585) to form a new, larger municipality of Birkenes.[4]

Name

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The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vegusdal farm (Old Norse: Veikolfsdalr) since the first Vegusdal Church was built there. The first element is derived from the old male name, Veikolfr. The male name itself was a compound name with the first component Veik- coming from veikr which means "weak" and the second component -olfr was a variant form of the more common male name Úlfr (also spelled Ulfr, from Old Norse úlfr, ulfr "wolf"; cf. Icelandic Úlfur and Faroese Úlvur). The last element of the name is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Thus this is the "valley of Weak-Ulfr (or Weak-Wolf)".[5]

Government

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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

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The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Vegusdal was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Vegusdal herredsstyre 1964–1967 [7]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 4
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 7
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 2
Total number of members:13
Vegusdal herredsstyre 1960–1963 [8]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 4
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 6
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 3
Total number of members:13
Vegusdal herredsstyre 1956–1959 [9]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 4
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 7
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 2
Total number of members:13
Vegusdal herredsstyre 1952–1955 [10]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 4
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 5
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 3
Total number of members:12
Vegusdal herredsstyre 1948–1951 [11]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 4
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 6
  Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) 2
Total number of members:12
Vegusdal herredsstyre 1945–1947 [12]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 5
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 5
  Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) 2
Total number of members:12
Vegusdal herredsstyre 1938–1941* [13]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 3
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 6
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 3
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

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References

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  1. ^ a b Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (21 November 2014). "Vegusdal – tidligere kommune". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  3. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  4. ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  5. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nedenes amt (in Norwegian) (8 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 169.
  6. ^ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
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