Hemnes IL

Hemnes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Korgen. Other villages include Bjerka, Bleikvasslia, Hemnesberget, and Sund.

The municipality sits south of the Ranfjorden and stretches south and east toward the border with Sweden. The Nordland Line and European route E6 cross Hemnes on their way to the town of Mo i Rana about to the northeast. The E6 highway enters Hemnes from the west through the Korgfjell Tunnel from Vefsn.

The municipality is the 49th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hemnes is the 194th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,420. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 3.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

This municipality was established in 1839 when the old municipality of Rana was divided into ''Sør-Rana'' and Nord-Rana, shortly after the Formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect. Soon after, in 1844, ''Sør-Rana'' was renamed ''Hemnes''.

On 1 July 1918, the southern district of Hemnes (population: 1,369) was separated to become the new municipality of Korgen. This left Hemnes with 3,567 residents. A few months later on 1 January 1919, the eastern area of Bardal (population: 4) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Nesna. Then on 1 July 1929, Hemnes was split into three municipalities: Sør-Rana, Elsfjord, and Hemnes. After this, the municipality of Hemnes only consisted of the village of Hemnesberget and the area immediately around it (population: 1,077). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Korgen, Hemnes, the extreme northern part of Hattfjelldal Municipality, and the southern part of Sør-Rana Municipality were all merged to form a new, larger municipality of Hemnes.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Hemnes'' farm ( Old Norse: ''Heimnes'', now called Hemnesberget), since the first church was built there. The first element is ''heimr'' which means "home" (here in the sense of being "closest to home") and the last element is ''nes'' which means "headland", referring to the peninsula on which the farm is located.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The arms show a gold colored boat clamp on a blue background. Shipbuilding has long been a tradition in the municipality and an element to symbolize shipbuilding was considered appropriate. The symbol chosen is a kind of clamp used to keep the wooden flanks of the ships together, and the blue background represents the ocean.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes () within the municipality of Hemnes. It is part of the Indre Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

History

Second World War

As part of their drive on Northern Norway, a detachment of three hundred German soldiers landed at Hemnes from the captured Norwegian coastal steamer SS ''Nordnorge'' on 10 May 1940 and captured the municipality from a platoon of British soldiers from No. 1 Independent Company, despite a spirited defence in the streets of Hemnesberget. A Royal Navy task force consisting of the anti-aircraft cruiser ''Calcutta'' and destroyer ''Zulu'' sank the former Norwegian steamer and shelled the German forces in the town, but were unable to dislodge the German landing force.

A Norwegian Army detachment attempted a counterattack against the German's positions, but was driven back. The town was again bombarded on 12 May by a passing Royal Navy force without significant effect, leaving Hemnes in German control for the rest of the war.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Hemnes, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Rana District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Hemnes is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Geography

The lake Røssvatnet ( sma, Reevhtse) is a lake and reservoir lying partially in the southern part of Hemnes. It has been the site of human occupation since the Stone Age. Its area of makes it the second largest lake in Norway by surface area. Other lakes include Bleikvatnet, Grasvatnet, Stormålvatnet, and Stormyrbassenget.

The Okstindan mountain range is located in Hemnes, including the mountain Oksskolten. The large Okstindbreen glacier sits atop the mountain range.

Notable people

* Kristen Rivertz, (Norwegian Wiki) (1862–1937), architect
* Johan Albrigt Rivertz (1874 in Korgen – 1942) a judge on the Supreme Court of Norway
* Erling Falk (1887 in Hemnesberget - 1940) a Norwegian politician, ideologist and writer
* Christen Finbak, (Norwegian Wiki) (1904–1954) chemist and physicist
* Egil Kraggerud (born 1939 in Hemnes) a Norwegian philologist
* Laila Stien (born 1946 in Hemnes) a novelist, poet and author of children's literature
* Gerd-Liv Valla (born 1948) a former trade union leader, grew up near Bjerka
* Reidar Sørensen (born 1956 in Hemnesberget) a Norwegian stage and film actor IMDb Database
retrieved 10 September 2020
* Kjell-Idar Juvik (born 1966 in Hemnesberget) a politician, Mayor of Hemnes 2003–2011
* Børge Petersen-Øverleir (born 1967 in Hemnesberget) a Norwegian guitarist

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from Statistics Norway

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{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022

Municipalities of Nordland
1839 establishments in Norway