Worm Hirsch Darre-Jenssen (7 December 1870 – 30 April 1945) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

engineer and politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He served two terms in the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

, and as

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

from 1926 to 1928.

Career

Worm Darre-Jenssen took education in machinery and construction in 1889 and 1890, at the technical school in

Trondhjem Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. From 1890 to 1894 he worked as an assistant in railway construction. From 1894 to 1895 he studied at the Technische Hochschule Hannover. He then worked until 1900 with road administration in Kristians Amt. In 1901 he returned to Trondhjem to supervise the construction of an electricity plant. From 1902 he worked in the city engineer department, from 1913 as chief engineer. He was elected to the

in 1925, representing the

Market towns of Sør-Trøndelag and Nord-Trøndelag counties The Market towns of Sør-Trøndelag and Nord-Trøndelag counties ( no, Kjøpstedene i Sør-Trøndelag og Nord-Trøndelag fylker) was an electoral district for Stortinget, parliamentary elections in Norway. It comprised the market town#Norway, market ...

. In 1926, following a reshuffle in July, Darre-Jenssen was appointed

. His brother, Hans Jørgen, also served in the same position from 1910-1912. In this position he became known for unwillingness to further develop the rail transport system in Norway, citing that the resources should be channeled into road building. In 1927 he suspended the building of the

Namsos Line The Namsos Line ( no, Namsosbanen) is a railway line between the village of Medjå and the town of Namsos in Trøndelag county, Norway. The line branches off from the Nordland Line at Grong Station and runs through the municipalities of Grong, ...

, which had been approved by the Parliament in 1923. His action was repudiated by a new parliamentary decision in May 1928, allowing the construction to continue. In the meantime, however, the plans had been somewhat reduced. Darre-Jenssen also halted the progress of the

Hardanger Line The Hardanger Line ( no, Hardangerbana or Hardangerbanen) was a railway between Voss and Granvin in Hordaland, Norway. The line connected to the Bergen Line in Voss, and ran to the Hardangerfjord and the district of Hardanger. Construction sta ...

, whose plans, too, had been approved in 1923. Again, the Parliament decided to continue the construction as originally planned. However, Darre-Jenssen went to the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

, which passed a resolution to protest the building of the Hardanger Line and the Flåm Line both located within the county, as well as the Namsos Line, although the latter was built far away from Hordaland. The ensuing stir prompted another parliamentary discussion in 1931, but again the future of the Hardanger Line was confirmed.Aspenberg, 1994: pp. 250–251 In January 1928, the cabinet Lykke fell, the Labour Party

Hornsrud's Cabinet Hornsrud's Cabinet governed Norway between 28 January 1928 and 15 February 1928. The first Labour Party cabinet in Norway, it was defeated by the other parliamentary parties on a vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously ...

taking its place. Darre-Jenssen lost his position as Minister of Labour, but did get re-elected for a second and final term in Parliament. Darre-Jenssen was involved in several organizations. He was a board member of the local chapter of the

Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers {{Authority control Hunting organizations Organisations based in Asker 1871 establishments in Norway Organizations established in 1871 ...

, and chaired the local chapter of the Norwegian Engineer Association (''Den norske Ingeniørforening'') from 1908 to 1914. From 1912 he was a member of the Engineer Association national board, and from 1923 to 1926 he was its president. He was also a board member of the Norwegian Institute of Technology Foundation from 1915 to 1936, and of the Norwegian Fire Protection Association from 1933. He then served as its vice president from 1937 to 1939. From 1929 to 1941, Darre-Jenssen was the CEO of Norges Brannkasse. He was removed from the position in 1941, due to the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

. He died on 30 April 1945; Norway was liberated on 8 May.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darre Jenssen, Worm Hirsch 1870 births 1945 deaths Government ministers of Norway Norwegian engineers Members of the Storting Politicians from Trondheim Engineers from Trondheim Conservative Party (Norway) politicians