Øksendal is a former municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1854 until its dissolution in 1960. It had one of the smallest municipal populations in Norway. It was located in the northwestern part of the present-day

Sunndal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Nordmøre Districts of Norway, region located in the northeast part of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village o ...

, along the

Sunndalsfjorden Sunndalsfjorden (sometimes ''Sunndalsfjord'' in English) is a fjord in Sunndal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long Sunndalsfjorden comprises the southern end of the main Tingvollfjorden. It begins at the Ballsneset peninsu ...

. It included the coastal area along the fjord as well as the whole Øksendalen valley. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality was the village of Øksendalsøra, where Øksendal Church is also located. Prior to its dissolution in 1960, the municipality was the 354th largest by area out of the 743 municipalities in Norway. Øksendal Municipality was the 734th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 486. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was and its population had decreased by 10% over the previous 5-year period.

General information

In 1854, the parish of Øksendal was separated from the large

to establish the new Øksendal Municipality. Initially, Øksendal Municipality had a population of 1,291. On 1 January 1899, the northern part of the municipality, located on the northern side of the

, (population: 462) was separated to become the new Ulvundeid Municipality. This left Øksendal Municipality with 654 inhabitants. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1960, Øksendal Municipality (population: 497) was merged with Ålvundeid Municipality (population: 513) and

(population: 5,851) to form a new, larger Sunndal Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the Øksendalen valley (). The first element is which is the name for the river that runs through the valley. The meaning of the name is unknown. The last element is which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Øksendalen''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Øksendal'', removing the definite form ending ''-en''.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had one parish () within Øksendal Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Øksendal

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the

Indre Nordmøre prosti Indre (); is a department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administrative region of Centre ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Geography

The municipality was located in the Øksendalen valley on the south side of the

. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Vikesoksa on the border with

Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality Eresfjord og Vistdal is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1890 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Molde Municipality in the traditional district of Romsdal. The administ ...

. The municipality was surrounded by

to the southeast,

to the west,

Nesset Municipality Nesset is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Molde Municipality in the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre ...

to the north, and Ålvundeid Municipality to the northeast (across the fjord).

Government

While it existed, Øksendal Municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

of Øksendal 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 A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Øksendal was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position (incomplete list): *1862-1872: Peder P. Halse *1873-1875: Erik Sæther *1875-1886: Peder P. Halse *1887-1890: Erik Bølset *1890-1895: Halvor Olsen Melkild *1895-1899: Einar Børset *1899-1901: B. Øveraas *1902-1904: Ole L. Lien *1905-1907: B. Øveraas *1908-1934: Ole L. Lien *1934-1940: Anders Endreson Skrondal ( V) *1941-1942: John Erstad ( NS) *1942-1944: Henrik Børset ( NS) *1945-1947: Anders Endreson Skrondal ( V) *1947-1951: John O. Lien *1951-1955: Anders Endreson Skrondal ( V) *1955-1959: Kaare Ree ( LL)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oksendal Sunndal Former municipalities of Norway 1854 establishments in Norway 1960 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1854 Populated places disestablished in 1960