Øvre Stjørdalen is a former municipality in the old Nordre Trondhjem county in

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 1850 until its dissolution in 1874. The municipality encompassed the upper part of the

Stjørdalen Stjørdalen is a valley and a traditional district in Trøndelag county, Norway. The valley follows the Stjørdalselva river from the Norway-Sweden border to the west where it empties into the Trondheimsfjorden. The valley traverses Stjørda ...

valley which includes what is now

Meråker Municipality Meråker is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Midtbygda which is about west of Storlien in Sweden and east of the town of Stjø ...

and the eastern part of

Stjørdal Municipality () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

, both in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county. 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

Hegra HEGRA, which stands for High-Energy-Gamma-Ray Astronomy, was an atmospheric Cherenkov effect, Cherenkov telescope for Gamma-ray astronomy. With its various types of detectors, HEGRA took data between 1987 and 2002, at which point it was dismantl ...

where the

Hegra Church Hegra Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Stjørdal Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hegra. It is one of the churches for the Hegra parish which is part of the Stjørdal prosti (deane ...

is located.

General information

The municipality was established in 1850 when the old

Stjørdalen Municipality Stjørdalen is a former municipality in the old Nordre Trondhjem county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1850. The municipality covered the whole Stjørdalen valley in what is now Stjørdal Municipality an ...

was divided into Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality (population: 5,100) and

Nedre Stjørdalen Municipality Nedre Stjørdalen is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1850 until its dissolution in 1902. The municipality covered the western part of what is now Stjørdal Municipality in Trønde ...

(population: 6,543). On 1 January 1874, Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality ceased to exist when it was split to form two new municipalities:

Hegra Municipality Hegra is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1874 until its dissolution in 1962. The municipality was located in the Stjørdalen valley. It enc ...

(population: 3,409) in the east and Meraker Municipality (population: 1,861) in the west.

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

valley (). The first element is the word which means "upper", referring to the fact that it is the upper part of the valley. The second element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the local river name (now called the

Stjørdalselva Stjørdalselva () is a long river that reaches from near the Norwegian– Swedish border down the Stjørdalen valley through Meråker Municipality and Stjørdal Municipality before entering the Trondheimsfjord. The mouth is located on the sout ...

river). The meaning of the river 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".

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 Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Øvre Stjørdal

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 Søndre Innherred prosti (

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 made up the upper part of the

valley.

Verdal Municipality Verdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

Skogn Municipality Skogn is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1962. The municipality was located to the south and southwest of the L ...

and

Åsen Municipality Åsen is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1962. The municipality was located to the southwestern part of what is ...

were to the north,

was the to west,

Selbu Municipality Selbu is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Trøndelag, Flora, Fossan ...

and

Tydal Municipality Tydal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Neadalen/ Tydalen valley. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. Other villages include Østby, Græsli, Aungrenda, and Stugudalen. There ...

(both in Søndre Trondhjem county) were to the south, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

was to the east. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain

Fongen or is a mountain in Trøndelag county, Norway. The mountain sits along the tripoint border of Selbu Municipality, Tydal Municipality, and Meråker Municipality. The summit is located inside the Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park. The nearest ...

, located on the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

border with

, and this municipality.

Government

While it existed, Øvre Stjørdalen 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

of Øvre Stjørdalen was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. 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 ...

Mayors

The

() of Øvre Stjørdalen was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position: * 1850–1851: Haftor Gundersen Skjelstad * 1851–1853: Halvor Johnsen Øverkil * 1854–1857: Sivert Andreas Fergstad * 1858–1861: Johannes Røyem * 1862–1865: Jens Henrik Winsnes * 1866–1869: Johannes Røyem * 1869–1873: Halvor Johnsen Øverkil

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovre Stjordalen Municipality Meråker Stjørdal Former municipalities of Norway 1850 establishments in Norway 1874 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1850 Populated places disestablished in 1874