Holt is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 1838 until its dissolution in 1960 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of

Tvedestrand is List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative center is the Tvedestrand (town), t ...

which is now in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

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 Holt was located just south of the village of Fiane where Holt Church is located. Holt Church probably dates from the twelfth century and has an ancient

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

. The interior was decorated by Torsten Hoff. The Nordkalottruta trail runs through the Holt area in Tvedestrand.

History

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 ...

of Holt was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). According to the 1835 census, the municipality had a population of 3,116. On 1 January 1881, a part of Holt with 52 inhabitants was moved to the neighboring municipality of

Dypvåg Dypvåg is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Tvedestrand is List of municipalities of Nor ...

, and on 1 July 1919 another part of Holt with 14 inhabitants was moved to the neighboring municipality of Moland. 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, the municipalities of Holt (population: 3,759) and Dypvåg (population: 1,805) plus the town of Tvedestrand (population: 868) were merged to form an enlarged municipality of

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old ''Holt'' farm () since the first Holt Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "small forested area" or " grove (of trees)".

Government

While it existed, this 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,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

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. During its existence, this 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.

Mayors

The

mayors 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 ...

() of Holt: * 1838-1842: Jacob Aall * 1838-1842: Andreas Faye * 1842-1843: Andreas Faye * 1844-1847: Lars Jonsen * 1848-1849: Halvor T. Skjerkholt * 1850-1853: Reier T. Lilleholt * 1854-1857: Halvor T. Skjerkholt * 1858-1861: Reier T. Lilleholt * 1861-1865: Halvor T. Skjerkholt * 1866-1866: Tor Reiersen Lilleholt * 1866-1867: Peder Christensen Goderstad * 1868-1869: Ole Torjesen Goderstad * 1870-1871: Torbjørn T. Bjelland * 1872-1875: Halvor H. Lunde * 1876-1879: Torbjørn T. Bjelland * 1880-1883: Lars Albretsen Myklebustad * 1883-1887: Torjus Albretsen Myklebustad * 1887-1891: Ole E. Grændsen * 1891-1892: Lars Albretsen Myklebustad * 1893-1901: Ole E. Grændsen * 1902-1904: Torjus H. Skjerkholt * 1905-1907: Ole E. Grændsen * 1908-1910: Torjus H. Skjerkholt * 1911-1913: Peder Tengelsen Langang * 1914-1916: Torjus H. Skjerkholt * 1917-1925: Stian Erichsen * 1926-1937: Grunde O. Gliddi * 1938-1838: Halvor T. Skjerkholt * 1938-1940: Thoralf Skjerkholt * 1946-1947: Søren Sørensen * 1948-1951: Erik Solberg * 1952-1959: Frithjof Bjørnstad

Municipal council

The

of Holt was made up of 21 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 ...

Attractions

Holt Church

Holt Church () is a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

church dating from the 1100s. The medieval-era church was constructed of stone. In 1753, it was expanded. The extension, choir and transepts were built of wood. The rebuilt church was also equipped with a chancel arch, decorated in the rococo style. The church has a baptismal font made out of

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in sub ...

, carved in high Gothic style. The Baroque altarpiece from 1732 is carved with a painting of ''Jesus in Gethsemane''.

Notable people

* Aasulv Olsen Bryggesaa, a local

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

* Helga Gitmark, a local politician * Harald Selås, a local politician * Torje Olsen Solberg, a local politician

References

External links

* {{use dmy dates, date=December 2020 Tvedestrand Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1960 disestablishments in Norway