# Heddal

Heddal is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The 407-square-kilometre (157 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Notodden Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Heddal where the Heddal Stave Church.

## History

The parish of Hitterdal (later spelled Heddal) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The municipality originally consisted of two parishes: Hitterdal with the Hitterdal Stave Church and Lilleherred with the Lilleherred Church (the spellings of the churches and parishes have varied historically). On 1 January 1913, the newly-designated kjøpstad (town) of Notodden (population: 4,821) was separated from Heddal to form a separate self-governing town as an enclave within Heddal Municipality. This left Heddal with 2,890 residents.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Heddal Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Notodden Municipality:
* most of Gransherad Municipality (population: 1,115) - except for the upper Jondalen valley which became part of Kongsberg Municipality
* all of Heddal Municipality (population: 4,844)
* the Rudsgrendi area of Hovin Municipality (population: 21)
* the town of Notodden (population: 7,523)

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Heddalen valley (Old Norse: Heitrardalr) since the historic Heddal Stave Church was built there. The first element is derived from the old name for the local river Heddøla, a tributary of the Skien River. The old name of the river comes from the genitive case of the word heitr which has an unknown meaning. The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hitterdal or Hiterdal. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Heddal.

## Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Heddal was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Heddal herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 12 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 1 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 2 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste) | 8 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 29 |
Heddal herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 16 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 6 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 29 |
Heddal herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 17 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 2 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 5 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidere, fiskere, småbrukere liste) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 28 |
Heddal herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 18 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 3 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 4 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 5 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 32 |
Heddal herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 19 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 4 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 4 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 3 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 32 |
Heddal herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 19 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 6 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 40 |
| Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |||

## Notable people

* Egil Bergsland (1924–2007), a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party
* Thorolf Bugge (1879–1935), a Norwegian trade unionist and politician
* Olea Crøger (1801–1855), a Folklore collector who published old folk tunes
* Sigmund Groven (born 1946), a Norwegian classical harmonica player
* Hans Herbjørnsrud (1938–2023), an author of short stories.