# Hof, Innlandet

Hof is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1963 when it was merged into Åsnes Municipality. In 1963 when it was dissolved, the municipality encompassed 422 square kilometres (163 sq mi). The administrative centre was the village of Hof where the old Hof Church is located.
Hof was located in the traditional district of Solør. Hof was bordered by Grue municipality to the south, Asnes municipality to the north, Våler, Nord-Odal, and Stange municipalities to the west, and the Kingdom of Sweden to the east. The eastern part of the municipality was part of the Finnskogen area.

## History

Historically, the prestegjeld of Hof included the main parish plus the sub-parishes of Åsnes and Våler. The whole parish of Hof was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1849, the two northern areas of Hof were separated to form the new municipality of Åsnes og Våler (population: 7,087), which drastically reduced the size of Hof municipality. The split left Hof with a population of 2,913. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the municipality of Hof (population: 3,222) was merged into the neighboring municipality of Åsnes (population: 6,750). On 1 January 1969 the Rotberget area (population: 23), which had been a part of Hof until the 1963 merger, was transferred to the neighboring Grue municipality.

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hof farm (Old Norse: Hof) since the first Hof Church was built there. The name is identical with the word hof which means "shrine" or a "pagan temple hall" (as in a temple of the Old Norse gods).

## 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 Hof was made up of 19 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Hof herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 11 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 2 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 19 |
Hof herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 11 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 3 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 1 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 19 |
Hof herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 2 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Hof herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 4 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 1 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Hof herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 7 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 4 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 2 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Hof herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 10 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 4 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
| 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. |||