# Snertingdal Municipality

Snertingdal is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The 220-square-kilometre (85 sq mi) municipality existed from 1910 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Gjøvik Municipality in the traditional district of Vestoppland. The administrative centre was the village of Seegård.

## History

The municipality of Snertingdal was established on 1 January 1910 when the municipality of Biri was divided in half. The western part (population: 2,028) became Snertingdal Municipality and the eastern part (population: 2,815) continued as Biri Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Snertingdal (population: 2,471) was merged with the town of Gjøvik (population: 8,251), the municipality of Biri (population: 3,274), and most of the municipality of Vardal (population: (9,612) to create a new Gjøvik Municipality with 23,608 residents.

### Name

The municipality is named after the Snertingdalen valley (Old Norse: Snartheimsdalr) which runs through the municipality. The first element of the valley name is Snartheimr which comes from the old "Snartum" farm and church site in the valley. The farm name is likely derived from an old river name with the suffix heimr which means "home". The last element of the valley name is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".
Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Snertingdalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Snertingdal, removing the definite form ending -en.

## Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. 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.

### Mayors

The mayors of Snertingdal:
* 1910-1910: Kristian Oudenstad
* 1911-1913: Kristian Markeng
* 1914-1916: Kristian Oudenstad
* 1917-1928: Anton E. Haugen (AD)
* 1929-1931: Johannes Kirkerud (Bp)
* 1932-1938: Lars Ødegårdstuen (RF)
* 1938-1940: Anders Tandberg (Ap)
* 1945-1963: Anders Tandberg (Ap)

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Snertingdal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Snertingdal herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 10 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 5 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 17 |
Snertingdal herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 5 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 17 |
Snertingdal herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Snertingdal herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Snertingdal herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 3 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 5 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Snertingdal herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 5 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 3 |
| 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. |||