# Laudal (municipality)

Laudal is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 93-square-kilometre (36 sq mi) municipality existed from 1899 until 1964. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Laudal where Laudal Church is located. The municipality encompassed part of what is now the municipality of Lindesnes in Agder county.

## History

The municipality was established on 1 January 1899 when the old municipality of Øyslebø og Laudal was divided into two municipalities: Øyslebø (population: 991) and Laudal (population: 836). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Laudal municipality was dissolved and its land was merged with parts of the neighboring municipalities of Øyslebø, Bjelland, and Finsland to create the new municipality of Marnardal. Prior to the merger, Laudal had a population of 560.

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Laudal farm (Old Norse: Laugardalr) since the first Laudal Church was built there. The first element of the name of the farm comes from the old name for the river, Laug, (now the Lågåna river). The old river name is identical to the word laug which means "bath". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Therefore, the name means the bath river valley.

## 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.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Laudal 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.
Laudal herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 8 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Laudal herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 8 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Laudal herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 7 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Laudal herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 7 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Laudal herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 6 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 3 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Laudal herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 5 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 5 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
| 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. |||