Tokke

Tokke is a municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dalen. Other villages in Tokke include Åmdals Verk, Eidsborg, Høydalsmo, Lårdal, and Øvre Byrte. The Eidsborg Stave Church is one of Norway's old stave churches and it is located in Eidsborg, just north of Dalen.
The municipality is the 117th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tokke is the 271st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,140. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 6.4% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Lårdal (population: 1,929) and Mo (population: 1,658) were merged to form the new municipality of Tokke.
Name
The municipality is named after the local river Tokke. The name is related to the name of the lake Totak (from which the river originates). The river name is probably derived from the Old Norse word meaning "roaring", "rushing", or "howling".
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 6 February 1987. The official blazon is "Or a bear passant sable". This means the arms have a field (background) with a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is a bear which is displayed with a tincture of sable which means it is black. The bear symbolizes the rich nature in the forests in the municipality. The bear also plays a major role in many local legends and stories. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Tokke. It is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
Geography
Tokke Municipality is located in the Vest-Telemark region. It borders the municipalities of Vinje, Kviteseid, Seljord, Fyresdal (in Telemark) and the municipalities of Valle and Bykle (in Agder). The highest peak is Urdenosi which is above sea level. Other mountains in Tokke including Brandsnutene, Gråsteinsnosi, Sæbyggjenuten, Stølsdalsnutane, and Svolhusgreini. The river Tokke and the lakes Bandak, Botnedalsvatn, and Byrtevatn are all located in the municipality as well.
Government
All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Municipal council
The municipal council of Tokke is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayor
The mayors of Tokke:
1964-1971: Gunvald Jupskås
1972-1979: Olav K. Tho
1980-1984: Gunvald Jupskås
1984-1987: Marie Sund
1988-1989: Geirmund Skaalen (H)
1990-2005: Birger Nygård (Sp)
2005-2011: Olav Seltveit Urbø (Sp)
2011-2015: Hilde Alice Vågslid (Ap)
2015–present: Jarand Felland (Sp)
Notable people
Talleiv Huvestad (1761 in Skafså – 1847), a teacher, farmer and politician
Søren Georg Abel (1772 in Mo – 1820), a Norwegian priest and politician
Jens Matthias Pram Kaurin (1804 in Lårdal – 1863), a theology professor and Lutheran priest
Marcus Jacob Monrad (1816–1897), a Norwegian philosopher and academic, grew up in Mo
Vetle Vislie (1858 in Skafså – 1933), a Norwegian educationalist, writer and politician
Alf Blütecher (1880 in Lårdal – 1959), a Norwegian actor
Thomas Offenberg Backer (1892 in Mo – 1987), a Norwegian engineer
Andreas Backer (1895 in Mo – 1975), a Norwegian journalist and newspaper editor
Anne Grimdalen (1899 in Skafså – 1961), a Norwegian sculptor
Eivind Groven (1901 in Eidsborg – 1977), a microtonal composer and music-theorist
Arvid Torgeir Lie (1938 in Skafså – 2020), a Norwegian poet, short story writer and translator
Lene Vågslid (born 1986 in Tokke), a Norwegian teacher and politician
References
External links
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Description of Tokke
Municipalities of Vestfold og Telemark
1964 establishments in Norway