Jostedal

Jostedal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway.  The  municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963.  It was located in the Jostedalen valley in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Luster, in Vestland county, north of the village of Gaupne. The administrative centre was also located near the Jostedal Church in the central part of the valley.

History
Jostedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Jostedal municipality (population: 796) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Luster (population: 2,674) and Hafslo (population: 2,384) which created a newer, larger Luster Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Jostedalen valley () since the first Jostedal Church was built there. The first element is  which is the old name for the river Jostedøla. The name comes from the genitive case of the word  which means "yeast". This name is likely due to the fact that the water in the river comes from glaciers and during the summer time the river gets "frothy" or "foamy" due to all of the melting ice and the many waterfalls. The last element is  which means "valley" or "dale".

Geography
The former municipality consisted of Jostedalen valley which empties into the Gaupnefjord at the village of Gaupne. The Gaupnefjord is an arm of the Lustrafjorden, which is an arm of the famous Sognefjord, the second largest fjord in the world. There are three major glacial lakes in the area: Tunsbergdalsvatn, Nigardsbrevatn, and Styggevatn (vatn is Norwegian for lake). Other lakes in Jostdedal include Austdalsvatnet and Styggevatnet.

The river Jostedøla runs through the valley up to its headwaters at the Jostedalsbreen glacier, a plateau glacier which is the European mainland's largest with an area of . Jostedalsbreen National Park and Breheimen National Park are located on either side of the Jostedalen valley.

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.

Mayors
The mayors of Jostedal:

1838-1839: K.A. Bugge
1840-1841: Lars R. Faaberg
1842-1845: M.S. Fasting
1846-1846: Lars T. Kronen
1847-1849: Christian B. Heltberg
1850-1850: Anders A. Haugen
1851-1852: Christian B. Heltberg
1853-1855: I.H. Vamberg
1856-1856: O. Christian Rasch
1857-1858: Lars T. Kronen
1859-1861: O. Christian Rasch
1862-1862: Jon A. Haugen
1868-1869: Lars T. Kronen
1870-1874: Rasmus L. Faaberg
1875-1875: Andreas E. Hansen
1876-1876: Anders Christensen Ormbergstøl 
1877-1878: Tøger Kronen
1879-1880: Anders Christensen Ormbergstøl 
1881-1882: Anton Hansen
1883-1896: Anders Christensen Ormbergstøl 
1897-1904: Kristen Andersen Ormbergstøl
1905-1907: Lars Rasmussen Faaberg
1908-1910: Ole E. Myklemyr
1911-1922: Lars Rasmussen Faaberg
1923-1935: H.N. Bruheim
1836-1836: Hans Moen
1936-1937: H.N. Bruheim
1938-1939: Ove W. Haug
1940-1941: Hans Moen
1941-1945: K.R. Vigdal
1946-1947: Kristen Bakken
1948-1951: Johannes Grov
1952-1955: Hallvard Hesjevoll
1956-1963: Johannes Grov

Municipal council
The municipal council  of Jostedal was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms.  The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Notable people
Kåre Øvregard (born 1933), a politician
Kristen Øyen (born 1938), a forester

See also
List of former municipalities of Norway

References

External links

http://www.jostedal.com/ 

Luster, Norway
Former municipalities of Norway
1838 establishments in Norway
1963 disestablishments in Norway