Haltdalen (municipality)


Haltdalen is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1972 when it was merged with Ålen to become the present-day municipality of Holtålen in Trøndelag county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Haltdalen where the Haltdalen Church is located.

Name

The municipality was originally named Holtaalen. The name comes from the local river Holta, a side branch of the larger Gaula River. In the early 20th century, the spelling of the name was changed to Holtålen. In 1937, the municipality was renamed Haltdalen, the name it held until 1972 when it was merged with the neighboring municipality of Ålen to form the new municipality of Holtålen, resurrecting the old name of the municipality that was used before 1937.

History

The prestegjeld of Holtaalen was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1841, the western part of the municipality was separated to become the new municipality of Singsaas. This left Holtaalen with 1,885 residents. Then in 1855, the southeastern part of Holtaalen was separated to become the new municipality of Aalen. This left Holtaalen with 809 residents. The spelling of the name was later changed to Holtålen. In 1937, the name was changed from Holtålen to Haltdalen. Starting in the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1972, the neighboring municipalities of Haltdalen and Ålen were merged to form the new municipality of Holtålen.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Haltdalen, are responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elects a mayor.

Municipal council

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