Eidanger is a former municipality in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of

Porsgrunn Municipality is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. Some other notable settlements in Porsgrunn include the town of Brev ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

was the village of Eidanger where Eidanger Church is located. The municipality of Eidanger included a peninsula between the Eidangerfjorden and the Frierfjorden. Situated between the urban municipalities (towns) of Brevik and

Porsgrunn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Porsgrunn (town), city ...

. It also included the more rural areas to the north and east of the Eidangerfjorden. The municipality had excellent natural conditions for building harbours, it became the site of

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

's plant at Herøya and the Dalen Portland (now part of the

Norcem Norcem AS is a Norway, Norwegian manufacturer of cement, and subsidiary of HeidelbergCement. It has plants in Brevik, Norway, Brevik and Kjøpsvik. History

Norcem was established in 1968 as a merger between the three cement factories Norce ...

corporation) concrete factory just outside Brevik. More recently, a major industry in the area is Heistad Fabrikker, which makes products for diabetics. Isola maintains its head office and administration office in Eidanger. Isola has two factories in this area where

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

-based products and steel roofing tiles are manufactured. Eidanger Church (''Eidanger kirke'') is located in the village of Eidanger and was the main church for the municipality. The church was originally a relatively simple stone church in the Romanesque style, probably built ca. 1150. The church was extended in 1787 and received a new sacristy in 1981. The altarpiece, stained glass and the pulpit is from 1991 and made by Terje Grøstad. The baptismal font is of stone and is from the 1890s. The church has two bells, one from 1720 and one from 1940.

History

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Eidanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). On 1 July 1920, an area of northern Eidanger (population: 550) that was adjacent to the growing town of Porsgrunn was

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

and transferred into the town. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

. On 1 January 1964, there was a major municipal merger where the following areas were merged to form a new

. *the town of Porsgrunn (population: 10,863) *the town of Brevik (population: 2,498) *all of Eidanger Municipality (population: 13,018) *the Bakke area (population: 75) of Hedrum Municipality in

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

county *the Enigheten, Høyberg, and Skavåsen areas (population: 12) of Brunlanes Municipality in

county

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the Eidangerfjorden () since the historic Eidanger Church was built at the head of the fjord. The first element is which means "isthmus" or "neck of land". The last element is which means "

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

" or "

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The

of Eidanger 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 A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() of Eidanger (incomplete list): *1838-1839: Jacob Sørensen Hvalen *1840-1843: Carl Nicolay Bugge *1844-1845: Jacob Sørensen Hvalen *1846-1849: Amund Tveten *1850-1852: Jacob Sørensen Hvalen *1853-1857: Amund Tveten *1857-1857: Jacob Sørensen Hvalen *1860-1865: Anders Olsen Langangen *1865-1865: Nils V. Slevolden *1865-1871: Ole P. Grava *1871-1880: H.J. Hvalen *1880-1882: Jacob Olsen Grava *1882-1884: H.J. Hvalen *1884-1886: Jacob Olsen Grava *1886-1888: Peder Pedersen Røra *1888-1889: Aasold K. Ørvig ( V) *1889-1895: J.S. Skrukkerød ( H) *1895-1901: Andreas Ramberg ( V) *1902-1904: K. Larsen-Røra *1905-1910: Andreas Ramberg ( V) *1911-1916: Olav Versvik ( V) *1916-1919: Finn C. Knudsen *1919-1922: Olav Versvik ( V) *1922-1922: Ole Petter Grava ( Bp) *1931-1935: Ole Petter Grava ( Bp) *1935-1937: Simon Sørli *1937-1937: Gustav Hill

References