Eresfjord og Vistdal is a former municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

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 1890 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of

Molde Municipality Molde Municipality () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal ...

in the traditional district of

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

. 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

Eresfjord Eresfjord is a village in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located along the river Eira (river), Eira between the Eresfjorden and the lake Eikesdalsvatnet. The mountain Skjorta lies just to the east of the vi ...

. The municipality included the two parishes of Vistdal and Eresfjord and there were two churches in the municipality: Sira Church in Eresfjord and

Vistdal Church Vistdal Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Myklebostad, Møre og Romsdal, Myklebostad. It is the church for the Vistdal parish which is pa ...

in Myklebostad. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 123rd largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality was the 568th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,302. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was and its population had decreased by 9.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of ''Eresfjord og Vistdal'' was established on 1 January 1890 when it was split off from

Nesset Municipality Nesset is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Molde Municipality in the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre ...

. Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality had an initial population of 2,155. 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 ...

. On 1 January 1964, Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality (population: 1,289) was merged with

(population: 2,360).

Name

The municipality (originally 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 ...

) is named ''Eresfjord og Vistdal'', a compound name meaning "Eresfjord and Vistdal", referring to the local

Eresfjorden Eresfjorden is a fjord in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is a long branch off of the main Langfjorden, which is itself a branch off the great Romsdal Fjord. The fjord begins at the mouth of the Eira River near the v ...

(fjord) and Vistdalen valley. The first part is Eresfjord (). The first element of this part comes from the old name of the local river Aura (). This name comes from the word which means "

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

" or "coarse sand". The last element of this part 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 ...

". The second part of the name is Vistdal or Vistdalen (). The first element of this part is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the word which means "calm" or "quiet one", referring to the main river running through the valley. The lower part of the river is a particularly quiet and gentle river. The last element of this part is which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Eresfjord og Vistdalen''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Eresfjord og Vistdal'', removing the definite form ending ''-en''.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had two parishes () within Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Nesset

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the Indre Romsdal prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Geography

The municipality was located at the end of the Langfjorden and

was to the north,

Sunndal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Nordmøre Districts of Norway, region located in the northeast part of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village o ...

was to the east,

Lesja Municipality Lesja is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Lesja (villag ...

(in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

county) was to the south, and Grytten Municipality,

Hen Municipality Hen is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Rauma Municipality in the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre wa ...

, and

Veøy Municipality Veøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Molde Municipality and Rauma Municipality in the traditional district of Romsdal. The ...

were to the west. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Høgbøra.

Government

While it existed, Eresfjord og Vistdal 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,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

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 and utilities. The 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. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

of Eresfjord og Vistdal was made up of 17 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

() of Eresfjord og Vistdal was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position: * 1890–1910: Andreas Sølsnæs * 1911–1913: Torvald Jørstad * 1914–1926: Henning Øveraas * 1927–1928: Henrik Dahl * 1929–1931: Kristian O. Meland * 1932–1934: Peder Siira * 1935–1942: Kristian O. Meland * 1943–1945: Einar Strand * 1945–1948: Kristian O. Meland * 1949–1951: Torvald Hånde * 1952–1955: Erling Bø * 1956–1963: Pedro Myklebostad

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eresfjord Og Vistdal Municipality Molde Former municipalities of Norway 1890 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1890 Populated places disestablished in 1964