Sauherad is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is part of the

traditional region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing socia ...

of Midt-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Akkerhaugen. The municipality borders

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud, Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. K ...

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

, Nome, Bø, and Notodden. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of ''Søfde'' (later spelled Saude, then Sauherad) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 Janua ...

). The area of Luksefjell was transferred from Sauherad to Gjerpen in 1847.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Sauar'' farm (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Sauðar''), since the first church was built here. The name is the

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

form of ''sauðr'' which means " spring" or "issue of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

". The meaning of the combination ''Sauherad'' (Old Norse: ''Sauðaherað'') is "the district (''herað'') of Sauðar". Prior to 1918, the name was written ''"Saude"'' or (before 1862) "Søfde".

Coat-of-arms

The

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in i ...

is from modern times. They were granted in 1989. The arms show a gold-colored

apple tree An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

on a blue background. It was designed by Halvor Holtskog.

Transportation

*Railway - Both the Sørland Line and the

Bratsberg Line The Bratsberg Line ( no, Bratsbergbanen) is a railway line between Eidanger and Notodden in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It opened in 1917, connecting the Tinnos Line, the Sørland Line and the Vestfold Line; allowing Norsk Hydro ...

run through Sauherad. The Bratsberg Line runs as part of the Sørland Line between Hjuksebø and Nordagutu. The Hjukse Bridge at Hjuksebø on the Bratsberg Line is Norway's tallest railway

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

at . Nordagutu Station is the only operating station left in Sauherad. *Roads - Riksvei 36 and 360 goes through Sauherad, and so does ''Fylkesvei'' 44, 151, 551, 553, and 555. In 2008, all roads and streets got names, as one of the last municipalities in Norway.

Notable residents

Enevold Steenblock Høyum Enevold Steenblock Høyum (15 May 1775 – 24 January 1830) was a Norwegian military officer who served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly. He was born at Sauherad in Telemark, Norway. He was the oldest of six sibli ...

(1775–1830) military officer, rep. at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly * Targjei Augundsson (1801 – 1872) known as '' Myllarguten'' (meaning the Millerboy), a fiddle player *

Hans Aimar Mow Grønvold Hans Aimar Mow Grønvold (26 June 1846 – 25 July 1926) was a Norwegian civil servant and music writer. He was born in Saude as a son of vicar Bernt Olaus Grønvold (1819–1900). He was a third cousin of painters Bernt and Marcus Grønvold and ...

(1846–1926) a Norwegian civil servant and music writer *

Lars Fykerud Lars Hansson Fykerud (5 April 1860 – 19 August 1902) was a Norwegian Hardanger fiddler and composer. He was born in Sauherad; the son of folk musician Hans G. Fykerud and Torbjørg Larsdotter. Fykerud played the fiddle in the tradition of ...

(1860–1902) a Norwegian Hardanger fiddler and composer * Sverre Granlund DCM (1918–1943) a Norwegian commando during WWII *

Arne Haukvik Arne Haukvik (12 February 1926 – 21 August 2002) was a Norwegian sports official for IL i BUL and politician for the Centre Party and the Pensioners Party. He is best known for founding the Bislett Games. As a politician, he was a four-term ...

(1926–2002),

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and founder of the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

Liv Holtskog Liv Holtskog (4 August 1934 – 21 July 2014) was a Norwegian fruit farmer and poet. She was born in Gvarv. She made her literary debut in 1966 with the poetry collection ''Kanskje ein''. Other collections are ''Dagane millom'' from 1969, ' ...

(1934 in Gvarv - 2014) Norwegian fruit farmer and poet *

Johannes Akkerhaugen Johannes Akkerhaugen (born 11 August 1939) is a Norwegian archer. He was born in Sauherad. He competed in archery at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city ...

(born 1939) an archer, competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972 ...

Sauherad church

Sauherad church (''Sauherad kirke'') dates from the medieval era. The church was built between 1150 and 1250. The edifice is of stone and has 260 seats. The church is built in Romanesque style. On the ridge, in the middle of the gable roof, sits a turret. The church bells are from 1441. The altarpiece from 1663 is of Renaissance style. In 1781 the building was extended westward. In 1830 the church received a new interior. The frescoes in the nave were uncovered and restore during the 1940s and 1950s.

Attractions

Events

* ''Sauheraddagane'' (since 1993) * ''Kartfestivalen'' (Kart Festival, since 2005) * ''Norsk Eplefest'' (Norwegian

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

festival, since 2006)

Buildings

* Blæksås fortress (3-5th century) * Bratningsborg fortress (3-5th century) * Steinborg fortress (3-5th century) * Evju Bygdetun (Museum) * Nes stone church (12th century) * Sauherad stone church (12th century)

Villages

* Akkerhaugen *

Gvarv Gvarv is a village in Sauherad, Telemark, Norway. Gvarv is famous for its apples, sweet cherries and sour cherries (as is the whole Sauherad municipality). Also (unusually for Norway) grapes and wine! The Norwegian painter Erik Were ...

* Hjuksebø * Holtsås * Hørte * Nordagutu

Sister cities

The following cities are

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with Sauherad: * Karlsborg,

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of ...

, Sweden

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every ye ...

* {{Authority control Midt-Telemark 2020 disestablishments in Norway