Skodje ( or ) 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 1849 until its dissolution in 2020 (except for a short time from 1965-1977). The area is now part of

Ålesund Municipality Ålesund (, sometimes spelled Aalesund in English) is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ce ...

in the traditional district of

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

. 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

Skodje Skodje may refer to: Places * Skodje (village), a village in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway * Skodje Municipality, a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway * Skodje Church, a church in Ålesund Municipalit ...

. The other main village in the municipality was

Valle Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina * University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colomb ...

. The

European Route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...

/ E136 highway runs through the municipality, connecting it to the nearby cities of

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

and

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 365th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Skodje Municipality was the 209th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 4,764. 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 increased by 22.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Skodje was established in 1849 when the large Borgund Municipality was divided into two: the eastern part (population: 2,170) became the new ''Skoue Municipality'' (the spelling later changed) and the western part (population: 4,461) remained as Borgund Municipality. On 1 January 1902, Skodje Municipality was divided into two: the northern part (population: 1,547) became the new

Vatne Municipality Vatne is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality included land and islands surrounding the Midfjorden and Vatnefjorden in what is now part of H ...

and the southern part (population: 1,551) remained as a smaller Skodje Municipality. 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 1965, there was a merger between three neighbors:

Stordal Municipality Stordal is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1892 until its dissolution in 2020 (except for a brief time from 1965-1977). The area is now part of Fjor ...

(population: 1,052) in the south,

Ørskog Municipality Ørskog 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 Ålesund Municipality in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The administrative c ...

(population: 1,664) in the centre, and Skodje Municipality (population: 2,048) in the north, creating a new, larger

. This was merger was short-lived. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed all three municipalities were separated once again. This left the newly reconstituted Skodje Municipality with a population of 2,634. On 1 January 2020, Skodje Municipality was merged with

Haram Municipality Haram is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative center is Brattvåg, the industrial center of Sunnmøre. Other important villages in the municipality include Austnes, Eidsvik, ...

Sandøy Municipality Sandøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now divided between Aukra Municipality and Ålesund Municipality on the border of the traditiona ...

, and

to form a new, larger

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 after the old ''

'' farm () since the first

Skodje Church Skodje Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Skodje. It is the church for the Skodje parish which is part of the Nordre Sunnmøre prosti ...

was built there. The first element comes from the word which has an unknown meaning. The last element is which means "

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

" or "

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

". Before 1879, the name was written ''Skoue''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 19 June 1987 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Vert Vert or Verts may refer to: * Vert (heraldry), the colour green in heraldry * Vert (music producer) (born 1972), pseudonym of Adam Butler, an English music producer * Vert (river), in southern France * Vert (sport), a competition in extreme versio ...

, an arched

embattled A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

bridge Or"'' (). This means the arms have a green

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is an arched bridge design. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design was meant to mimic the local Skodje Bridge, a very old bridge which crosses over the Straumen river, a major architectural feat at its time. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

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 one parish () within Skodje Municipality. It was part of the Austre Sunnmøre 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 Møre The Diocese of Møre () is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center of Molde. , the Bisho ...

Geography

The municipality of Skodje shared land borders with

to the north,

Vestnes Municipality Vestnes is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Vestnes is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the ...

to the northeast,

to the southeast, and

to the west. Across the Storfjorden to the south was

Sykkylven Municipality Sykkylven is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the village of Aure, Sykkylven, Aure. Othe ...

. Skodje Municipality was located on the mainland and also on part of the island of

Uksenøya Uksenøya is an island in the Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located in Ålesund Municipality on the north side of the Storfjorden. Oksenøya has an area of and it has a population of 27,334 (in 2015). This ...

, plus many small surrounding islands. The Ellingsøyfjorden cut into the municipality from the west. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Frostadtinden, a

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

on the border of Skodje Municipality,

, and

Government

Skodje 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

Sunnmøre District Court Sunnmøre District Court () is a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court is based at two different courthouses in Ålesund and Volda. The court existed for hundreds of years until 2021, but it was re-established in 2025. Case ...

and 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 Skodje is made up of 21 representatives that are 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 Skodje was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position (incomplete list): * 1852–1853: Sivert Flaathe * 1856–1869: Ludvig Daae ( V) * 1870–1874: Christen Sorthe * 1874–1877: Johan Slyngstad * 1878–1879: Knud Stafset * 1880–1881: Johan Slyngstad * 1882–1885: Amund Skodje * 1886–1891: Knud Stafset * 1891–1892: Rasmus Hagen * 1892–1893: Knud Stafset * 1893–1895: Amund Skodje * 1895–1897: Arne Langset * 1898–1898: Knud Stafset * 1898–1899: Rasmus Hagen * 1899–1900: D. Liset * 1901–1901: D. Hagen * 1902–1902: Ole P. Klokk * 1903–1912: Andreas Langnes * 1913–1922: Lars J. Valde * 1923–1924: Trygve Brusdal * 1925–1925: Johan Salkjelsvik * 1926–1928: Andreas Langnes * 1929–1934: Lars J. Valde * 1935–1941: Rasmus Øvstegård * 1948–1961: Trygve Brusdal * 1961–1965: Jostein Valde *''(1965–1977: part of

)'' * 1977–1983: Otto Berg * 1983–1987: Torunn Möisæter ( H) * 1987–1991: Haldor Aasebø ( KrF) * 1991–1995: Per Stette * 1995–2003: Ole Stokke ( V) * 2003–2007: Terje Vadset ( FrP) * 2007–2011: Modolf Hareide ( Sp) * 2011–2015: Terje Vadset ( FrP) * 2015–2019: Dag Olav Tennfjord ( H)

Economy

Skodje Municipality's economy was mostly based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

, but there was also

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, and

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

-industry located there. By the 21st century, some industries had relocated from the nearby town of Ålesund to Skodje. Skodje had a young population, where 60% of the people were under the age of 40.

References

{{Authority control Ålesund Former municipalities of Norway 1849 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway 1977 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1849 Populated places disestablished in 1965 Populated places established in 1977 Populated places disestablished in 2020

General information

Name

Coat of arms

Churches

Geography

Government

Municipal council

Mayors

Economy

See also

References