Skoger is a former municipality in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

county,

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 ...

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

Drammen Municipality Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Kon ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Har ...

county. The

administrative centre An administrative center 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 administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

was the village of

Skoger Skoger is a village located on the border between Buskerud and Vestfold counties, Norway. Of its population of 1,082 as of 2005, 654 were registered as residents of Drammen whereas 428 live in Sande in Vestfold county, Norway. History H ...

and the other notable village was

Konnerud Konnerud is a village located south of the city of Drammen in Viken, Norway. Konnerud has a population of 10 314 (2019) History Etymology One of the local farms gave its name to the entire area. Many of the farms located on Konnerud have names t ...

History

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 Skouger 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 ...

law). In 1843, Skouger Municipality was enlarged by merging with the small neighboring municipality of

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county), Norway, today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). But since th ...

(population: 731) and by adding an unpopulated area of Eiker Municipality (from neighboring

county). After this change, Skouger had 2,568 residents. On 1 January 1870, an area of northern Skoger (population: 1,363) was transferred into the neighboring town of Drammen (and also switching to the neighboring

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

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) 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, often abbreviated as WWI ...

. On 1 January 1964, Skoger Municipality (population: 14,682) was merged with

(population: 31,478) to form a new, larger Drammen Municipality. Since Drammen was in the neighboring county of

, Skoger also had to join Buskerud county.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the village of

() since the Old Skoger Church was built there. The name is derived from 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 which means "

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

" or "

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled ''Skouger''.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. ...

had two parishes () within the municipality of Skoger. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the

Nord-Jarlsberg prosti This list of churches in Tunsberg is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Tunsberg in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Buskerud and Vestfold counties. The diocese is based at the Tønsberg Cathedral in the city of T� ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 reside ...

) in the

Diocese of Tunsberg Tunsberg is a diocese of the Church of Norway. It includes parishes located within the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, with the cathedral located in Tønsberg. The Diocese of Tunsberg consists of the cathedral deanery and 9 rural deaneries. Hi ...

Government

Skoger Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profes ...

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usag ...

services,

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

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or adminis ...

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

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, 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 a ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

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, rural coun ...

directly elected Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

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 old ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

() of Skoger: *1838-1841: Rasmus Christensen *1842-1843: Nils Nilsen *1844-1853: Gabriel Smith *1854-1861: Knut Schartum *1862-1865: Jacob Gulliksen Styrmoe *1866-1869: Augustinus Olsen Kopperud *1870-1873: Jacob Gulliksen Styrmoe *1874-1875: Nils Peter Wølner Hansen *1876-1904: Lauritz Christiansen Hervig *1905-1910: Fredrik Frodesen Sand *1911-1913: Gustav Martinius Olsen *1914-1916: Fredrik Frodesen Sand *1917-1919: Jørgen Andvik *1920-1925: Arne Nicolai Anchersen ( Bp) *1926-1928: Borgar Steinset ( Ap) *1929-1931: Arne Nicolai Anchersen ( Bp) *1932-1940: Borgar Steinset ( Ap) *1941-1942: Einar Hjelmsø ( NS) *1943-1945: Karl Hugo Malmkvist ( NS) *1946-1957: Einar Aass ( Ap) *1958-1961: Finn Grønland *1962-1963: Einar Mortensen

Municipal council

The

of Skoger was made up of 41 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 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 often feature ...

Notable people

References

{{Authority control Drammen Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 1964