Åsnes Municipality

General information

When municipal government was established in Norway on 1 January 1838, the Åsnes area was part of Hof Municipality. In 1849, Hof Municipality was divided into two: Hof Municipality (population: 2,913) in the south and Aasnes og Vaaler Municipality (population: 7,087) in the north. A short time later, in 1854, Aasnes og Vaaler Municipality was divided into two: Våler Municipality (population: 3,410) in the north and Åsnes Municipality (population: 3,677) in the south.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Hof Municipality (population: 3,222) was merged into Åsnes Municipality (population: 6,750). On 1 January 1969, the Rotberget farm area (population: 23) in the Finnskogen part of the municipality was transferred to the neighboring Grue Municipality.

In the 2010s, there were discussions of further municipal mergers but the neighboring municipalities of Grue and Våler both rejected merging with Åsnes Municipality.

Historically, the municipality was part of Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Åsnes farm (Old Norse: Ásnes) since the first Åsnes Church was built there. The first element is áss which means "mountain ridge". The last element is nes which means "headland". The headland that it is referring to is made by the river Glomma near the Åsnes farm which is located beneath a hill. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aasnes with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Åsnes, using the letter Å instead.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 9 December 2001. The official blazon is "Or, three pike hooks sable in bend sinister points in base dexter" (Norwegian: I gult tre skrått nedvoksende svarte fløterhaker). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is three hooks for log driving that are pointing downwards diagonally. This was chosen to represent the importance of logging and forestry to the municipality throughout history. There are three poles to symbolize the three important rivers of the municipality: Glomma, Flisa, and Kynna. The arms were designed by Arvid Steen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has six parishes (sokn) within Åsnes Municipality. It is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Geography

The municipality is located in the southern part of Innlandet county in the traditional region of Solør. Åsnes Municipality is bordered to the north by Våler Municipality, to the south by Grue Municipality, to the west by Nord-Odal Municipality and Stange Municipality, and to the east it borders Torsby Municipality in Värmland County, Sweden.

Finnskogen or the forest of the Finns is a belt about 32 kilometres (20 mi) wide which runs continuously northwards along the border between Norway and Sweden through six Norwegian municipalities, including Åsnes.

Åsnes has several lakes and rivers throughout the forested municipality which sits in the southern Glåmdal valley. It includes the lakes Gjesåssjøen, Hukusjøen, and Vermunden. The rivers Flisa, Rotna, and Glomma all flow through the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the 634.6-metre (2,082 ft) tall mountain Elgklintsrøysa, located on the border with Sweden.

Government

Åsnes Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hedmarken og Østerdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Åsnes Municipality is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Åsnes Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:

Notable people

Hans Jacob Grøgaard (1764 in Åsnes – 1836), a parish priest, writer, and representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly

Johannes Bergh (1837 in Åsnes – 1906), a barrister and the Attorney General of Norway from 1893 to 1904

Jacob Sparre Schneider (1853 in Åsnes – 1918), a zoologist and entomologist

Adolf Gundersen (1865 in Åsnes – 1938), an American physician who founded Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin

Per Aasness (1875 at Flaen – 1959), a military officer, politician, and Mayor of Asnes from 1919 to 1922

Ole Bjerke (1881 in Åsnes – 1959), a sport shooter who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Arne Løfsgaard (1887 at Løfsgaard – 1974), a farmer, politician, and Mayor of Åsnes from 1925 to 1928

Birger Lie (1891 in Åsnes – 1970), a sport shooter who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Jon Gudbjørn Dybendal (1904 in Åsnes – 1985), a politician and Mayor of Åsnes from 1945 to 1963

Rolf Jacobsen (1907–1994), an author and modernist writer who twice lived in Åsnes

Kai Grjotheim (1919 in Åsnes – 2003), a chemist and academic who solved problems within thermodynamics of salt smelters

Gunnar Gundersen (born 1956 in Åsnes), a politician who also competed in the swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Sister cities

Åsnes has sister city agreements with the following places: