| Heddal | |
| Herred: | yes |
| Former: | yes |
| Former Name: | Hitterdal herred |
| Idnumber: | 0823 |
| County: | Telemark |
| District: | Aust-Telemark |
| Capital: | Heddal |
| Established: | 1 Jan 1838 |
| Preceded: | none |
| Disestablished: | 1 Jan 1964 |
| Succeeded: | Notodden Municipality |
| Demonym: | Heddøl |
| Language: | Nynorsk[1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 407 |
| Population As Of: | 1964 |
| Population Total: | 4844 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Coordinates: | 59.5875°N 9.1721°W |
Heddal is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The 407km2[2] municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Notodden Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Heddal where the Heddal Stave Church.[3]
The parish of Hitterdal (later spelled Heddal) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The municipality originally consisted of two parishes: Hitterdal with the Hitterdal Stave Church and Lilleherred with the Lilleherred Church (the spellings of the churches and parishes have varied historically). On 1 January 1913, the newly-designated kjøpstad (town) of Notodden (population: 4,821) was separated from Heddal to form a separate self-governing town as an enclave within Heddal Municipality. This left Heddal with 2,890 residents.[4]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Heddal Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Notodden Municipality:
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Heddalen valley (Norse, Old: Heitrardalr) since the historic Heddal Stave Church was built there. The first element is derived from the old name for the local river Heddøla, a tributary of the Skien River. The old name of the river comes from the genitive case of the word Norse, Old: heitr which has an unknown meaning. The last element is which means "valley" or "dale".[5] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hitterdal or Hiterdal. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Heddal.[6]
During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[7]
The municipal council Norwegian: (Herredsstyre) of Heddal was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
. Norske gaardnavne: Bratsbergs amt . 1914 . W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri . 7 . Kristiania, Norge . 236–237 . no . Oluf Rygh.