Skoger is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Drammen Municipality in Buskerud county. The administrative centre was the village of Skoger and the other notable village was Konnerud.
History The parish of Skouger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1843, Skouger Municipality was enlarged by merging with the small neighboring municipality of Strømsgodset (population: 731) and by adding an unpopulated area of Eiker Municipality (from neighboring Buskerud 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 Buskerud county).
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Skoger Municipality (population: 14,682) was merged with Drammen Municipality (population: 31,478) to form a new, larger Drammen Municipality. Since Drammen was in the neighboring county of Buskerud, Skoger also had to join Buskerud county.
Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the village of Skoger () since the Old Skoger Church was built there. The name is derived from the plural]form of which means "woodland" or "forest". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled Skouger.
Churches The Church of Norway had two parishes () within the municipality of Skoger. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.
Churches in SkogerParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtKonnerudKonnerud ChurchKonnerud1996Old Konnerud ChurchKonnerud1858SkogerSkoger ChurchSkoger1886Old Skoger ChurchSkogerc. 1200
Government Skoger Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. 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.
Mayors The mayors () 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 municipal council 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.
Notable people
See also List of former municipalities of Norway
References