Årdal is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1859 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Hjelmeland Municipality in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre was the village of Årdal where the Old Årdal Church is located.

Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 206th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Årdal Municipality was the 495th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 0.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The municipality of Aardal (later spelled Årdal) was established on 1 July 1849 when the large Hjelmeland Municipality was divided into two: the southern district (population: 1,315) became the new Aardal Municipality and the northern district (population: 3,084) remained as a smaller Hjelmeland Municipality (on the same date the municipality was renamed as Hjelmeland og Fister Municipality). On 6 March 1869, a small area of Aardal Municipality (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring Hjelmeland og Fister Municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Årdal Municipality was dissolved. On that date, the Sunngardene area of the old Årdal Municipality (population: 121) was transferred to the neighboring Strand Municipality. The rest of Årdal municipality was merged with the following areas to form a larger Hjelmeland Municipality: all of Hjelmeland Municipality (population: 1,691) the eastern part of Fister Municipality (population: 467), including the mainland and part of Randøy island most of Årdal Municipality (population: 743), except for the Sunngardene area which went to Strand Municipality the Buergården areas of Jelsa Municipality (population: 8)

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Årdalen valley () since it is the central geographical feature of the municipality. The first element is the genitive case of the word which means "river" or "creek". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale".

On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aardal with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Årdal, using the letter Å instead.

Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Årdal Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Hjelmeland prestegjeld and the Ryfylke prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Årdal MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtÅrdalÅrdal ChurchÅrdal1919Old Årdal ChurchÅrdal1619

Geography The municipality was centered around the Årdalsfjorden, a branch off the main Boknafjorden. The municipality stretched from the fjord over to the mountainous county border to the east. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Skrumleknuten, a tripoint on the borders of Årdal Municipality, Forsand Municipality, and Bykle Municipality (in Aust-Agder county). Hjelmeland Municipality was located to the north, Bykle Municipality (in Aust-Agder county) was located to the east, Forsand Municipality was located to the south, Strand Municipality was located to the southwest, and Fister Municipality was located to the northwest.

Government While it existed, Årdal Municipality was 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 was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Ryfylke District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council of Årdal Municipality was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors The mayor () of Årdal Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1849–1853: Torbjørn Torbjørnsen Tjendland 1853–1853: Nils Reiarsen Nessa 1854–1863: Søren Christophersen Schmidt 1864–1865: Nils Larsen Mæle 1866–1869: Daniel Thorsen Riveland 1870–1873: Nils Larsen Mæle 1874–1885: Ole Pedersen Leerstøl 1886–1901: Gudmund Vallem 1902–1904: Søren K. Schmidt 1905–1907: Adolf Andreassen 1908–1910: Gudmund Vallem 1911–1913: Adolf Andreassen 1914–1916: Jone Th. Lunde 1917–1919: Tor S. Tveit 1920–1922: Sigvart Schmidt 1923–1925: Tor S. Tveit 1926–1931: Sigvart Schmidt 1932–1941: Daniel Kleppa 1942–1945: Truls Krogh-Borgen 1945–1947: Daniel Kleppa 1947–1951: Johan Ur 1951–1963: Daniel Kleppa 1963–1964: Johannes Soppeland

Attractions Old Årdal Church

Årdal is well known for the Old Årdal Church () which received its final shape after expansion shortly after it was built in the early 17th century. The church was marked by the work of two local artists, the German-born painter Gottfried Hendtzschel (d. 1657 in Stavanger) and the craftsman Lauritz Snekker who was his student. The altarpiece and the pulpit was painted by Hendtzschel. They were both carved by Snekker who was also responsible for most of the carpentry work. The artistic efforts of Hendtzschel and Snekker within various churches in the vicinity formed a part of the Stranganger Renaissance (Stavangerrenaissance), the cultural period which peaked in the middle of the 17th century in the area around Stavanger.

See also List of former municipalities of Norway

References