Grue is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kirkenær. Other villages in the municipality include Bergesida, Grinder, Namnå, Risberget, Rotberget, Skasenden, and Svullrya.

The municipality is the 136th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Grue is the 193rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,513. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 8.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The parish of Grue was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1867, the southern district of Grue Municipality (population: 3,946) was separated to become the new Brandval Municipality. This left Grue Municipality with 6,464 residents. In 1941, a small area of Grue Municipality (population: 68) was transferred to the neighboring Brandval Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1969, the Rotberget farm area (population: 23) was transferred from Åsnes Municipality to Grue Municipality. On 1 January 1974, an unpopulated part of the Lystad area was transferred from Grue Municipality to the neighboring Kongsvinger Municipality.

Historically, the municipality was part of the old 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 Grue farm ( or ) since the first Grue Church was built there. The name is identical with the word or which means "depression" or "hollow".

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 30 October 1992. The official blazon is "Per bend sinister rayonny of wolf-teeth argent and vert" (). This means the arms have are divided with a diagonal line that is rayonny, meaning it looks like curved wolf teeth rather than a straight line. The field (background) below the line has a tincture of Vert (green). Above the line, the field has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The flame-like line represents the clearance of farms in the woods by the use of fire and is also a remembrance of the gruesome church fire of 1822. The colors symbolize the forests and the Glomma river. The arms were designed by Harald Hallstensen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

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

Churches in GrueParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtGrueGrue ChurchKirkenær1825Grue FinnskogGrue Finnskog ChurchSvullrya1886

Geography + Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Grue by country of origin in 2017AncestryNumber Sweden50 Poland32 Lithuania29 Iraq28 Croatia28 Eritrea25 Bosnia-Herzegovina23

Grue Municipality is situated around the Glomma river and the geography is dominated largely by forests and some agricultural areas around Glomma. It is located in the southeast part of Innlandet county. It is bordered on the south by Kongsvinger Municipality, on the north by Åsnes Municipality, and on the west by Nord-Odal Municipality. To the east, it borders Sweden.

Grue Municipality was the early center for the Finnish migration which today populates the Finnskogen, a belt about wide and running continuously along the Swedish border through Grue Municipality, Åsnes Municipality, and Våler Municipality. Their first population center in Norway was located around the lake of Røgden.

The rivers Løvhaugsåa and Rotna both run through the area. The lakes Hukusjøen, Skasen, and Gardsjøen are located in the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Kaketjennsberget, located in the north, near the border with Åsnes Municipality.

Government Grue 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 Romerike og Glåmdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council of Grue Municipality is made up of 19 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 () of Grue 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:

1838–1845: Ole Arntzen Lützow 1846–1847: Jørgen Cappelen Omsted 1848–1857: Nicolai Astrup 1858–1859: Gunder Gundersen 1860–1863: Jacob Rolsdorph Andersen 1864–1879: Ole Bredesen Opset 1880–1883: Arne A. Omsted 1883–1887: Ole Bredesen Opset 1888–1898: Arne A. Omsted 1899–1907: Amund Bredesen Opset 1908–1913: Wilhelm Omsted 1914–1919: Amund Bredesen Opset 1920–1925: Magnus Vangerud 1926–1928: Sigurd Woll 1929–1931: Ole H. Sæther 1932–1933: Arve Myrvang 1933–1934: Arne Tveter 1935–1935: Ole Kamphaug 1936–1940: Eivind Grimstad 1940–1945: Vacant due to WWII 1945–1945: Martin Møllerud 1946–1955: Magnus Vangerud 1956–1963: Reidar Mellem 1964–1964: Martin Råberget 1964–1978: Thor Henriksen 1979–1985: Torbjøn Øveråsen 1985–1999: Ragnar Nyman 1999–2007: Niels Ferdinand Rolsdorph 2007–2011: Herdis Bragelien 2011–2015: Niels Ferdinand Rolsdorph 2015–2019: Wenche Huser Sund 2019–present: Rune Grenberg (Ap)

Economy A privately owned lamp factory with 51 employees is located in Grue. As of June 2024, it was announced that in less than a year the production will be moved to Poland, an EU country.

Notable people

Andreas Aagaard Kiønig (1771–1856), a lawyer and representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly Andreas Arntzen (1777–1837), a politician, police chief, Supreme Court judge, & timber merchant Mor Sæther (1793–1851), a Norwegian "klok kone" ("cunning woman"), i.e. a herbalist Ole Peter Riis Høegh (1806–1852), a trained civilian architect and Bergen's first town surveyor Wilhelm Maribo Schøyen (1844–1918), Norway's first government entomologist Olav Strøm (1866-1963), a pioneer trade unionist Kristian Prestrud (1881–1927), a naval officer and member of Amundsen's South Pole expedition Hagbart Haakonsen (1895-1984), a cross-country skier who competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics Åsta Holth (1904–1999), a novelist, poet and short story writer Kåre Jonsborg (1912–1977), a painter and textile artist Sinikka Langeland (born 1961), a traditional folk singer and kantele player Tom Harald Hagen (born 1978), a football UEFA referee

Gallery

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway