Drangedal (; ) is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestestranda. Other villages in Drangedal include Bø i Tørdal, Bostrak, Gautefall, Henseid, and Neslandsvatn.

The municipality is the 106th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Drangedal Municipality is the 202nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 1.9% over the previous 10-year period.

The administrative centre, Prestestranda, is situated by Lake Toke. The municipal government is located there along with primary and secondary schools, shopping facilities, and a bank. Drangedal railway station is also located in Prestestranda and is served by the Oslo to Kristiansand Sørlandsbanen railway line. It was formerly connected to the Kragerø railway line, but that was closed in 1989.

The district of Tørdal encompasses the northwestern part of the municipality. Alpine and cross-country skiing is possible in Tørdal. Telemark's largest ski resort is located in Gautefall. The newspaper Drangedalsposten is published in Drangedal.

General information

Administrative history The formannskapsdistrikt law of 1837 created a system of local government in Norway by establishing each town (ladested or kjøpstad) and each Church of Norway prestegjeld as a civil municipality. On 1 January 1838, Drangedal prestegjeld was established as Drangedal Municipality. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time (which is pretty rare among municipalities in Norway).

In 2020, there were many municipal and county mergers across Norway due to the work of the Solberg cabinet. Historically, this municipality was part of Telemark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Vestfold og Telemark county (after Telemark and Vestfold counties were merged). The merger was shortlived, and on 1 January 2024, the merger was undone and this municipality became part of Telemark county once again.

Name The municipality is named after the old Drangedal prestegjeld. The prestegjeld was named after the Drangedal valley (). The first element is the plural genitive case of the word which means "pointed or jutting cliff or stone" or "mountain peak". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale".

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 21 April 1989. The official blazon is "Vert, two pine cones Or in pale" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a set of two pine cones lined up vertically. The charge 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 green color in the field and the pine cone design symbolizes the vast forests in the municipality. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has three parishes () within Drangedal Municipality. It is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Churches in Drangedal MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtDrangedalDrangedal ChurchPrestestranda1775KrokenKroken ChurchKroken1909TørdalTørdal ChurchBø1809

Geography The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Fagerliheii, located on the border with Kviteseid Municipality. The Tørdal valley was located in the northern part of the municipality. The large lake Toke is located in the municipality.

Nome Municipality is located to the north, Skien Municipality is located to the east, Bamble Municipality is located to the east southeast, Kragerø Municipality is located to the southeast, Gjerstad Municipality (in Agder county) is located to the south, Nissedal Municipality is located to the west, and Kviteseid Municipality is located to the northwest.

Government Drangedal 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 Nedre Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council of Drangedal Municipality is made up of 21 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 Drangedal Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1838–1839: Rev. Paul Resen Hofgaard 1839–1843: Ole Nielsen 1843–1845: Jon Jonsen Aabø 1849–1851: Olav Markussen Vefall 1851–1853: Halvor Persen Tørdal 1853–1857: Jon Jonsen Aabø 1857–1861: Halvor Persen Tørdal 1862–1863: Lars Markussen Naas 1863–1868: Per Ellingsen Vaaje 1868–1869: Olav Stiansen Sannes 1869–1877: Per Ellingsen Vaaje 1877–1879: Rev. Johan Fr. Oberlin Jespersen 1879–1881: Per Ellingsen Vaaje 1881–1882: Rev. Johan Fr. Oberlin Jespersen 1882–1883: Olav Torjussen 1883–1893: Nils J. Brødsjø 1893–1894: Knut Jonsen Bustrak 1894–1897: Gunnar Tomassen Naas 1897–1901: Dr. Martin Solberg 1901–1908: Nils J. Brødsjø 1908–1914: Elling Nilsmundsen Valnes 1914–1919: Olav Sannes 1919–1919: Per Jonsen Lauvstad 1920–1923: Hans Sjetne 1923–1925: Olav Sannes 1926–1928: Hans Sjetne 1929–1931: Per Tungebakke 1932–1940: Tor O. Lundtveit (Ap) 1941–1942: Olav K. Straume (NS) 1942–1943: Halvor N. Oseid (NS) 1943–1945: Anund K. Haugen (NS) 1945–1946: Tor O. Lundtveit (Ap) 1946–1947: Knut H. Strand (Ap) 1948–1959: Ivar H. Bjåland (Ap) 1959–1961: Olav Vellene (V) 1961–1963: Halvor Lauvstad (V) 1964–1971: Helge Føreland (Ap) 1971–1975: Knut Haugland (Ap) 1975–1979: Jon P. Holte (KrF) 1979–1980: Tore Straume (Ap) 1981–1981: Paul Myra (Ap) 1982–1987: Tore Straume (Ap) 1987–1991: Knut Haugland (Ap) 1991–1995: Svein Kolloen (Ap) 1995–1999: Ove A. Haugland (Sp) 1999–2003: Arnt Olav Brødsjø (V) 2003–2011: Nils Tore Føreland (Ap) 2011–2015: Karianne Sydtveit Reiten (Ap) 2015–2023: Tor Peder Lohne (Sp) 2023–present: Stina Sætre (Sp)

Notable people Hallvard Graatop (early 15th century), a rebel leader opposing the Crown and the bailiffs who may have lived at the Vraalstad farm in Drangedal Andrew Gulickson (1856 in Drangedal – 1941), a Norwegian American politician, member of Wisconsin State Assembly Knud Wefald (1869 in Yttre Vefald – 1936), a Norwegian American politician in the United States House of Representatives Abraham Aakre (1874 in Drangedal – 1948), a teacher and politician who was Mayor of Halden Finn Støren (1893–1962), a civil servant for Nasjonal Samling, lived in Drangedal from 1933 Knut T. Storbukås (born 1943 in Bostrak), a musician and truck driver, stage name Sputnik Nils Tore Føreland (born 1957), a politician who was Mayor of Drangedal from 2003-2011 Vidar Sundstøl (born 1963), a crime fiction writer

Gallery

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway