Siljan, Norway

Siljan 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 Siljan. Other villages in Siljan include Snurråsen and Øverbø.

The 214-square-kilometre (83 sq mi) municipality is the 299th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Siljan is the 261st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,375. The municipality's population density is 11.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (30/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.1% over the previous 10-year period.

The older main road that connects the cities of Skien, Larvik, and Oslo passes through Siljan.

General information

The parish of Slemdal (later renamed Siljan) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a small area (population: 16) of Hedrum Municipality in Vestfold county was transferred to Siljan Municipality in Telemark county. Again on 1 January 1968, the unpopulated Svartangen area was transferred from Hedrum to Siljan.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) was originally named Slemdal, after the local valley (Old Norse: Sleimdalr). The first element is likely the old name of a river, the meaning of which is uncertain. The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".

On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the name of the municipality to Siljan. This name comes from the old Siljan farm (Old Norse: Seljur) since the first Siljan Church was built there. The name's meaning is uncertain, but it is likely that it comes from the plura form of selja which means "sallow tree" or "willow".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 16 June 1989. The official blazon is "Vert, three saw blades argent palewise in fess" (Norwegian: I grønt tre opprette sølv sagblad). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a set of three saw blades standing vertically in a horizontal row. The charge 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 green color in the field and the saw blade design symbolize the importance of the timber industry in Siljan. This type of saw blade was used locally throughout history. There were many saw mills located in Siljan along its waterways. The arms were designed by Halvor Holtskog, Jr. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Siljan. It is part of the Skien prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

Government

Siljan 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 Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Siljan (incomplete list):

• 1991-2007: Finn Tallakstad (Ap)
• 2007-2011: Ole Kristian Holtan (Ap)
• 2011-2015: Gunn Berit Rygg Holmelid (Ap)
• 2015-2023: Kjell Abraham Sølverød (Sp)
• 2023-present: Elisabeth Hammer (KrF)

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Siljan is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Notable people

• Kristian Norheim (born 1976), a Norwegian politician who was a municipal councillor in Siljan from 1995 to 1999

External links

• Media related to Siljan at Wikimedia Commons
• from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Telemark travel guide from Wikivoyage