Sande Municipality (Vestfold)

Sande is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 178-square-kilometre (69 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Holmestrand Municipality in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre was the village of Sande. Other villages in the municipality included Eikeberg, Klever, and Selvik.

General information

The parish of Sande 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 1966, the village area of Berger (population: 131) was transferred from Sande Municipality to the neighboring Svelvik Municipality. On 1 January 2020, Sande Municipality was merged into the neighboring Holmestrand Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sande farm (Old Norse: Sandvin) since the first Sande Church was built there. The first element comes from the word sandr which means "sand". The last element comes from the word vin which means "meadow" or "pasture".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 19 December 1986. The official blazon is "Per chevron vert and argent" (Norwegian: Delt av grønt og sølv ved sparresnitt). This means the arms are divided with an upside-down V-shaped line. The field (background) above the line has a tincture of green. Below 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 white/silver color in the lower field symbolizes the Sandebukta bay and the green color of the upper field symbolizes the forests and mountains that surround the bay. The arms were designed by Einar Engebretsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sande. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Geography

The 568-metre (1,864 ft) tall mountain Presteseteråsen was the highest point in Sande, located in westernmost part of the municipality. The mountain Lauvkollen lies just northeast of Presteseteråsen.

Government

Sande 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. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Drammen District Court and the Borgarting Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Sande:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sande was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Sister cities

Sande once had sister city agreements with the following places:

• Akaa, Western Finland, Finland
• Klippan, Skåne County, Sweden

Notable people

• Rune Høydahl, a former silver medalist in the World Mountain Bike Championship
• Anne-Sofie Østvedt (1920-2009), a Norvegian Resistance Member

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References