Odda Municipality

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Former municipality in Hordaland, Norway

title: "Odda Municipality" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["odda", "ullensvang", "former-municipalities-of-norway", "1913-establishments-in-norway", "2020-disestablishments-in-norway", "populated-places-established-in-1913", "populated-places-disestablished-in-2020"] description: "Former municipality in Hordaland, Norway" topic_path: "geography/norway" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odda_Municipality" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former municipality in Hordaland, Norway ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox kommune"]

Field	Value
name	Odda
former	yes
image_skyline	Odda i februar 2004.jpg
image_caption	View of the town of Odda
idnumber	1228
county	Hordaland
district	Hardanger
capital	Odda
language	Neutral
coatofarms	Odda komm.svg
established	1 July 1913
preceded	Ullensvang Municipality
disestablished	1 Jan 2020
succeeded	Ullensvang Municipality
demonym	Odding
mayor	Roald Aga Haug
mayor_party	Ap
mayor_as_of	2015–2019
elevation_max_m	1721.2
highest_point_ref
area_rank	42
area_total_km2	1615.89
area_land_km2	1475.43
area_water_km2	140.46
area_water_percent	8.7
population_as_of	2019
population_rank	157
population_total	6745
population_density_km2	4.2
population_increase	-4.4
coordinates
::

Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The 1615.89 km2 municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Ullensvang Municipality in the traditional district of Hardanger in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the town of Odda, which was also the main commercial and economic centre of the entire Hardanger region. Other villages in the municipality included Botnen, Eitrheim, Håra, Røldal, Seljestad, Skare, and Tyssedal.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 1615.89 km2 municipality was the 42nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Odda Municipality was the 157th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was 4.2 PD/km2 and its population had decreased by 4.4% over the previous 10-year period.

It was located in southeastern Hordaland county, surrounding the southern end of the Sørfjorden. In 1927, Erling Johnson, working at Odda Smelteverk, invented a process to produce three-component, NPK fertilizers. This process is now known as the Odda process.

General information

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Odda_norge.jpg" caption="View of some houses in Odda"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Trolltunga_2.jpg" caption="[[Trolltunga]] cliff"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Røldal_Stave_Church.jpg" caption="View of [[Røldal Stave Church"] ::

The municipality of Odda was established on 1 July 1913 when the large Ullensvang Municipality was divided as follows:

the southern district (population: 3,077) became the new Odda Municipality
the northern district (population: 1,736) became the new Kinsarvik Municipality
the central district (population: 1,941) continued as a much smaller Ullensvang Municipality

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring Røldal Municipality (population: 676) was merged into Odda Municipality, bringing the total population of the new, larger Odda Municipality to 10,163 residents.

On 1 January 2020, Jondal Municipality, Odda Municipality, and Ullensvang Municipality were merged. The new municipality is called Ullensvang Municipality and its administrative centre is the town of Odda. Historically, the old Odda Municipality was part of the old Hordaland county. On 1 January 2020, the newly-enlarged Ullensvang Municipality became a part of the newly-formed Vestland county (after Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane counties were merged).

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Odda farm () since the first Odda Church was built there. The name is identical with the word which means "headland".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 8 October 1982 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Azure, an arrowhead argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is an arrowhead () that is pointing upwards. The arrowhead 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 arms are somewhat canting arms since the name of the municipality means headland or point. However, the arrowhead was also chosen because it symbolises power and movement. This is seen as reflecting the strength of will of the community and also the production of hydroelectric power and the important industries based on it. The colors are interpreted as representing the white of the Folgefonna glacier and the snowcapped mountains surrounding Odda and the blue of the fjord cutting deep into the landscape to reach the municipality. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had four parishes (sokn) within Odda Municipality. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

::data[format=table title="style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Odda Municipality'''''"]

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Odda	Odda Church	Odda	1870
Røldal	Røldal Stave Church	Røldal	c. 1250
Skare	Skare Church	Skare	1926
Tyssedal	Tyssedal Church	Tyssedal	1965
::

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Tysso_I-hh.jpg" caption="Tysso I power station"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Odda_Smelteverk_portalbygg1906.jpg" caption="Offices of Odda Smelteverk, former North Western Cyanamide Company and Alby United Carbide Factory, 1906."] ::

The Røldal Stave Church was built in the years 1200–1250 in the present-day village of Røldal. This was one of the oldest structures in the municipality.

During the 19th century, Odda became a significant tourist destination. Visits ranged from English pioneers around 1830 to the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II, who visited Odda every year between 1891 and 1914. This led to the construction of several hotels in the municipality.

Odda Municipality was centred on the modern town of Odda which grew up around smelters built at the head of the Sørfjorden branch of the Hardangerfjord in the mid-twentieth century, drawing migrants from different parts of Norway.

The carbide production and the subsequent production of cyanamide was started in 1908 after the water power plant was operational and provided the necessary electricity for the arc furnaces. The plant was the largest in the world and remained operational till 2003 shortly after the plant was sold to Philipp Brothers Chemicals Inc. The Norwegian government tried to get the site recognized together with other industrial plants as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2010 an international report stated: What makes Odda smelteverk so important and central to the application of Norway’s hydro power sites and pioneer chemical industry as a World Heritage Site is the fact that here in an internationally unique way the physical remains of an early chemical production process are still present.

Dialect

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Lake_Votna_Hordaland_Norway_3015_6_7_fused.jpg" caption="Lake Votna"] ::

Odda grew up around this smelter in the early-twentieth century, drawing migrants from different parts of Norway. As a result, there developed a new dialect, a mixture of that spoken in the home regions of the migrants - a phenomenon termed by linguists "a Koiné language". The town of Odda and neighboring village of Tyssedal - which arose in the same time and socio-economic circumstances as those of Odda - provided valuable insights to linguists studying this phenomenon. The researcher Paul Kerswill conducted an intensive study of the Norwegian spoken in the two communities, relating them to very different geographical origins: The workers in Odda came predominantly (86%) from western Norway. In Tyssedal only about one third came from western Norway; one third came from eastern Norway; and the rest from other parts of the country. The dialects that evolved in these two communities were radically different from each other, though spoken at a short geographical distance from each other.

Population

|align = none |direction = horizontal |percentages = pagr |footnote = Note: The municipal borders were changed in 1964, causing a significant change in the population. |source = Statistics Norway and Norwegian Historical Data Centre |1913|3077 |1920|6223 |1930|7705 |1946|8267 |1951|8807 |1960|9584 |1970|10051 |1980|9183 |1990|8289 |2000|7727 |2010|7047 |2019|6745

Government

While it existed, Odda 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 Hardanger District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Odda Municipality was made up of 27 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party. |name = Odda |start = 2015 |end = 2019 |reference = |nynorsk = yes |Total = 27 |Arbeiderpartiet = 12 |Høyre = 6 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Senterpartiet = 2 |Venstre = 3 |Rødt = 2 |smallparty = The Moderates |smallparty_no = Moderatene |smallparty_number = 1 |note = On 1 January 2020, Jondal Municipality, Odda Municipality, and Ullensvang Municipality were merged to form the new Ullensvang Municipality. |}} |name = Odda |start = 2011 |end = 2015 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 27 |Arbeiderpartiet = 9 |Demokratene = 2 |Høyre = 4 |Rødt = 3 |Senterpartiet = 2 |Venstre = 3 |otherparty = New Odda |otherparty_no = Nye Odda |otherparty_number = 4 |}} |name = Odda |start = 2007 |end = 2011 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 27 |Arbeiderpartiet = 10 |Fremskrittspartiet = 2 |Høyre = 3 |Rødt = 4 |Senterpartiet = 2 |Venstre = 3 |otherparty = New Odda |otherparty_no = Nye Odda |otherparty_number = 3 |}} |name = Odda |start = 2003 |end = 2007 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 27 |Arbeiderpartiet = 9 |Demokratene = 1 |Fremskrittspartiet = 2 |Høyre = 3 |Rød_Valgallianse = 4 |Senterpartiet = 2 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 3 |Venstre = 3 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1999 |end = 2003 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 33 |Arbeiderpartiet = 13 |Fremskrittspartiet = 2 |Høyre = 6 |Rød_Valgallianse = 3 |Senterpartiet = 2 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 4 |Venstre = 3 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1995 |end = 1999 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 33 |Arbeiderpartiet = 17 |Fremskrittspartiet = 2 |Høyre = 3 |Senterpartiet = 3 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 3 |Venstre = 2 |Rød_Valgallianse = 3 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1991 |end = 1995 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 17 |Fremskrittspartiet = 2 |Høyre = 5 |Rød_Valgallianse = 3 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 8 |Venstre = 2 |KrF/Sp = 4 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1987 |end = 1991 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 20 |Fremskrittspartiet = 2 |Høyre = 7 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Rød_Valgallianse = 2 |Senterpartiet = 1 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 5 |Venstre = 3 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1983 |end = 1987 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 24 |Fremskrittspartiet = 1 |Høyre = 6 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Rød_Valgallianse = 2 |Senterpartiet = 1 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 4 |Venstre = 2 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1979 |end = 1983 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 17 |DLF = 1 |Høyre = 10 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 2 |NKP = 1 |Rød_Valgallianse = 3 |Senterpartiet = 1 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 4 |Venstre = 2 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1975 |end = 1979 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 19 |DLF = 2 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 4 |Sosialistisk_Venstreparti = 7 |Venstre = 2 |Rød_Valgallianse = 1 |H/Sp = 6 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1971 |end = 1975 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 18 |Høyre = 2 |NKP = 4 |Senterpartiet = 2 |Sosialistisk_Folkeparti = 3 |Venstre = 7 |Local_Lists = 5 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1967 |end = 1971 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 20 |Høyre = 3 |NKP = 4 |Senterpartiet = 1 |Sosialistisk_Folkeparti = 5 |Venstre = 8 |}} |name = Odda |start = 1963 |end = 1967 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 41 |Arbeiderpartiet = 22 |Høyre = 3 |NKP = 4 |Senterpartiet = 1 |Sosialistisk_Folkeparti = 3 |Venstre = 8 |note = On 1 January 1964, Røldal Municipality became part of Odda Municipality. |}} |name = Odda |herad = yes |start = 1959 |end = 1963 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 33 |Arbeiderpartiet = 17 |Høyre = 2 |NKP = 7 |Senterpartiet = 1 |Venstre = 6 |}} |name = Odda |herad = yes |start = 1955 |end = 1959 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 33 |Arbeiderpartiet = 16 |NKP = 8 |Høyre = 2 |Venstre = 7 |}} |name = Odda |herad = yes |start = 1951 |end = 1955 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 32 |Arbeiderpartiet = 14 |NKP = 11 |Høyre = 1 |Venstre = 5 |Borgerlige_Felleslister = 1 |}} |name = Odda |herad = yes |start = 1947 |end = 1951 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 32 |Arbeiderpartiet = 11 |NKP = 12 |Høyre = 1 |Venstre = 8 |}} |name = Odda |herad = yes |start = 1945 |end = 1947 |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 32 |Arbeiderpartiet = 10 |NKP = 14 |Borgerlige_Felleslister = 8 |}} |name = Odda |herad = yes |start = 1937 |end = 1941* |reference = |collapsed = yes |nynorsk = yes |Total = 32 |Borgerlige_Felleslister = 10 |Arbeiderpartiet = 14 |NKP = 7 |Local_Lists = 1 |}}

Mayors

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

1913–1919: Johannes Apold
1920–1922: Guttorm Narum
1923–1925: Olav O. Aga
1926–1931: Karl Bøthun
1932–1941: Lars Nilsen Hjelle
1945–1945: Jakob Pettersen
1946–1951: Johan Slåttelid
1952–1971: Sverre Indrebø
1972–1979: Einar Tveit
1980–1985: Leiv Stensland
1986–1995: Knut Erdal
1995–2007: Toralv Mikkelsen
2007–2011: Gard Folkvord
2011–2015: John Opdal
2015–2019: Roald Aga Haug

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Røldal.jpg" caption="View of the village of [[Røldal"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Der_Sorfjord_edit.jpg" caption="View of Eitrheim (centre) and Odda town (right)"] ::

Odda Municipality was very mountainous and the settlements were all located in valleys. The highest point in the municipality was the 1721.2 m tall mountain Sandfloegga. Because of the many mountains, there were many large waterfalls including Låtefossen, Espelandsfossen, and Tyssestrengene. There are also many large lakes such as Sandvinvatnet, Votna, Valldalsvatnet, Røldalsvatnet, Ringedalsvatnet, Langavatnet, and parts of Ståvatn. On top of the high mountains in western Odda is the vast Folgefonna glacier, including the Buarbreen glacier near the town of Odda. Part of Folgefonna National Park was in Odda as well. The western part of the municipality sat on top of the southern part of the Hardangervidda plateau, which also includes part of the Hardangervidda National Park. The mountains Kistenuten and Sandfloegga are located on the plateau.

Ullensvang Municipality was located to the north, Vinje Municipality (in Telemark county) was located to the east, Suldal Municipality and Sauda Municipality (both in Rogaland county) were located to the south, Etne Municipality was located to the southwest, and Kvinnherad Municipality was located to the west.

Transportation

The municipality sat at a crossroads of two major roads. The European route E134 highway runs east–west through Odda municipality, cutting through many mountains in the Røldal Tunnel, Horda Tunnel, Austmannali Tunnel, and Haukeli Tunnel. The other main road is the Norwegian National Road 13 which runs north–south through the municipality. The two roads run together from Seljestad to Håra. At Eitrheim, the Folgefonna Tunnel connects Odda to the neighboring area of Mauranger in Kvinnherad Municipality, cutting through the mountains under the Folgefonna glacier.

In popular culture

The town is used as the backdrop for the fictional town of Edda in the Netflix Norwegian-language drama series Ragnarok.

References

References

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"Tidligere var det flaut å bo der. Nå er stedet blitt en turistmagnet".

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