Våle

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title: "Våle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tønsberg-municipality", "former-municipalities-of-norway", "1838-establishments-in-norway", "2002-disestablishments-in-norway", "populated-places-established-in-1838", "populated-places-disestablished-in-2002"] description: "Former municipality in Norway" topic_path: "geography/norway" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Våle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former municipality in Norway ::

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

Field	Value
name	Våle
former	yes
former_name	Våle herred
image_skyline	VåleKirke20080101-1.jpg
image_caption	View of the local Våle Church
idnumber	0716
county	Vestfold
district	Jarlsberg
capital	Kirkevoll
established	1 Jan 1838
preceded	none
disestablished	1 Jan 2002
succeeded	Re Municipality
demonym	Vålesokning
language	Bokmål
area_total_km2	82
population_as_of	2001
population_total	4248
population_density_km2	51.8
coordinates
::

|name = Våle |former = yes |native_name = |native_name_lang = |other_name = |former_name =Våle herred |image_skyline = VåleKirke20080101-1.jpg |image_caption = View of the local Våle Church |idnumber = 0716 |county = Vestfold |district = Jarlsberg |capital = Kirkevoll |established = 1 Jan 1838 |preceded = none |disestablished = 1 Jan 2002 |succeeded = Re Municipality |demonym = Vålesokning |language = Bokmål |coatofarms = |flag = |mayor = |mayor_party = |mayor_as_of = |area_rank = |area_total_km2 = 82 |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_water_percent = |population_as_of = 2001 |population_rank = |population_total = 4248 |population_density_km2 = 51.8 |coordinates =

Våle is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 82 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2002. The area is now part of Tønsberg Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Kirkevoll (it was at Sørby prior to 1990). Other villages in the rural, agricultural municipality included: Brekkeåsen, Rånerudåsen, Svinevoll, Sørby, and Gretteåsen.

The famous Jarlsberg cheese first was produced in Våle. The medieval Våle Church was the main church for the municipality.

General information

The parish of Vaale was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 16 July 1873, a royal resolution approved transferring an uninhabited area of Vaale Municipality to the neighboring Ramnes Municipality. In 1947, a small area of Botne Municipality (population: 8) was transferred to Våle. On 1 January 2002, Våle Municipality was merged with the neighboring Ramnes Municipality to form the new Re Municipality. Re Municipality became part of Tønsberg Municipality on 1 January 2020.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vaale farm () since the first Våle Church was built there. The name is the plural form of the word váll which means "clearing in the woods". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Vaale with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Våle, using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 23 February 1990. The official blazon is "Vert, a mistletoe branch Or" (). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a branch of mistletoe. 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 mistletoe plant is very rare in Norway, but can be found in Våle. It is known from Norse mythology because Höðr shot a mistletoe arrow that killed the god Baldr. He was later avenged by his brother Váli (which sounds like Våle). The color green refers to agriculture and forestry. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Våle. It was part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

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

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Undrumsdal	Undrumsdal Church	Undrumsdal	1882
Våle	Våle Church	Bergsåsen	c. 1100
::

Government

While it existed, Våle 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 Horten District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors () of Våle:

• 1838-1839: C.B. Brodahl
• 1839-1843: Simen Elias Crøger
• 1843-1845: C.B. Brodahl
• 1845-1847: Wincent Thurmann
• 1847-1851: C. B. Brodahl
• 1851-1853: Christen Torp
• 1853-1861: Christen Hansen
• 1861-1869: Nicolay Møller
• 1869-1871: Rasmus P. Hals
• 1871-1873: Abraham C. Revetal
• 1873-1875: Ole Bærøe
• 1875-1877: Mathias Hjelmtvedt
• 1877-1879: Ole Bærøe
• 1879-1883: Johan Jørgensen Hundsal (H)
• 1883-1885: Abraham C. Revetal (V)
• 1885-1889: Johan Jørgensen Hundsal (H)
• 1889-1891: Abraham Hillestad (H)
• 1892-1907: Johan Jørgensen Hundsal (H)
• 1908-1925: Hans Kristian Kaldager (H)
• 1926-1928: Jørgen Hundsal (Bp)
• 1929-1931: Hans Kristian Kaldager (H)
• 1932-1937: Jørgen Hundsal (Bp)
• 1938-1940: Ole Martinsen (Bp)
• 1941-1945: Trygve Aanestad (NS)
• 1945-1955: Thorvald Hillestad (Sp)
• 1956-1967: Isak Bjerknes (Sp)
• 1968-1975: Ludvik Bettum (Sp)
• 1976-1982: Odd Jonstang (Sp)
• 1982-1987: Ragnar Gjerpe (H)
• 1988-1991: Thorvald Hillestad (Sp)
• 1992-1995: Marit Haugen (Sp)
• 1996-1999: Kåre Solberg (KrF)
• 1999-2001: Thorvald Hillestad (Sp)

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Våle 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. |name = Våle |start = 1999 |end = 2001 |reference = |Total = 25 |Arbeiderpartiet = 6 |Fremskrittspartiet = 3 |Høyre = 5 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 4 |Senterpartiet = 7 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1995 |end = 1999 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 25 |Arbeiderpartiet = 6 |Høyre = 6 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 4 |Senterpartiet = 9 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1991 |end = 1995 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 25 |Arbeiderpartiet = 6 |Høyre = 7 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 4 |Senterpartiet = 8 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1987 |end = 1991 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 25 |Arbeiderpartiet = 8 |Høyre = 8 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 3 |Senterpartiet = 6 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1983 |end = 1987 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 25 |Arbeiderpartiet = 7 |Høyre = 10 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 2 |Senterpartiet = 6 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1979 |end = 1983 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 25 |Arbeiderpartiet = 7 |Høyre = 9 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 3 |Senterpartiet = 6 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1975 |end = 1979 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 21 |Arbeiderpartiet = 6 |Høyre = 5 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 2 |Senterpartiet = 8 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1971 |end = 1975 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 21 |Arbeiderpartiet = 7 |Høyre = 4 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Senterpartiet = 9 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1967 |end = 1971 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 21 |Arbeiderpartiet = 7 |Høyre = 5 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Senterpartiet = 8 |}} |name = Våle |start = 1963 |end = 1967 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 21 |Arbeiderpartiet = 8 |Høyre = 4 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Senterpartiet = 8 |}} |name = Våle |herad = yes |start = 1959 |end = 1963 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 21 |Arbeiderpartiet = 6 |Høyre = 5 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |Senterpartiet = 9 |}} |name = Våle |herad = yes |start = 1955 |end = 1959 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 21 |Arbeiderpartiet = 7 |Høyre = 4 |Senterpartiet = 9 |Kristelig_Folkeparti = 1 |}} |name = Våle |herad = yes |start = 1951 |end = 1955 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 32 |Arbeiderpartiet = 10 |Høyre = 8 |Senterpartiet = 14 |}} |name = Våle |herad = yes |start = 1947 |end = 1951 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 32 |Arbeiderpartiet = 8 |Høyre = 6 |Senterpartiet = 16 |Borgerlige_Felleslister = 2 |}} |name = Våle |herad = yes |start = 1945 |end = 1947 |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 32 |Arbeiderpartiet = 9 |AFS = 1 |Senterpartiet = 15 |DRF/V = 1 |Borgerlige_Felleslister = 6 |}} |name = Våle |herad = yes |start = 1937 |end = 1941* |reference = |collapsed = yes |Total = 32 |Senterpartiet = 13 |Venstre = 2 |Borgerlige_Felleslister = 8 |Arbeiderpartiet = 7 |Local_Lists = 2 |}}

Notable people

• Kåre Holt (1916–1997), an author

References

References

1. (1932). "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1932. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri.
2. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)".
3. Jukvam, Dag. (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen". [[Statistics Norway.
4. (2002-01-01). "Sammenslåing av kommuner, Ramnes og Våle kommuner, Vestfold". Norges Kommunal- og regionaldepartementet.
5. (2017-12-11). "Forskrift om sammenslåing av Tønsberg kommune og Re kommune til Tønsberg kommune, Vestfold". Norges Kommunal- og moderniseringsdepartemente.
6. Rygh, Oluf. (1907). "Norske gaardnavne: Jarlsberg og Larviks amt". W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri.
7. (1917). "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri.
8. (1918). "Den Nye rettskrivning : regler og ordlister". Den Mallingske Boktrykkeri.
9. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World.
10. "Re, Vestfold (Norway)".
11. (1990-02-23). "Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet.
12. "Våle kommune, våpen". Arkivverket.
13. (2022-09-20). "kommunestyre". [[Kunnskapsforlaget]].
14. Rønningen, John. (1985). "Bygdehistorie for Våle fra ca 1540 til ca 1980". Norbok AS.
15. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)". Statistics Norway.
16. (2000). "Kommunestyrevalget 1999". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
17. (1996). "Kommunestyrevalget 1995". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
18. (1993). "Kommunestyrevalget 1991". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
19. (1988). "Kommunestyrevalget 1987". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
20. (1984). "Kommunestyrevalget 1983". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
21. (1979). "Kommunestyrevalget 1979". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
22. (1977). "Kommunevalgene 1975". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
23. (1973). "Kommunevalgene 1972". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
24. (1967). "Kommunevalgene 1967". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
25. (1964). "Kommunevalgene 1963". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
26. (1960). "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
27. (1957). "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
28. (1952). "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
29. (1948). "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
30. (1947). "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945". Statistisk sentralbyrå.
31. (1938). "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937". Statistisk sentralbyrå.

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