is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hjelmeland. Other villages in the municipality include Fister, Årdal, and Jøsenfjorden.

Hjelmeland Municipality is known for its fruit production (apples, pears, plums, cherries, and strawberries) and its fish production. Salmon has been important for the fish industry in Hjelmeland Municipality for a couple of decades, but white fish such as cod and halibut has increased its value in the latter years.

The municipality is the 105th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Hjelmeland Municipality is the 248th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 4.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

thumb|left|View of the Hjelmeland countryside

thumb|left|View of the Jøsenfjorden

thumb|left|View of an old stone bridge in Hjelmeland

thumb|left|View of the [[Old Årdal Church]]

The parish of Hjelmeland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1859, the large Hjelmeland Municipality was divided into two: the southern portion of the municipality (population: 1,315) was split off to form the new Aardal Municipality and the remainder of the municipality (population: 3,084) remained as a smaller Hjelmeland Municipality which was also renamed as Hjelmeland og Fister Municipality.

On 1 July 1884, Hjelmeland og Fister Municipality was divided into two municipalities: the western islands and the western coast of the mainland (population: 832) became the new Fister Municipality and the remaining eastern district of the municipality (population: 2,249) was renamed as simply Hjelmeland Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hjelmeland farm () since the first Hjelmeland Church was built there. Today the farm is a part of the Hjelmelandsvågen urban area. The first element of the name is the plural genitive case of which means "helmet" (likely referring to two hills behind the farm which have the form of two helmets). The last element is which means "land" or "farm".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 November 1984. The official blazon is "Gules, a triple saltire fretty Or" (). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a set of three interwoven St. Andrew's crosses. 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. They are based on the local tradition of making chairs and other furniture with seats of woven twigs (). The process of weaving is symbolised in the arms. At the same time the arms show the strength and solidarity of the municipality. Furthermore, there are three sets of crosses to represent the fact that Hjelmeland is made up of three previous municipalities (Hjemeland, Fister, and Årdal) that were merged in 1965. The arms were designed by Svein Magnus Håvarstein who based the idea from an initial idea by Magnus Torgersen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes () within Hjelmeland Municipality. It is part of the Ryfylke prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Hjelmeland Municipality

!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built

|-

|rowspan="1"|Fister||Fister Church||Fister||1867

|-

|rowspan="1"|Hjelmeland||Hjelmeland Church||Hjelmeland||1858

|-

|rowspan="2"|Årdal||Årdal Church||Årdal||1919

|-

|Old Årdal Church||Årdal||1619

|}

Geography

thumb|right|View of [[Årdal, Hjelmeland|Årdal]]

The municipality stretches from the mountains bordering the Setesdal valley to the shores of the fjords that connect to the main Boknafjorden. The highest point in the municipality is the tall peak in the eastern part of the municipality. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Hjelmeland Municipality is made up of 19 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 Hjelmeland Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

  • 1838–1843: Andreas Sandsberg
  • 1844–1847: Rev. Johan Gottleib Thaulow
  • 1848–1851: Andreas Sandsberg
  • 1852–1853: Svend S. Sigmundstad
  • 1854–1854: Peder Thorsen
  • 1855–1859: Ole Thorsen
  • 1860–1861: Ole Christensen Selvaag
  • 1862–1863: Haldor Gundersen Fister
  • 1864–1865: Samson Samsonsen Byhrøe
  • 1866–1869: Ole Olsen Bjelland
  • 1870–1873: Ole Svendsen Sigmundstad
  • 1874–1877: Ole Olsen Bjelland
  • 1878–1880: Svend Thorsen
  • 1880–1881: Ole Svendsen Sigmundstad
  • 1882–1889: Orm Olsen Tytlandsvig
  • 1890–1893: Daniel Halvorsen
  • 1894–1897: Hans Olsen
  • 1898–1898: Daniel Halvorsen
  • 1899–1899: Hans Olsen
  • 1900–1901: Daniel Halvorsen
  • 1902–1907: Lorentz Østensen
  • 1908–1916: Nils N. Hauge
  • 1917–1931: Johannes J. Laugaland
  • 1931–1941: Johne Mæland
  • 1942–1945: Lars A. Landsnes
  • 1945–1945: Johne Mæland
  • 1946–1947: Andreas O. Hauge
  • 1948–1951: Kristian Hauge
  • 1952–1957: Georg Vika
  • 1958–1959: Kristian Hauge
  • 1960–1963: Georg Vika
  • 1964–1965: Jone J. Vadla
  • 1966–1967: Tårn Schmidt
  • 1968–1969: Georg Vika
  • 1970–1979: Arne Hetlelid (KrF)
  • 1979–1989: Ole J. Hagalid (Sp)
  • 1990–1991: Håkon Helgøy
  • 1991–1995: Terje Borgen (Sp)
  • 1995–2007: Terje Thornquist (KrF)
  • 2007–2011: Bjørn Laugaland (Sp)
  • 2011–2015: Trine L. Danielsen (H)
  • 2015–2022: Bjørn Laugaland (Sp)
  • 2022–present: Anita Husøy Riskedal (Sp)

Notable people

  • Jacob Tostrup (1806 in Hjelmeland – 1890), a jeweller, goldsmith, and silversmith
  • Per Hovda (1908 in Hjelmeland – 1997), a philologist
  • Per Pedersen Tjøstland (1918 in Fister - 2004), a Norwegian Nazi activist and SS volunteer
  • Kjell Erfjord (born 1940 in Hjelmeland), an educator and politician who was mayor of Lund Municipality from 1981-1991 and 1999-2007

References

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
  • Ryfylke tourist bureau