Grue Municipality


Grue is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kirkenær. Other villages in the municipality include Bergesida, Grinder, Namnå, Risberget, Rotberget, Skasenden, and Svullrya.
The municipality is the 136th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Grue is the 193rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,513. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 8.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Grue was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1867, the southern district of Grue Municipality was separated to become the new Brandval Municipality. This left Grue Municipality with 6,464 residents. In 1941, a small area of Grue Municipality was transferred to the neighboring Brandval Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1969, the Rotberget farm area was transferred from Åsnes Municipality to Grue Municipality. On 1 January 1974, an unpopulated part of the Lystad area was transferred from Grue Municipality to the neighboring Kongsvinger Municipality.
Historically, the municipality was part of the old Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Grue farm since the first Grue Church was built there. The name is identical with the word grǫf or grǫfa which means "depression" or "hollow".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 October 1992. The official blazon is "Per bend sinister rayonny of wolf-teeth argent and vert". This means the arms have are divided with a diagonal line that is rayonny, meaning it looks like curved wolf teeth rather than a straight line. The field below the line has a tincture of Vert. Above 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 flame-like line represents the clearance of farms in the woods by the use of fire and is also a remembrance of the gruesome church fire of 1822. The colors symbolize the forests and the Glomma river. The arms were designed by Harald Hallstensen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes within Grue Municipality. It is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti in the Diocese of Hamar.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
GrueGrue ChurchKirkenær1825
Grue FinnskogGrue Finnskog ChurchSvullrya1886

Geography

Grue Municipality is situated around the Glomma river and the geography is dominated largely by forests and some agricultural areas around Glomma. It is located in the southeast part of Innlandet county. It is bordered on the south by Kongsvinger Municipality, on the north by Åsnes Municipality, and on the west by Nord-Odal Municipality. To the east, it borders Sweden.
Grue Municipality was the early center for the Finnish migration which today populates the Finnskogen, a belt about wide and running continuously along the Swedish border through Grue Municipality, Åsnes Municipality, and Våler Municipality. Their first population center in Norway was located around the lake of Røgden.
The rivers Løvhaugsåa and Rotna both run through the area. The lakes Hukusjøen, Skasen, and Gardsjøen are located in the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Kaketjennsberget, located in the north, near the border with Åsnes Municipality.

Government

Grue Municipality is responsible for primary education, 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 Romerike og Glåmdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Grue 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 Grue Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:
  • 1838–1845: Ole Arntzen Lützow
  • 1846–1847: Jørgen Cappelen Omsted
  • 1848–1857: Nicolai Astrup
  • 1858–1859: Gunder Gundersen
  • 1860–1863: Jacob Rolsdorph Andersen
  • 1864–1879: Ole Bredesen Opset
  • 1880–1883: Arne A. Omsted
  • 1883–1887: Ole Bredesen Opset
  • 1888–1898: Arne A. Omsted
  • 1899–1907: Amund Bredesen Opset
  • 1908–1913: Wilhelm Omsted
  • 1914–1919: Amund Bredesen Opset
  • 1920–1925: Magnus Vangerud
  • 1926–1928: Sigurd Woll
  • 1929–1931: Ole H. Sæther
  • 1932–1933: Arve Myrvang
  • 1933–1934: Arne Tveter
  • 1935–1935: Ole Kamphaug
  • 1936–1940: Eivind Grimstad
  • 1940–1945: Vacant due to WWII
  • 1945–1945: Martin Møllerud
  • 1946–1955: Magnus Vangerud
  • 1956–1963: Reidar Mellem
  • 1964–1964: Martin Råberget
  • 1964–1978: Thor Henriksen
  • 1979–1985: Torbjøn Øveråsen
  • 1985–1999: Ragnar Nyman
  • 1999–2007: Niels Ferdinand Rolsdorph
  • 2007–2011: Herdis Bragelien
  • 2011–2015: Niels Ferdinand Rolsdorph
  • 2015–2019: Wenche Huser Sund
  • 2019–present: Rune Grenberg

    Economy

A privately owned lamp factory with 51 employees is located in Grue. As of June 2024, it was announced that in less than a year the production will be moved to Poland, an EU country.

Notable people