Holla, Telemark

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Holla, Telemark

Overview
Holla was a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It covered 252 square kilometers and existed from 1838 to 1964. In 1964 it merged with neighboring areas to form Nome Municipality, and its administrative center was the village of Ulefoss. The area was part of the Grenland district, and today it’s considered part of Midt-Telemark.

Name
The name comes from the old Hollen/Holla farm. It’s based on Old Norse elements meaning “sloping” (hallr) and “meadow” or “pasture” (vin). The spelling changed over time, from Holden to Hollen, and then to Holla in 1917.

History
Holla was established as a municipality on January 1, 1838. In 1866 a part of Bø Municipality was transferred to Holla. During the 1960s, many municipal mergers happened across Norway. On January 1, 1964, part of the eastern area joined Skien, and the rest merged with Lunde to form Nome Municipality.

Churches
Holla had several churches:
- Helgen Church (1735) in Helgja.
- Holla Church (1867) in Ulefoss, a Gothic Revival brick church with about 600 seats. It was donated by Severin Diderik Cappelen and designed by Peter Høier Holtermann; it was restored in 1916.
- Romnes Church (dating from the 1100s) north of Ulefoss. The old Holla Church ruins remain near Norsjø.

Holla Church ruins
The original medieval Holla Church stood near Holla gård by Norsjø. Today only the ruins remain.

Government
While it existed, Holla handled primary education up to 10th grade, health services, care for the elderly, unemployment and social services, zoning, economic development, and roads. It was governed by a 25-member municipal council elected for four-year terms. The mayor was chosen by the council.

Demographics and geography
- Area: 252 km2
- Population (1964): 4,352
- Population density: about 17.3 per km2
- Coordinates: 59.28245 N, 9.26547 E
- Demonym: Hollasokning
- Official language form: Neutral (Norwegian)

Nome Municipality and district
After the merger in 1964, Holla became part of Nome Municipality, which is in the Midt-Telemark district.

See also
- List of former municipalities of Norway