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 837-square-kilometre (323 sq mi) 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 5.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (14/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 8.4% over the previous 10-year period.
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General information
The parish of Grue was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1867, the southern district of Grue Municipality (population: 3,946) was separated to become the new Brandval Municipality. This left Grue Municipality with 6,464 residents. In 1941, a small area of Grue Municipality (population: 68) 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 (population: 23) 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 (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Grue farm (Old Norse: Grǫf or Grǫfa) 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" (Norwegian: Venstre skrådelt av sølv og grønt ved buet ulvetannsnitt). 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 (background) below the line has a tincture of Vert (green). 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 (sokn) within Grue Municipality. It is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.
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 32 kilometres (20 mi) 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 583.93-metre (1,915.8 ft) tall mountain Kaketjennsberget, located in the north, near the border with Åsnes Municipality.
Government
Grue Municipality is 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 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 (Kommunestyre) 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 (Norwegian: ordfører) 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:
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
Andreas Aagaard Kiønig (1771–1856), a lawyer and representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly
Andreas Arntzen (1777–1837), a politician, police chief, Supreme Court judge, & timber merchant
Mor Sæther (1793–1851), a Norwegian "klok kone" ("cunning woman"), i.e. a herbalist
Ole Peter Riis Høegh (1806–1852), a trained civilian architect and Bergen's first town surveyor
Wilhelm Maribo Schøyen (1844–1918), Norway's first government entomologist
Olav Strøm (1866-1963), a pioneer trade unionist
Kristian Prestrud (1881–1927), a naval officer and member of Amundsen's South Pole expedition
Hagbart Haakonsen (1895-1984), a cross-country skier who competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics
Åsta Holth (1904–1999), a novelist, poet and short story writer
Kåre Jonsborg (1912–1977), a painter and textile artist
Sinikka Langeland (born 1961), a traditional folk singer and kantele player
Tom Harald Hagen (born 1978), a football UEFA referee