Hof Municipality (Vestfold)

Hof is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 163 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2018. The area is now part of Holmestrand Municipality in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre was the village of Hof. Other villages in the municipality included Eidsfoss and Sundbyfoss.

General information
The parish of Hof was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The borders of the municipality were never changed. On 1 January 2018, Hof Municipality was merged into the neighboring Holmestrand Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hof farm (Hof) since the first Hof Church was built there. The name is identical with the word hof which means "pagan temple", a place for worshiping the old Norse Gods.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 17 July 1992. The official blazon is "Gules, three water lily leaves Or" (I rødt tre gull sjøblad, 2-1). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a seeblatt which is a water lily leaf design. 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 design is meant to symbolize the many lakes in the municipality. There are three leaves in the design to symbolize the three church parishes in Hof: Hof, Vassås, and Eidsfoss. The arms were designed by Geir Helgen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Hof. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Geography
The municipality of Hof covered 164 km2, of which 140 km2 was land. Of the land in the municipality, 17.9 km2 was farmland and 125.1 km2 was forests. Hof Municipality consisted of the three parishes: Hof, Eidsfoss, and Sundbyfoss. Mountains in Hof included: Buaren, Vestfjellet, Skibergfjell, and Grøntjernkollen. The large lake Eikeren was partially located in Hof. Approximately

Government
Hof 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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Hof:


 * 1838-1843: Morten Smith Petersen
 * 1844-1849: Ole Hansen Hafsrud
 * 1850-1853: Sven Pedersen Goverud, Sr.
 * 1854-1855: Torger Olsen Korby
 * 1856-1859: Sven Pedersen Goverud, Sr.
 * 1860-1863: Torger Olsen Korby
 * 1864-1875: Thomas E. Herstad
 * 1876-1879: Per Svensen Goverud
 * 1880-1887: Ole Svendsen Goverud
 * 1888-1889: Edvard Halvorsen Sundby
 * 1890-1898: Thorvald O. Gran
 * 1899-1902: Jacob Olsen Lindseth
 * 1902-1902: Christian Olsen Thon (H)
 * 1903-1907: Sven Pedersen Goverud, Jr.
 * 1908-1916: Christian Olsen Thon (H)
 * 1917-1922: Nils Unnemark (Bp)
 * 1923-1928: Ole Bertil Grennæs (Bp)
 * 1929-1930: Ludvig Lørdal (Ap)
 * 1931-1931: Olaf M. Tormodsrud
 * 1931-1931: Ludvig Lørdal (Ap)
 * 1932-1934: Ole Bertil Grennæs (Bp)
 * 1935-1937: Olaf M. Tormodsrud
 * 1938-1940: Hans Klaussen (Ap)
 * 1940-1941: Ole Lindseth (NS)
 * 1941-1942: Olaf Frich (NS)
 * 1943-1945: Gunnar Reggestad (NS)
 * 1945-1963: Hans Klaussen (Ap)
 * 1964-1971: Per Båstad
 * 1972-1979: Arne Solli
 * 1980-1983: Roar Kristian Nordby (Sp)
 * 1984-1985: Gunnar Lindseth (KrF)
 * 1986-1987: Gunnar Haavik (H)
 * 1988-1991: Arne Gravdal (Sp)
 * 1992-1993: Åse Fjellestad (H)
 * 1994-1999: Kari Akerholt (Sp)
 * 2000-2012: Olav Bjørnli (H)
 * 2012-2015: Ragnar Lindås (H)
 * 2015-2017: Mette Måge Olsen (Ap)

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hof was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Economy
Hof Municipality was a typical community based on agriculture and forestry. Its largest industry was a lumber mill. Hof was located in the climate zone best suited for agriculture in Norway. Therefore, wheat was one of the most important agricultural products of the municipality. However, between 1998 and 2008, 40% of the municipal farms become inactive, and the agricultural employment rate dropped to about 5%.

Hof was known for its great hunting and fishing resources as well. With 120000 acre of forest open for hunting, it was quite popular and there were commercial hunting opportunities. About 75 landowners in Hof united in a land owner union (Hof Utmarkslag), and hunters were required to purchase permits from them (mainly small game hunting) in order to use their land.

In the first decade of the 21st century, hunters typically harvested the following amounts of game animals annually in Hof: over 100 moose, 1-5 red deer, 80-90 roe deer, and 0-10 beaver.