Mandal, Norway

Mandal is a town in Lindesnes municipality in Agder county, Norway. Mandal is the fourth largest town in Agder as well as the administrative centre of Lindesnes municipality. It is located at the mouth of the river Mandalselva at the southern end of the Mandalen valley. The 6.63 km2 town has a population (2019) of 11,053 and a population density of 1667 PD/km2. In Norway, Mandal is considered a by which can be translated as either a "town" or "city" in English.

The town lies along the European route E39 highway, about 40 km southwest of the town of Kristiansand and about 60 km southeast of the town of Flekkefjord. Mandal has a few suburban villages lying just outside its borders such as Ime immediately to the east and Sånum to the southwest. The village of Krossen lies about 10 km to the north, along the Mandalselva river.

History
The area in which today's town of Mandal is located was not developed during the Middle Ages. During the 1300s, a trading post called Vester-Risør grew up along the Skogsfjorden, just west of the present-day town. The town began when King Eric of Pomerania gave the town the right to trade salmon. By the 1500s, Vesterrisør was a bustling port and trading centre, making it one of the oldest in Agder. In 1632, the trading post was given ladested rights, which included special trading privileges. During the mid-1600s, the name of the town was changed to Mandal. Salmon fishing and the timber industry pushed the town's growth even more during the 1700s. In 1779, the town's ladested status was formalized in the law. Mandal Church was completed in 1821 after the old church burned down in the town's fire of 1810.

On 1 January 1838, the small ladested was granted self-governing rights under the new formannskapsdistrikt law. In 1921, Mandal was designated as a kjøpstad, giving it full town status under the law. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the town of Mandal (population: 5,446) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Halse og Harkmark (population: 3,676) and most of the municipality of Holum (population: 1,127) to form a new, larger municipality of Mandal. Today, the town is also a tourist destination, especially due to its Sjøsanden beach.

Name
The town is named after the valley (and river) in which it is located: Mandalen. The name Mandal which comes from the Old Norse name Marnardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Mǫrn (now Mandalselva) and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".

Prior to 1653, the town was named Vesterrisør (meaning "western Risør"). The name was originally referring to the island Risøya outside the town, and the first element was added in the 16th century to distinguish it from the town of Østerrisør (meaning "eastern Risør"), which is now simply called Risør.

Municipal self-government (1838-1963)
In 1838, the formannskapsdistrikt law granted towns municipal self-government. During this time, 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 Mandal:


 * 1837–1838: Anton Henrik Scheel
 * 1839–1841: Johan Malthe Hübert
 * 1842-1842: Hans Peter Erichsen
 * 1843-1843: Gulow Andorsen
 * 1844-1844: Niels Nielsen Vogt
 * 1845–1846: Gulow Andorsen
 * 1847-1847: Niels Nielsen Vogt
 * 1847-1847: Daniel Peter Christian Isaachsen
 * 1848–1852: Ole Andreas Ohlsen
 * 1853–1854: Niels Nielsen Vogt
 * 1855-1855: Svennik Svensen
 * 1856-1856: Thomas Madsen
 * 1857-1857: Carl Emil Salvesen
 * 1858-1858: Albert Jacobsen
 * 1859-1859: Edvard Hieronimus Bassøe Wattne
 * 1860-1860: Jens Henrik Beer Gundersen
 * 1861–1862: Svennik Svensen
 * 1863–1867: Lauritz Jacobsen
 * 1868-1868: Jens Henrik Beer Gundersen
 * 1869–1879: Lauritz Jacobsen
 * 1879–1880: Jens Henrik Beer Gundersen
 * 1881-1881: Hans Peter Rude
 * 1882–1888: Gabriel Egidius Johan Henrik Sem
 * 1889–1891: Hjalmar Selmer
 * 1892-1892: Johan Fredrik Ekholm Reymert
 * 1893–1899: Jens Kraft
 * 1900-1900: Jørgen Peter Jørgensen
 * 1901-1901: Adolf Paludan Ulriksen
 * 1902–1904: Jørgen Peter Jørgensen
 * 1905–1907: Torkild Tonstad
 * 1908–1916: Christen Andreas Christensen
 * 1917–1919: Kristen Schmidt
 * 1920–1922: Christen Andreas Christensen
 * 1923–1928: Marcus Halfdan Kastrud
 * 1929–1931: Hans Peter Tallaksen
 * 1932–1937: Marcus Halfdan Kastrud
 * 1938–1940: Johan Birger Pedersen
 * 1945-1945: Johan Birger Pedersen
 * 1946-1946: Arne Syrdahl (Ap)
 * 1947-1947: Viktor Nygaard
 * 1948–1951: Jørgen Ørbech Bugge
 * 1952–1954: Viktor Nygaard
 * 1955-1955: Olav Gundersen
 * 1956–1957: Viktor Nygaard
 * 1959–1959: Herman Gulowsen
 * 1960–1963: Olav Gundersen

Municipal council
The municipal council (Bystyre) of Mandal 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.