Osen

Osen is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Steinsdalen.

The 387 km2 municipality is the 240th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Osen is the 340th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 904. The municipality's population density is 2.4 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 10.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Osen was established on 1 June 1892 when the old municipality of Bjørnør was split into three new municipalities: Osen (population: 1,575), Roan (population: 2,069), and Stoksund (population: 1,122). The municipal boundaries have not changed since.

On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Osen farm (Óss) since the first Osen Church was built there. The name,, means "mouth of a river" (referring to the mouth of the Steinselva river). The suffix -en was added later to give the finite form of, giving the meaning of Osen as "the Os" or "the mouth of the river".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 27 March 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, a net argent" (Blått dekket med sølv fiskegarn). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is part of a fishing net. The fishing net 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 design is based on an old petroglyph and it was chosen to symbolize the importance of fishing for the community. Several different arms were designed, all with fisheries as the main theme, but the council finally chose this one, which is unique among Norwegian civic heraldry. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Osen. It is part of the Fosen prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.

History
Osen was used as a satellite prison camp during the World War Two, mainly for Yugoslavian population.

Geography
The municipality of Osen is located to the north of Roan and the ocean lies to the west.

Most of the residents live in the Steinsdalen valley or along the coast. The northern part of the municipality has no direct road connection to the rest of the municipality, but is connected to the municipality of Flatanger to the north.

The Kya lighthouse is situated on a small island west in the Norwegian Sea, while Buholmråsa lighthouse lie on an island along the coast in the western part of the municipality.

Climate
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has a weather station located near Buholmråsa lighthouse, with recording since 1965, showing a marine west coast climate/oceanic climate (Cfb). The all-time high temperature is 30.3 °C recorded July 2014; the all-time low is -20.7 °C recorded in February 1966. The four months June - September have never recorded overnight freezes. The average date for the first overnight freeze (below 0 °C) in autumn is November 7 (1981-2020 average). The driest month on record is January 1972 with 5.4 mm precipitation, and the wettest is September 1975 with 232.6 mm.

Government
Osen 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 Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Osen is made up of 15 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 mayors (ordfører) of Osen:


 * 1892–1893: Johan Moses Møller (H)
 * 1894–1895: Sivert Kolstad (V)
 * 1896–1901: Johan Moses Møller (H)
 * 1902–1913: Sivert Kolstad (V)
 * 1913–1914: Joakim Brusdal (V)
 * 1914–1916: Johan Sundet (V)
 * 1916-1916: Johan J. Vingsand
 * 1917–1922: Morten L. Osen
 * 1923–1934: Jakob Hopen (V)
 * 1935–1941: Svein Osen (V)
 * 1942–1945: Magnus Sundet
 * 1945–1947: Svein Osen (V)
 * 1948–1955: Marius Sæther (Ap)
 * 1956–1957: Fredrik Brattgjerd (Ap)
 * 1958–1963: Lars Nesmo (Sp)
 * 1964–1967: Morten Johannessen (Sp)
 * 1968–1971: Harald Hanssen (V)
 * 1972–1975: Ingar Nilssen (KrF)
 * 1976–1979: Vidar Sætran (Ap)
 * 1980–1983: Tormod Storvoll (Sp)
 * 1984–1985: Einar Hepsø (Ap)
 * 1985–1991: Asbjørn Teigen (Ap)
 * 1992–1995: Bjarne Hestmo (Sp)
 * 1995–2003: Einar Hepsø (Ap)
 * 2003–2007: Julla Engan (Ap)
 * 2007–2015: Jørn Nordmeland (V)
 * 2015–2023: John Einar Høvik (Ap)
 * 2023-present: Håvard Strand (LL)

Notable people

 * Augusta Aasen (1878 in Osen – 1920), a Norwegian politician who was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis (the only Norwegian woman buried there)
 * Einar Hepsø (1926–2005), a Norwegian fishers' leader and politician who was Mayor of Osen 1984-1985 and 1995-2003
 * Vivian Sørmeland (born 1985 in Osen), a contestant in Idol (Norway) in May 2006