Nesset Municipality

The parish of Nesset was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1890, Nesset Municipality was divided. All of Nesset Municipality that was located south of the Langfjorden (population: 2,155) was separated to form the new Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality and the rest of Nesset Municipality (population: 1,706) remained as Nesset Municipality. ^[7]

On 1 January 1877, the Sotnakken farm on the Romsdal peninsula (population: 19) was transferred from Nesset Municipality to the neighboring Bolsøy Municipality. Also on that date, the Tiltereidet and Meisalstranda areas (population: 212) of Tingvoll Municipality, along the west coast of the Tingvollfjorden, were transferred to Nesset Municipality. On 1 January 1890, the Bersås, Nævergjeld, Rausandhaugen, and Rausand areas (population: 101) was transferred from Tingvoll Municipality (along the Tingvollfjorden) to Nesset Municipality.^[7]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality (population: 1,289) was merged back into Nesset Municipality (population: 2,360).^[7]

On 1 January 2020, Nesset Municipality merged with the neighboring Molde Municipality and Midsund Municipality to form a much larger Molde Municipality.^[8]

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Nesset farm and vicarage (Old Norse: Nøytisætr, spelled "Nødesetter" in 1520) since this is where the old Nesset Church was located. The first element is nes which means "headland". This is because the old farm is lying on a prominent headland between the Langfjorden and the Tingvollfjorden. The last element is setr or sætr which means "seter" or "mountain farm". Prior to 1889, the name was written Næsset.^[9]

The coat of arms was granted on 10 March 1986 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Azure, a pale offset argent, base to dexter" (Norwegian: På blå grunn ein sølv pæl, avskoren og forskuva mot venstre). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a pale that is offset. The pale 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 offset pale symbolizes the two stage drop on one of Europe's highest waterfalls, the Mardalsfossen, which is located in the municipality. The arms were designed by Olav Sandø, from Eidsvåg. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^{[10][11][12][13]}

The Church of Norway had four parishes (sokn) within Nesset Municipality. It was part of the Indre Romsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

While it existed, Nesset Municipality was 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 was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[14] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Nesset Municipality was made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

The mayor (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Nesset Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:^[32][33][34]