Melhus is a municipality in Trøndelagcounty, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Melhus. Other villages include Gåsbakken, Hovin, Korsvegen, Kvål, Ler, Lundamo, Storsand, and Øysand. Agriculture is important in Melhus, and the extensive lowland areas in the almost flat valley surrounding the Gaula River are dominated by grain fields. Many inhabitants work in the city ofTrondheim, a 20-minute drive north from Melhus. The municipality is the 166th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Melhus is the 75th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 16,733. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 12.7% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
Melhus was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1865, the western district of Høilandet was separated from Melhus to form a separate municipality. Then on 1880, the eastern district of Flaa was separated to form its own municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Melhus was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Hølonda, Flå, Horg, and the small Langørgen farm area in the neighboring municipality of Buvik to form a new, larger municipality of Melhus. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
Name
The municipality is named after the old Melhus farm, since the first Melhus Church was built there. The first element is meðal which means "middle" and the last element is the plural form of hús which means "house". The farm is one part of a greater and older farm, which had the name Óðinssalr which means "the salr of Odin".
Melhus was the site of many important events during the Viking Era. It was the site of the farmRimul in Melhus at which Jarl Haakon was killed by his slave, Tormod Kark. Jarlshola is the location in Melhus thought to have been the hiding place of Jarl Haakon and Tormod Kark on their last night before the infamous murder at Rimul.
Geography
The municipality of Melhus includes the valley of the riverGaula as it flows northwards towards its mouth at the Gaulosen, an arm of the Trondheimsfjord. The lake Svorksjøen lies on the western border with Orkdal and Meldal. The lakes Benna and Ånøya lie in the central part of the municipality, and the lake Samsjøen lies on the southeastern border with Midtre Gauldal municipality. The mountains of Rensfjellet and Vassfjellet lie on the eastern border with Selbu and Klæbu municipalities, respectively.
The municipal council of Melhus is made up of 37 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:
