Grytten is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed the Romsdalen valley which follows the Rauma River from the Oppland county border to the inner part of the Romsdal Fjord at the town of Åndalsnes, as well as some smaller side valleys. The original municipality of Grytten was almost identical to the present-day Rauma Municipality, plus the southern part of Veøy Municipality (south of the Langfjorden). When Grytten ceased to exist in 1964, it had an overall area of 797 km2. The administrative centre was the village of Åndalsnes.

History

Grytten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1840, the northwestern part of Grytten was separated to form the new municipality of Voll og Eid. Then on 1 January 1902, the northeastern part of Grytten was separated to form the new municipality of Hen (population: 1,128), leaving Grytten with a population of 1,728. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Grytten (population: 3,683) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Eid (population: 381), Voll (population: 1,163), Hen (population: 1,663), and the southern part of Veøy municipality (population: 1,400) to form the new Rauma Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Grytten farm since the first Grytten Church was built there. The first element is which means "coarse stones" or "rubble". The last element is which means "meadow" or "pasture".

Government

While it existed, this 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.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Grytten was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: