Editing Sauherad (section)

==General information==
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of ''Søfde'' (later spelled Saude, then Sauherad) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1903, an unpopulated area of Saude was transferred to the neighboring [[Gjerpen|Gjerpen Municipality]]. On 1 July 1914 a small area of Sauherad (population: 27) was transferred to the neighboring [[Bø, Telemark|Bø Municipality]].<ref name="Dag">{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no |isbn=9788253746845}}</ref>

On 1 January 2020, Sauherad Municipality (population: 4,293) was merged with the neighboring [[Bø, Telemark|Bø Municipality]] (population: 6,630) to form the new [[Midt-Telemark Municipality]].<ref name="snl1">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Midt-Telemark |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |publisher=[[Kunnskapsforlaget]] |url=https://snl.no/Midt-Telemark |date=2023-08-15 |editor-last=Mæhlum |editor-first=Lars |language=no |accessdate=2023-08-30}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''[[Sauherad (village)|Sauar]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Sauðar}}) since the first [[Sauherad Church]] was built there. The name comes from the [[plural]] form of {{lang|non|sauðr}} which means "to boil" or "to seeth", likely referring to the current in the local river. The last element, ''herad'' (added in the 20th century) comes from the word {{wikt-lang|non|herað}} which means "district" or "countryside". Thus it is "the district (''herað'') of Sauðar".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2006120600018 |title=Norske gaardnavne: Bratsbergs amt |date=1914 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=7 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=214-215 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Søfde''. In 1862, the spelling was changed to ''Saude''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Sauherad''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057-1065}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 27 April 1989 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality became part of the new [[Midt-Telemark Municipality]]. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], an apple tree [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I blått et gull epletre}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is an [[apple tree]] with leaves and apples. The charge has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design was chosen since apple cultivation is a major industry in the municipality. The arms were designed by Halvor Holtskog. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Sauherad |access-date=2023-08-31 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sauherad, Telemark (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-08-22.html |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1989-12-07 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LFO/forskrift/1989-10-20-1073 |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> 

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] had one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Sauherad. It was part of the [[Øvre Telemark prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Sauherad'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="2"|Sauherad og Nes||[[Nes Church (Telemark)|Nes Church]]||Nesodden<br />(just outside [[Gvarv]])||1180
|-
|[[Sauherad Church]]||[[Sauherad (village)|Sauherad]]||1150
|}

[[File:Sauherad kirke.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Sauherad Church]]
[[Sauherad Church]] dates from the medieval era. The church was built between 1150 and 1250. The edifice is of stone and has 260 seats. The church is built in Romanesque style. On the ridge, in the middle of the gable roof, sits a turret. The church bells are from 1441. The altarpiece from 1663 is of Renaissance style.   In 1781 the building was extended westward. In 1830 the church received a new interior. The frescoes in the nave were uncovered and restore during the 1940s and 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sauherad kirke |url=http://www.kulturminnesok.no/Lokaliteter/Telemark/Sauherad/Sauherad-kirkested |access-date=2016-10-01 |publisher=kulturminnesok}}</ref>