Bremnes

This article is about the former municipality in Hordaland, Norway. For other uses, see Bremnes (disambiguation).

Bremnes Municipality Bremnes herad
Former municipality
View of the Slåtterøy Lighthouse
Hordaland within Norway
Bremnes within Hordaland
Coordinates: 59°47′34″N 05°10′20″E
Country	Norway
County	Hordaland
District	Sunnhordland
Established	1 July 1916
• Preceded by	Finnås Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1963
• Succeeded by	Bømlo Municipality
Administrative centre	Svortland
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	125 km^2 (48 sq mi)
Population  (1963)
• Total	4,829
• Density	39/km^2 (100/sq mi)
Demonym	Bremnesing[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1220[2]
Data from Statistics Norway

Bremnes is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1916 until 1963, when it was merged into the new municipality of Bømlo which is now part of Vestland county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Svortland, where Bremnes Church is located. The 125-square-kilometre (48 sq mi) municipality covered the northern and western half of the island of Bømlo as well as the many small, surrounding islets.[3]

History

The municipality of Bremnes was established on 1 July 1916 when the old municipality of Finnås was split into the three new municipalities: Moster (population: 1,316), Bømlo (population: 1,217), and Bremnes (population: 3,411). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the three municipalities of Moster (population: 1,834), Bømlo (population: 1,463), and Bremnes (population: 4,829) were merged into a new, larger Bømlo Municipality.[4]

Name

The municipality is named Bremnes (Old Norse: Brimnes). The first element is brim which means "surf" or "the surface of the sea". It is a name that is common in Western Norway, referring to places that are highly exposed to the sea. The last element is nes which means "headland".[5]

Government

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.[6]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Bremnes was made up of 23 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Bremnes heradsstyre 1960–1963 [7]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	2
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	8
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	5
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	6
Total number of members:		23

Bremnes heradsstyre 1956–1959 [8]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	3
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	7
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	5
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	7
Total number of members:		23

Bremnes heradsstyre 1952–1955 [9]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	1
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	3
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	6
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister)	3
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	7
Total number of members:		20

Bremnes heradsstyre 1948–1951 [10]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	1
	Conservative Party (Høgre)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	5
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	7
Total number of members:		20

Bremnes heradsstyre 1945–1947 [11]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	8
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	12
Total number of members:		20

Bremnes heradsstyre 1938–1941* [12]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	7
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister)	2
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	6
Total number of members:		20
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (9 January 2024). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon.
3. Store norske leksikon. "Bremnes – Hordaland" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 February 2015.
4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
5. Rygh, Oluf (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 129.
6. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
7. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

External links

• Bremnes Bygdebøker (local history book) Held at the University of Minnesota Libraries (wilson.lib.umn.edu)