Øvrebø (municipality)

Øvrebø is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed twice during the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally, from 1838 until 1865, the 398-square-kilometre (154 sq mi) municipality encompassed roughly the same boundaries as the present-day municipality of Vennesla. The second iteration of the municipality was only 109 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and it corresponded to the central part of present-day Vennesla municipality. The municipal centre was the village of Skarpengland. The small village of Øvrebø is located about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Skarpengland, and this is where the Øvrebø Church is located.[1]

Øvrebø herred
Former municipality
View of the local Øvrebø Church
Vest-Agder within Norway
Øvrebø within Vest-Agder
Coordinates: 58°17′29″N 07°46′42″E
Country	Norway
County	Vest-Agder
District	Sørlandet
Established	1838-1865
Re-established	1 July 1896
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
Administrative centre	Skarpengland
Area
• Total	109 km^2 (42 sq mi)
	*Area at municipal dissolution.
Population  (1964)
• Total	964
• Density	8.8/km^2 (23/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1016
Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt in 1838
Succeeded by	Øvrebø og Hægeland and Vennesla in 1865
Preceded by	Øvrebø og Hægeland in 1896
Succeeded by	Vennesla in 1964
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The parish of Øvrebø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It existed as a municipality until 1865, when it was dissolved and split into two: the southeastern part of the municipality (population: 1,103) became the new municipality of Vennesla and the remainder of the municipality became Øvrebø og Hægeland (population: 1,829). On 1 July 1896 the municipality of Øvrebø was re-created when the municipality of Øvrebø og Hægeland was divided into two separate municipalities: Øvrebø (population: 888) and Hægeland (population: 843).

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Eikeland area (population: 39) of Øvrebø was transferred to neighboring Songdalen municipality, while the rest of Øvrebø (population: 925) was merged with Hægeland and Vennesla to form a new, larger municipality of Vennesla.[2]

Name

Øvrebø municipality was named after the old Øvrebø farm (Old Norse: Øfribœr), since the first Øvrebø Church was built there. The first part of the name means "upper" and second part of the name is identical with the word bœr which means "farm" and it is cognate with the Dutch language word "boer" which means "farmer". The name therefore means "the upper farm".[3]

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Øvrebø, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.[4]

Municipal council

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

Øvrebø Herredsstyre 1960–1963 [5]  

Party Name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	3
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
Total number of members:		13

Øvrebø Herredsstyre 1956–1959 [6]  

Party Name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	2
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	3
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	8
Total number of members:		13

Øvrebø Herredsstyre 1952–1955 [7]  

Party Name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	2
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	10
Total number of members:		12

Øvrebø Herredsstyre 1948–1951 [8]  

Party Name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	2
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	10
Total number of members:		12

Øvrebø Herredsstyre 1945–1947 [9]  

Party Name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	9
Total number of members:		12

Øvrebø Herredsstyre 1938–1941* [10]  

Party Name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	6
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	4
Total number of members:		12

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. Store norske leksikon. "Øvrebø – tidligere kommune" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 January 2017.
2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
3. Rygh, Oluf (1912). Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt (in Norwegian) (9 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 36.
4. Hansen, Tore, ed. (12 May 2016). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
5. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
6. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
7. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 22 November 2020.