Brekke Municipality


Brekke is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1850 until its dissolution in 1861 and again from 1905 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Gulen Municipality in the traditional district of Sogn in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Brekke. Other villages in the municipality included Oppedal and Instefjord.
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 392nd largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Brekke Municipality was the 647th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 6.8% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Establishment

The parish of Brekke was originally established as a municipality in 1850 when it was split off from the large Evindvig Municipality. Initially, Brekke Municipality had a population of 898. In 1861, Brekke Municipality was merged with neighboring Lavik Municipality to form the new Lavik og Brekke Municipality.
On 1 January 1875, a part of Klævold Municipality was transferred to Lavik og Brekke Municipality. On 1 January 1905, Lavik og Brekke Municipality was divided, reverting to the pre-1861 borders and re-creating Lavik Municipality and Brekke Municipality as separate municipalities once again.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Brekke Municipality was merged with the neighboring Gulen Municipality, creating a new, larger Gulen Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Brekke farm since the first Brekke Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "slope". Historically, the spelling of the name was not formalized until the 1800s, so spellings such as Breche, Bræcke, and Brække were also used.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Brekke Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Lavik prestegjeld and the Ytre Sogn prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
BrekkeBrekke ChurchBrekke1862

Geography

The municipality was located in the outer Sogn region, on the south side of the Sognefjorden and centered around the Risnesfjorden, a fjord arm that reaches to the south from the main fjord. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Svadfjellet, located in the southeastern part of the municipality, near the border with Masfjorden Municipality.
Lavik Municipality was located to the north and east, Masfjorden Municipality was located to the south, Gulen Municipality was located to the west, and Hyllestad Municipality was located to the northwest.

Government

While it existed, Brekke Municipality was responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Brekke Municipality was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor of Brekke Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people held this position:
  • 1850–1855: Ola Mathiasson Asheim
  • 1856–1859: Lasse Hermundson Fram-Brekke
  • 1905–1910: Johannes L. Wergeland
  • 1911–1916: Ivar Sjurson Haugland
  • 1917–1919: Ola K. Indre Oppedal
  • 1920–1922: Mons Hanson Ytre Takle
  • 1923–1925: Ola K. Indre Oppedal
  • 1926–1928: Mons Hanson Ytre Takle
  • 1929–1931: Ola K. Indre Oppedal
  • 1932–1934: Mons Hanson Ytre Takle
  • 1935–1937: Sjur I. Haugland
  • 1938–1943: Nils R. Dale
  • 1943–1945: Berner Ellingsen
  • 1945–1945: Nils R. Dale
  • 1946–1959: Torvald Hjellum
  • 1959–1963: Tormod Tynning

    Notable people

  • Peder Furubotn, a Communist and anti-Nazi resistance leader