Davik Municipality


Davik is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is divided between Bremanger Municipality, Kinn Municipality, and Stad Municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Davik on the southern shore of the Nordfjorden, although some of the municipal services were based out of the village of Bryggja on the north side of the fjord, since that village was the largest village in Davik Municipality.
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 152nd largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Davik Municipality was the 256th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 4.6% over the previous 10-year period.
Davik Church was the main church for the municipality, and it was located in the village of Davik, in the central part of the municipality. Rugsund Church served the western part of the municipality and Ålfoten Church served the eastern part of the municipality.

General information

The parish of Davik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1913, the Mettenes farm was transferred to the neighboring Gloppen Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the islands of Husevågøy, Grindøya, Gangsøya, Risøya, and all of Davik Municipality that was north of the Nordfjorden and east of the village of Lefdal became part of the newly-created Vågsøy Municipality. The population of this area was 1,216 at that time.
On 1 January 1965, Davik Municipality ceased to exist and its territory was divided between its neighboring municipalities as follows:
  • All of Davik located south of the Nordfjorden and all the islands that did not go to Vågsøy Municipality in 1964 went to Bremanger Municipality. The population of this area was 1,567 at the time of the merger.
  • All of Davik located north of the Nordfjorden and east of the village of Lefdal went to Eid Municipality. The population of this area was 654 at the time of the merger.

    Name

The municipality is named after the old Davik farm since the first Davik Church was built there. The first element is which means "spear". The last element is which means "inlet" or "cove". Thus, the name appears to be referring to the long, skinny spear-like shape of the local fjord. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Davigen or Daviken. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Davik, removing the definite form ending -en.

Churches

The Church of Norway had three parishes within Davik Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Davik prestegjeld and the Nordfjord prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
DavikDavik ChurchDavik1886
DavikKjølsdalen ChapelKjølsdalen1940
RugsundRugsund ChurchRugsund1838
RugsundTotland ChapelTotland1912
ÅlfotenÅlfoten ChurchÅlfoten1678

Geography

It encompassed all the lands surrounding the outer part of the large Nordfjorden on both sides of the fjord. It included high mountains, fjords, and the Ålfotbreen glacier. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Blånibba.
Vanylven Municipality was to the north, Eid Municipality was to the northwest, Gloppen Municipality was to the east, Bru Municipality was to the south, Bremanger Municipality was to the southwest, and Sør-Vågsøy Municipality was to the northwest.

Government

While it existed, Davik 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 Davik Municipality was made up of 21 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 Davik Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
  • 1838–1839: Henrik Didrik Echoff Friis
  • 1840–1843: G.J. Lund
  • 1844–1847: Peter Martin Knoph
  • 1848–1849: Ole Martin Wiig
  • 1850–1859: Christian Meyer
  • 1860–1861: Lauritz Elstrand
  • 1862–1867: Christian Meyer
  • 1868–1871: John Rasmusson Muri
  • 1872–1877: Ola Abrahamson Haus
  • 1878–1879: Peder J. Hessevik
  • 1880–1885: Hans Kristian Jenssson Lefdal
  • 1886–1891: Botolv Helgeson Thue
  • 1892–1895: Waldemar Bakke
  • 1896–1897: Lars J. Eldevik
  • 1898–1898: Daniel Follestad
  • 1899–1916: Apollonius Liljedal Ronsenlund
  • 1916–1937: Lars P. Lefdal
  • 1938–1941: Reinert Førde
  • 1945–1949: Reinert Førde
  • 1950–1952: Alfred Haugland
  • 1953–1959: Olav Dybedal
  • 1960–1964: Alf Bakke