Evanger Municipality


Evanger is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1885 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between Voss Municipality and Vaksdal Municipalityin the traditional district of Voss in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Evanger where the Evanger Church is located. Other villages in the municipality included Nesheim and Bolstadøyri.
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 167th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Evanger Municipality was the 560th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Evanger was established on 1 January 1885 when the large Voss Municipality was divided as follows: the western district of Voss became the new Evanger Municipality and the rest of Voss Municipality remained as Voss Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Evanger Municipality was dissolved. The Bergsdalen and Eksingedalen valleys were merged with parts of Bruvik Municipality and Modalen Municipality to create the new Vaksdal Municipality. The rest of Evanger Municipality was merged into the neighboring Voss Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Evanger farm since the first Evanger Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "to rest and eat" or "to rest and feed". The last element is the plural form of which means "field" or "meadow". The name probably means something like "a place where one lets horses graze while on a journey". Historically, the name was spelled Ævanger until the early 20th century.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Evanger Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Evanger prestegjeld and the Hardanger og Voss prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
EvangerEvanger ChurchEvanger1851
EvangerNesheim ChurchNesheim1908
EvangerBergsdalen ChurchBergsdalen1955

Evanger Church was the main church for the municipality and it served the central part of the municipality. There were also two annex chapels: Nesheim Church served the northern areas and Bergsdalen Church served the southern areas of the municipality.

Geography

The municipality included the eastern part of the Eksingedalen valley, the area surrounding the lake Evangervatnet, and the Bergsdalen valley. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Kvitanosi, on the border with Voss Municipality. Vik Municipality was located to the north, Vossestrand Municipality was located to the northeast, Voss Municipality was located to the east, Kvam Municipality was located to the southeast, Samnanger Municipality was located to the south, Bruvik Municipality was located to the southwest, and Modalen Municipality was located to the northwest.

Government

While it existed, Evanger 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 Evanger Municipality was made up of 17 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 Evanger Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people held this position:
  • 1885–1887: Gulleik Horvei
  • 1888–1897: Anders Kvilekvaal
  • 1898–1898: Johannes Horvei
  • 1899–1913: Nils B. Mugaas
  • 1914–1916: Johannes Horvei
  • 1917–1928: Nils B. Mugaas
  • 1929–1937: Olav B. Rongen
  • 1938–1941: Gustav A. Hantveit
  • 1942–1945: Lars B. Horvei
  • 1945–1946: Gustav A. Hantveit
  • 1946–1947: Magne Hjørnevik
  • 1948–1963: Ivar Bjørgo

    Notable people

  • Knute Nelson, a United States Senator
  • Bjørn Rongen, a novelist and children's book writer
  • Viking Mestad, a politician for the Norwegian Liberal Party