Fusa Municipality

Fusa is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1856 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Bjørnafjorden Municipality in the traditional district of Midhordland in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Eikelandsosen. Other villages in the municipality included Fusa, Holdhus, Holmefjord, Strandvik, and Sundvor.
Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 247th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Fusa Municipality was the 235th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about. The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 1.8% over the previous 10-year period.
The Frank Mohn company's Fusa marine division was headquartered in the municipality, with almost 500 employees.

General information

The parish of Fuse was established as a municipality in 1856 when the large Os Municipality was divided in two. Initially, the new Fuse Municipality had 3,173 residents.
On 1 January 1903 Fusa Municipality was divided into three municipalities as follows:

the southern area became the new Strandvik Municipality
the northeastern area became the new Haalandsdalen Municipality
the northwestern area became a much smaller Fusa Municipality

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Fusa Municipality was enlarged by merging the following areas:

all of Hålandsdal Municipality
all of Strandvik Municipality
most of Fusa Municipality, except for the Bogstrand area on the west side of the Fusafjorden which was transferred to Os Municipality

On 1 January 2020, Fusa Municipality and Os Municipality were merged to form the new Bjørnafjorden Municipality. Historically, this municipality was part of the old Hordaland county. Also on 1 January 2020, the new Bjørnafjorden Municipality became a part of the newly-formed Vestland county.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Fusa farm since the first Fusa Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain. The name could be the plural form of the word which means "eager" or "longing". Another possibility is that it comes from the verb or its alternate spelling which both mean "to rush". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Fuse. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Fusa.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 27 September 1991 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Argent, three azure in pall". This means the arms have a field has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a set of three spirals, two over one. The design was chosen to symbolise the strong currents in the Fusafjorden and Bjørnafjorden. The spirals also symbolise the many giant's kettles in the municipality, which were created by the water in the rocks. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Fusa Municipality. It was part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Parish	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Fusa	Fusa Church	Fusa	1961
Fusa	Holdhus Church	Holdhus	1726
Fusa	Hålandsdal Church	Eide in Hålandsdal	1890
Fusa	Strandvik Church	Strandvik	1857
Fusa	Sundvor Church	Sundvor	1927

Geography

Fusa Municipality was located at the inner end of the Bjørnafjorden and its small arm, the Fusafjorden. Os Municipality was located across the fjord to the west, Samnanger Municipality was to the north, Kvam Municipality was to the east, and Kvinnherad Municipality was to the south. Lakes in Fusa included Gjønavatnet, Skogseidvatnet, and Henangervatnet. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Tveitakvitingen, located on the northern border of the municipality.

Population

Government

While it existed, Fusa 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 Bergen District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Fusa Municipality was made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayor of Fusa Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. In 2007, Fusa participated in a national trial where the mayor was directly elected. The sitting mayor, Hans S. Vindenes, won the election with 51.8% of the votes. The following people have held this position:

1856–1859: Hans Christian Krüger
1860–1861: Samson Gerhard Meidell
1862–1871: Hans Christian Krüger
1872–1875: Berge Ingebrigtsen Skaathun
1876–1879: Ole Brandanger
1880–1883: Hans Andersen Havsgaard
1884–1889: Anders Hansen Bolstad
1890–1910: John Dahl
1911–1916: Johannes Dale
1917–1919: Olav Foer
1920–1934: Hans Berge
1935–1937: Johan O. Samnøy
1938–1940: Hans Christian Ekeberg
1941–1944: Johan O. Samnøy
1945–1945: Hans Christian Ekeberg
1946–1947: Johan O. Samnøy
1947–1959: Hans H. Helland
1959–1964: Anders Samnøy
1964–1975: Peter Haugarvoll
1975–1983: Gitle Havsgård
1983–1987: Asbjørn Malvin Heidal
1987–1991: Jan Koldal
1991–1999: Hans J. Berge
1999–2003: Asbjørn Malvin Heidal
2003–2015: Hans S. Vindenes
2015–2019: Atle Kvåle