Innvik Municipality

Innvik 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 now part of Stryn Municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Innvik. Other villages in the municipality included Randabygda, Nordsida, Utvik, and Olden.
Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 208th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Innvik Municipality was the 299th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 2.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Indvigen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1843, the municipality was divided. The eastern part of the municipality formed the new Stryn Municipality and the western part of the municipality remained as a much smaller Innvik Municipality
On 1 October 1922, the Raksgrenda area, with 120 inhabitants, was administratively transferred from Innvik Municipality to Stryn Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the following areas were merged to form a new, much larger Stryn Municipality:

all of Innvik Municipality
all of Stryn Municipality
the Hopland area of Gloppen Municipality
the parts of Hornindal Municipality that were located east of Navelsaker and Holmøyvik
Name

The municipality is named after the old Innvik farm since the first Innvik Church was built there. The original name was the plural form of the word which means "small bay", "cove", or "inlet". Some time around the 15th century, the prefix was added to distinguish the area from nearby Utvik. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Indviken. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Innvik, removing the definite form ending -en and using an "inn" instead of more Danish spelling of "ind".

Churches

The Church of Norway had three parishes within Innvik Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Innvik prestegjeld and the Nordfjord prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Parish	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Innvik	Innvik Church	Innvik	1822
Olden	Olden Church	Olden	1934
Olden	Old Olden Church	Olden	1759
Olden	Ljosheim Chapel	Mykløy in Oldedalen	1924
Utvika	Utvik Church	Utvik	1840
Utvika	Randabygd Chapel	Randabygda	1916

Geography

The municipality encompassed the western third of the present Stryn Municipality. Innvik Municipality included both sides of the Nordfjorden, from Randabygda in the west to just west of the village of Stryn. It stretched from the border with Hornindal Municipality in the north, through the Oldedalen valley all the way to the Jostedalsbreen glacier in the south. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Kvitekoll, located on the border with Hafslo Municipality.
Hornindal Municipality was located to the north, Stryn Municipality was located to the east, Hafslo Municipality was located to the south, Jølster Municipality was located to the southwest, Breim Municipality was located to the west, and Gloppen Municipality was located to the northwest.

Government

While it existed, Innvik 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 Innvik Municipality was made up of 25 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 Innvik Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1838–1841: Peter L. Brandt
1842–1843: Jørgen Fredrik Spørck
1844–1844: Arent Uchermann
1845–1845: Lars Olson Bruvoll
1846–1849: Ola Olson Flore
1850–1851: Anders Rasmusson Faleide
1852–1857: Ola Olson Flore
1858–1861: Hans Andersson Heggdal
1862–1871: Ola Hansson Langve
1872–1883: Anders H. Faleide
1884–1895: Anders H. Øiestad
1895–1908: Rasmus Elias Paulson Sindre
1908–1910: Anders A. Drageset
1910–1931: Knut A. Taraldset
1932–1942: Hallvard R. Sindre
1942–1946: Anders J. Rustøen
1946–1951: Per Reme
1952–1959: Ola Bruland
1960–1964: Einar A. Skarstein