Kinsarvik Municipality
Kinsarvik is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Ullensvang Municipality in the traditional district of Hardanger in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Kinsarvik.
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 232nd largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Kinsarvik Municipality was the 526th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
The large parish of Kinsarvik was a prestegjeld in Norway for a long time. On 1 January 1838 the parish of Kinsarvik was established as a civil municipality. The new Kinsarvik Municipality was centered at Kinsarvik Church and it had one annex church at Lofthus. In 1869, Ullensvang became the main parish, and Kinsarvik became an annex to Ullensvang.On 1 July 1913, the large Ullensvang Municipality was split into three separate municipalities:
- the northwestern part became the new Kinsarvik Municipality
- the central part continued on as a smaller Ullensvang Municipality
- the southern part became the new Odda Municipality
Name
The municipality is named after the old Kinsarvik farm since the first Kinsarvik Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the old river name Kinns. That name comes from the word which means "steep hillside". The last element is which means "bay" or "cove".Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Kinservik. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Kinsarvik.
Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish within Kinsarvik Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Ullensvang prestegjeld and the Hardanger og Voss prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.| Parish | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
| Kinsarvik | Kinsarvik Church | Kinsarvik | |
| Kinsarvik | Utne Chapel | Utne | 1895 |
Geography
The municipality was centered around the inner part of the Hardangerfjorden, at the place where the main fjord splits into the Granvinsfjorden, Eidfjorden, and Sørfjorden. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Sovarenuten.Granvin Municipality and Ulvik Municipality were to the north, Eidfjord Municipality was to the east, Ullensvang Municipality was to the south, Kvam Municipality was to the west, and Voss Municipality was to the northwest.
Government
While it existed, Kinsarvik 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 Kinsarvik 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 Kinsarvik Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:- 1913–1925: Lars Aga
- 1926–1934: Gunnar E. Bjotveit
- 1934–1941: Torgeir J. Alvsaaker
- 1941–1945: Olav Eidnes
- 1945–1945: Torgeir J. Alvsaaker
- 1946–1951: Knut Vindal
- 1951–1961: Josef Lutro
- 1961–1963: Jakob D. Hus