Strandebarm Municipality

Strandebarm is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now divided between Kvam Municipality and Ullensvang Municipality in the traditional district of Hardanger in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Bru (also known as Strandebarm. Other villages in the municipality included Kysnesstranda, Omastranda, and Innstranda.
Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 410th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Strandebarm Municipality was the 440th 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.
One of the larger industries in the municipality was shipbuilding, centered at the village of Omastranda, where the company Fjellstrand A.S. was headquartered.

General information

The parish of Strandebarm was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1863, Strandebarm Municipality was divided into two: most of the land located on the eastern shore of the Hardangerfjorden, except for Kysnesstranda, became the new Jondal Municipality and the remaining parts continued as a smaller Strandebarm Municipality.
Then on 1 January 1902, Strandebarm Municipality was divided into two municipalities: the southern district became the new Varaldsøy Municipality and the rest of the municipality continued as a smaller Strandebarm Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Strandebarm Municipality ceased to exist. The district of Kysnesstranda on the east side of the fjord was incorporated into Jondal Municipality. The rest of Strandebarm was incorporated into Kvam Municipality to the north.

Name

The municipality is named after the local Strandebarmsbukta bay. The first element is the genitive case of which means "beach" or "shore". The last element is which means "rim", here referring to the area along the bay.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Strandebarm Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Strandebarm prestegjeld and the Hardanger og Voss prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Parish	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Strandebarm	Strandebarm Church	Strandebarm	1876

Geography

The municipality spanned land on both sides of the central part of the Hardangerfjorden. It also originally included the island of Varaldsøy. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Tveitakvitingen, a quadripoint on the border between Strandebarm Municipality, Kvam Municipality, Samnanger Municipality, and Hålandsdal Municipality.
Kvam Municipality was located to the north, Jondal Municipality was located to the east, Kvinnherad Municipality was located to the southeast, Varaldsøy Municipality was located to the south, and Hålandsdal Municipality was located to the west.

Government

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

1838–1843: Niels Burggraf Tausan
1844–1850: Niels Landmark
1851–1853: Torbjørn Røyrvik
1854–1857: Caspar Kährs
1858–1858: Jens Andreas Holmboe
1858–1858: Niels Landmark
1858–1859: Nils T. Linge
1860–1861: Torbjørn T. Linge
1862–1863: Mathias Bonsak Krogh Holst
1864–1867: Nils T. Linge
1868–1871: Torbjørn T. Linge
1872–1875: Nils T. Linge
1876–1882: Arne Berge
1882–1885: Lars Galtung
1886–1901: Amund Fosse
1902–1907: Thomas Enes
1908–1916: Johannes Ugletvedt
1917–1921: Haktor Dysvik
1921–1943: Håvard Berge
1943–1945: Peder Oma
1945–1945: Johannes Riise
1946–1955: Kristoffer Kolltveit
1956–1959: Erling Bruhjell
1960–1964: Kristoffer Kolltveit
Notable people
Jon Fosse, an author, playwright and Nobel Laureate who grew up in Standebarm
Hans E. Kinck, a Norwegian writer who lived in Strandebarm for many years. He is said to have used the village as the setting and inspiration for his novel Den nye kapellanen.