Breim

Breim is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Nordfjord in the eastern part of the present-day Gloppen Municipality which is now in Vestland county. The 359-square-kilometre (139 sq mi)^[3] municipality existed from 1886 until 1964. The administrative center was the village of Reed (sometimes called Re).

Breim Municipality Breim herad
Former municipality
View of the lake Breimsvatnet
Sogn og Fjordane within Norway
Breim within Sogn og Fjordane
Coordinates: 61°44′01″N 06°24′28″E
Country	Norway
County	Sogn og Fjordane
District	Nordfjord
Established	1 Jan 1886
• Preceded by	Gloppen Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
• Succeeded by	Gloppen Municipality
Administrative centre	Re
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	359 km2 (139 sq mi)
Population  (1964)
• Total	1,769
• Density	4.9/km2 (13/sq mi)
Demonyms	Breiming Breimning[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1446[2]
Data from Statistics Norway

Breim municipality was located to the east of Gloppen, south of Stryn and the Utvik mountains, west of the Jostedalsbreen glacier, and north of Jølster. The municipality was centered on the lake Breimsvatn. Many of the inhabitants lived on the shores of the lake or in the large river valley extending east from the lake. The main church for the municipality was Breim Church, located in Reed.

Schools

The area of Breim was divided into two school districts: Byrkjelo, with the Byrkjelo school and Reed with the Reed school. Both schools were primary schools. After 8th grade students had to travel to the Gloppen ungdomskule (secondary school) in Sandane.

History

On 1 January 1886, Gloppen Municipality was split into two municipalities: Gloppen (population: 2,970) and Breim (population: 1,823). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the small Førde farm (population: 38) at the southern end of the lake Breimsvatnet was administratively transferred to Jølster Municipality to the south. On the same date, the rest of Breim (population: 1,731) was merged (back) into Gloppen Municipality.^[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old name for the area (Old Norse: Breiðefni). The first element is breiðr which means "broad". The last element is efni which means "state" or "condition". Throughout the centuries, the name changed through misunderstandings and corruptions of the word and it changed to Breiheim or Breidem, where the second element of the name became like the old word heimr meaning "home". The current spelling of the name was settled upon by the 1800s.^[5]

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[6]

Mayors

The mayors of Breim:^[7]

• 1886–1913: Jakob J. Myklebust, Sr. (V)
• 1913–1920: Rasmus R. Bogstad
• 1921–1931: Jakob J. Myklebust, Jr.
• 1932–1937: Ivar J. Seime
• 1938–1940: Jakob J. Myklebust, Jr.
• 1942–1945: Ingebrikt Sandal
• 1945–1947: Jakob J. Myklebust, Jr.
• 1948–1956: Johnny Bakke (V)
• 1956–1958: Rasmus Sandal
• 1958–1960: Einar Strand
• 1960–1964: Olav B. Bø

Municipal council

The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Breim was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four-year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Breim heradsstyre 1960–1963 ^[8]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	17
Total number of members:		17
Note: On 1 January 1964, Breim became part of Gloppen Municipality.

Breim heradsstyre 1956–1959 ^[9]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	3
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	8
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	4
Total number of members:		17

Breim heradsstyre 1952–1955 ^[10]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	16
Total number of members:		16

Breim heradsstyre 1948–1951 ^[11]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	1
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti)	1
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	14
Total number of members:		16

Breim heradsstyre 1945–1947 ^[12]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	16
Total number of members:		16

Breim heradsstyre 1938–1941* ^[13]  

Party name (in Nynorsk)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet)	3
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	9
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	2
Total number of members:		16
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
3. Helland, Amund (1901). "Breim herred". Norges land og folk: Nordre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian). Vol. XIV. Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 599. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
5. Rygh, Oluf (1919). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (12 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 473–474.
6. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
7. "Ordførarar i Gloppen kommune". NRK Fylkesleksikon (in Norwegian). 20 November 2003. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
13. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 11 May 2020.

External links

• Sognefjorden travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Weather information for Breim (in Norwegian)