Kvernes (municipality)

Kvernes is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. Originally, it encompassed the whole island of Averøya, part of the Romsdal peninsula, part of the island of Nordlandet, and part of the island of Frei. Over time it gradually got smaller until 1964, when the 36-square-kilometre (14 sq mi) municipality was merged into Averøy Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kvernes where Kvernes Stave Church (built in the 14th century) and the Kvernes Church (built in the 19th century) are both located.

Kvernes Municipality Kvernes herred
Former municipality
View of Kvernes in the back-left part of the photo
Møre og Romsdal within Norway
Kvernes within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 63°00′22″N 07°43′31″E
Country	Norway
County	Møre og Romsdal
District	Nordmøre
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1964
• Succeeded by	Averøy Municipality
Administrative centre	Kvernes
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	36 km2 (14 sq mi)
Population  (1964)
• Total	693
• Density	19/km2 (50/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1553[1]
Data from Statistics Norway

History

View of the Kvernes Stave Church

The municipality of Kværnes was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census, the municipality initially had a population of about 3,754.^[2] On 1 January 1878, a small area in the western part of Bud Municipality (population: 15) was transferred to Kvernes. Then again on 1 January 1891, the Bollien farm (population: 15) was transferred from Bud to Kvernes. On 1 September 1893, parts of Kvernes Municipality (population: 477) along with parts of Frei Municipality and Øre Municipality were used to create the new Gjemnes Municipality.^[3][4]

On 1 January 1897, the large municipality of Kvernes was divided into four areas to create the municipalities of Eide, Kornstad, Bremsnes, and (a much smaller) Kvernes. The remaining part of Kvernes had a population of 857. On 8 July 1903, an uninhabited area of Bremsnes was transferred over to Kvernes. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Kvernes was merged with most of Kornstad and Bremsnes municipalities to create the new Averøy Municipality. Prior to the merger, Kvernes had a population of 693.^[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Kvernes farm (Old Norse: Hverfnes) since the first Kvernes Church was built there. The first element is hverfa which means "turn", "swing", or "disappear out of sight". The last element is nes which means "headland". The name is likely referring to the fact that this place is located on a headland on the southeast part of the island of Averøya, where the fjord takes a roughly ninety-degree turn as it passes around the island.^[5]

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. 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]

Municipal council

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

Kvernes herredsstyre 1960–1963 ^[7]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	2
	Centre Party (Senterpartiet)	4
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	3
Total number of members:		13

Kvernes herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[8]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	3
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	5
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	1
Total number of members:		13

Kvernes herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[9]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti)	2
	Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet)	3
	Liberal Party (Venstre)	2
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	1
Total number of members:		12

Kvernes herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[10]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	8
Total number of members:		12

Kvernes herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[11]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	7
Total number of members:		12

Kvernes herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[12]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	5
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	7
Total number of members:		12
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. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
2. Registreringssentral for historiske data. "Hjemmehørende folkemengde Møre og Romsdal 1801-1960" (in Norwegian). University of Tromsø. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
3. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
4. Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (17 February 2018). "Kvernes - tidligere kommune". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
5. Rygh, Oluf (1908). Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt (in Norwegian) (13 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 323.
6. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
7. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
8. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
9. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
10. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 24 April 2020.