Gjemnes

Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former steamship landing place. Other villages in Gjemnes include Torvikbukt, Flemma, Angvika, Gjemnes, Øre, and Osmarka.

The 382 km2 municipality is the 243rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gjemnes is the 243rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,669. The municipality's population density is 7.2 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 4.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Gjemnes was established on 1 September 1893 when the southern part of Kvernes Municipality (population: 477), the northern part of Øre Municipality (population: 226), and the southwestern part of Frei Municipality (population: 231) were merged. The initial population of the municipality was 934. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Øre Municipality (population: 1,565) and all of Tingvoll Municipality located west of the Tingvollfjorden (population: 778) were merged with Gjemnes Municipality (population: 697) to form a new, larger municipality of Gjemnes.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gjemnes farm (Gímnes) since it was the site of Gjemnes Church. The first element is somewhat uncertain. It may come from an old river name (Gíma). The river name may be derived from the word gíma which means "opening" or "mouth". The last element is which means "headland".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 4 November 1983. The official blazon is "Vert, a deer head cabossed Or" (I grønt et gull hjortehode, sett forfra). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is the head and antlers of a red deer. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The green color in the field symbolizes the importance of the agricultural history of the community. The deer head was chosen since these deer are quite common in the municipality. The deer antlers have twelve points on them, representing the twelve districts of Gjemnes. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth who based it off an original idea by Birger A. Eikrem. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Gjemnes. It is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Geography
The municipality lies along the Kvernesfjorden, Batnfjorden, Freifjorden, and Tingvollfjorden. The mountain Reinsfjellet (highest in the municipality) lies near Torvikbukt. The municipality also includes the island of Bergsøya which is located at the junction of the fjords near the village of Gjemnes.

Gjemnes is surrounded by Kristiansund Municipality and Averøy Municipality to the north; Eide, Fræna, and Molde municipalities to the west; Nesset Municipality to the south; and Tingvoll Municipality to the east.

Government
Gjemnes Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Gjemnes is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Gjemnes (incomplete list):


 * 1898-1910: Kristoffer Høgset (V)
 * 1913-1922: Kristoffer Høgset (Bp)
 * 1972-1991: Ole Øverland (Sp)
 * 1999-2007: Odd Steinar Bjerkeset (KrF)
 * 2007-2011: Knut Sjømæling (Sp)
 * 2011-2015: Odd Steinar Bjerkeset (KrF)
 * 2015–present: Knut Sjømæling (Sp)

Transport
European Route E39 runs through the municipality and over the Gjemnessund Bridge and Bergsøysund Bridge connecting Gjemnes to Tingvoll Municipality. The Freifjord Tunnel (part of Norwegian National Road 70) runs from Bergsøya to the nearby island of Frei (and ultimately Kristiansund).

Notable people

 * John Neergaard (1795–1885) a Norwegian farmer and bailiff (lensmann) in Gjemnes 1836 to 1854
 * Anton Berge (1892 in Gjemnes – 1951) a Norwegian agronomist and local politician