Grindheim

Grindheim is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Byremo where Grindheim Church is located. The 130 km2 municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1964. It was generally located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Lyngdal in what is now Agder county.

History
The municipality of Grindum was established on 1 January 1902 when the old municipality of Bjelland og Grindum was divided into two separate municipalities: Grindheim (population: 909) and Bjelland (population: 907). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Grindheim (population: 701) was merged with the Ågedal and Midtbø areas (located just east of the lake Ytre Øydnavatnet; population: 96) in Bjelland and the neighboring municipality of Konsmo (population: 712) to create the new municipality of Audnedal.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Grindem farm (Grindeimr) since the first Grindheim Church was built there. The first element is which means "gate" or "fence". The last element is which means "home" or "abode". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Grimdem. In 1889, the spelling was changed to Grindum. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Grindheim.

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.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Grindheim 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.