Hafslo

Hafslo is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The 538 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It is located in the present-day Luster Municipality (in Vestland county) in the traditional district of Sogn. The former municipality included the villages of Kinsedalen, Ornes, and Kroken on the east side of the Lustrafjorden. It also included the villages of Solvorn, Hafslo, Joranger, and the whole Veitastrond valley on the west side of the Lustrafjorden. The municipality surrounded the lakes Hafslovatnet and Veitastrondvatnet. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Hafslo, where Hafslo Church was located.

History
Hafslo was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the municipality of Hafslo (population: 2,384) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Luster (population: 2,674) and Jostedal (population: 796) to form the new, larger municipality of Luster.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hafslo farm (Hafrsló) since the first Hafslo Church was built there. The first element is the old male name, the name is identical with the word which means "male goat". The last element is which means "clearing" or "meadow", probably due to the excellent farming areas nearby.

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.

Mayors
The mayors of Hafslo:


 * 1838-1839: Ola Trondsen Lid
 * 1840-1859: Einar Joranger
 * 1860-1860: Samuel M. Bugge
 * 1861-1861: C. Aars
 * 1862-1862: Ola I. Fet
 * 1863-1877: Samuel M. Bugge
 * 1878-1881: Einar Joranger
 * 1882-1885: Samuel M. Bugge
 * 1886-1895: Ola I. Hillestad
 * 1896-1898: Anders J. Tørvi
 * 1899-1904: Erik Nitter Walaker
 * 1905-1907: Samuel O. Moe
 * 1908-1910: Erik Nitter Walaker
 * 1911-1919: Ola I. Joranger
 * 1920-1922: Wilken Nitter Walaker
 * 1923-1928: Ivar O. Hillestad
 * 1929-1931: Torstein Molland
 * 1932-1937: J.W. Fraas
 * 1938-1942: Torstein Molland
 * 1942-1944: Amund Bremer
 * 1945-1945: Torstein Molland
 * 1946-1947: Ola Sjøtun
 * 1948-1961: Einar Kjos
 * 1961-1963: Hans H. Sjøtun

Municipal council
The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Hafslo was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Notable people

 * Sylfest Lomheim (born 1945), a Norwegian linguist
 * Jens Sterri (born 1923), a civil servant
 * Kjellfred Weum (born 1940), a hurdler