Kyrkjebø

Kyrkjebø is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The 681 km2 municipality existed from 1858 until 1964 when it became part of the new municipality of Høyanger which still exists and is part of the new Vestland county. Prior to its dissolution, the municipality of Kyrkjebø included land on the north and south side of the Sognefjorden. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kyrkjebø, where the main Kyrkjebø Church is located.

History
The parish of Klævold was established as a municipality in 1858 when it was separated from the municipality of Lavik. At the time of its creation, it had a population of 1,645. On 1 January 1875, a border adjustment took place, moving part of Klævold with 90 inhabitants to the neighboring municipality of Lavik og Brekke. On 1 July 1890, the name was changed from Klævold to Kirkebø, and then in 1917 it was changed again to Kyrkjebø. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Kyrkjebø (population: 4,742) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Lavik (population: 894) and the unpopulated Nybø and Nygjerdet part of Vik Municipality to become a part of the newly created municipality of Høyanger.

Name
The municipality was originally named after the old Klævold farm (Kleppavǫllr). The first element is uncertain. One possibility is that it comes from the word kleppr which means "hill" or "rock". Another possibility is that it comes from the word which means "steep area on a mountainside". The last element is which means "field", "flat ground", or "meadow". This is likely referring to a steep hill or rock located in the middle of an area of level ground.

In 1890, the municipal name was changed to Kirkebø after the old Kirkebø farm since the Kyrkjebø Church was built there. The first element is which means "church". The last element is identical to the word which means "farmland" or "farm". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Kirkebø (using the Bokmål spelling). On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Kyrkjebø (using the Nynorsk spelling).

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.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Kyrkjebø was made up of 29 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors (ordførar) of Kyrkjebø:


 * 1858-1859: Gullak A. Haaland
 * 1860-1863: Arne G. Afsnes
 * 1864-1865: Knud H. Hovland
 * 1866-1875: Arne G. Afsnes
 * 1876-1887: Lars Ramsli
 * 1888-1891: Edvard Liljedahl
 * 1892-1898: Lars H. Dahle
 * 1899-1904: Andreas B. Vamraak
 * 1905-1913: Gunnar O. Mjølsvik
 * 1914-1925: Anders H. Berge
 * 1826-1931: August Gunnarskog
 * 1932-1940: Knut Opdahl
 * 1940-1945: Johan Arntzen
 * 1945-1945: Anders Sterri
 * 1945-1955: Magnus L. Osland
 * 1956-1963: Albert Hellem

Notable people

 * Ivar Jacobsen Norevik (1900–1956), a politician
 * Odd Vattekar (1918–1992), a politician