Lavik og Brekke

Lavik og Brekke is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. It is in the present-day municipalities of Gulen and Høyanger in Vestland county. It was part of the traditional district of Sogn. The 427 km2 municipality was located along the Sognefjorden, at the western end of the fjord, just east of the mouth. The municipality existed from 1861 until 1905. The administrative center of Lavik og Brekke was the village of Lavik. There were two churches in the municipality: Lavik Church in Lavik on the north side of the fjord and Brekke Church in Brekke on the south side of the fjord.

History
Lavik og Brekke was established as a municipality in 1861 as a merger between the municipalities of Lavik and Brekke, which were located along the Sognefjorden. Before the merger, Lavik had 926 inhabitants and Brekke had 898, giving the new municipality a population of 1,824. On 1 January 1875, a part of Klævold municipality (to the west) with 90 inhabitants was moved to Lavik og Brekke. On 1 January 1905, the municipality was split, reverting to their previous borders, leaving Lavik and Brekke as separate municipalities once again. Before the split Lavik og Brekke had a population of 2,164. Both Lavik and Brekke were later incorporated into other municipalities, with Lavik joining Høyanger and Brekke joining Gulen.

Name
The municipal name Lavik og Brekke (lit. 'Lavik and Brekke') was created as a compound name by combining the names of the two predecessor municipalities.

The first name comes from the old Lavik farm (Lámvíkum) since the first Lavik Church was built there. The first element has an uncertain meaning. One possibility is that it comes from the word which means "pile" or "stack". The last element likely comes from the word which means "inlet" or "cove". Historically the spelling has varied greatly. It was Laduigh in the 16th century, Laduig in the 17th century, Ladvig in the 18th century, Ladevig in the 19th century, and finally Lavik in the 20th century.

The second name comes from the old Brekke farm (Brekka) since the first Brekke Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "slope". Historically, the spelling of the name was not formalized until the 1800s, so spellings such as Breche, Bræcke, and Brække were also used.

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 (ordførar) of Lavik og Brekke:


 * 1861-1862: Peder Fredrik Hartwig
 * 1863-1873: Lasse Ellingson
 * 1873-1877: Peder Fredrik Hartwig
 * 1878-1883: Matias Ellingsen
 * 1884-1889: Mons H. Oppedal
 * 1890-1901: Lasse J. Wergeland
 * 1902-1904: Berge Instefjord