Lindås

Lindås is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Knarvik, located in the southwestern part of the municipality. Other notable villages in the municipality included Alversund, Isdalstø, Lindås, Ostereidet, and Seim. The Mongstad industrial area in extreme northern Lindås has one of the largest oil refineries and largest seaports in Norway. The oil refinery at Mongstad is by far the largest employer in the municipality.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 475 km2 municipality is the 213th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Lindås is the 75th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 15,731. The municipality's population density is 34.5 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 15.7% over the last decade.

General information
The parish of Lindaas was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 March 1879, the northeastern district of Lindaas was separated to form the new Masfjorden Municipality, leaving 6,374 inhabitants in Lindaas. On 1 January 1910, the northwestern island district of Lindaas was separated to form the new Austrheim Municipality. This left Lindaas with 4,433 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the following places were merged into one large municipality of Lindås: Also on this date, there were two other changes. The Sletta area (population: 305) on the island of Radøy was switched from Lindås to the new Radøy Municipality. The other change was the Einestrand, Eikebotn, and Kikallen areas (population: 25) was transferred from Lindås to Masfjorden Municipality.
 * The Nipo, Dyrkelbotn, and Eitrdalen farms (population: 12) in extreme western Modalen Municipality
 * All of Hosanger Municipality located north of the Osterfjorden (population: 791)
 * All of Hamre Municipality located north of the Osterfjorden (population: 1,240)
 * The whole Alversund Municipality (population: 2,099)
 * The Titland area (population: 40) from Sæbø Municipality, northwest of the village of Seim
 * All of the old municipality of Lindås (population: 3,651)

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Meland, Radøy, and Lindås were merged the large new municipality of Alver.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Lindås farm (Lindiáss) since the first Lindås Church was built there. The first element is which means "linden (Tilia) wood" or "place overgrown with linden". The last element is which means "mountain ridge" or "rocky ridge". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Lindaas with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Lindås, using the letter Å instead.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 4 May 1979 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The blazon is "Gules, a linden tree eradicated argent" (På raud grunn eit kvitt lindetre). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a leaf-covered linden tree (Tilia × europaea) with its bare roots showing. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design is a canting arms since the name of the municipality refers to a linden tree. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway had eight parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Lindås. It is part of the Nordhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

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. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Bergen District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Lindås was made up of 31 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors (ordførar) of Lindås (incomplete list):
 * 2003–2007: Tove Linnea Brandvik (Ap)
 * 2007–2019: Astrid Aarhus Byrknes (KrF)

History
Ancient settlements of Vikings are found in several places. At Lindås there are stories of monks coming from England and living with the Viking population.

Håkonshaugen (from Old Norse haugr meaning mound) at the village of Seim is the burial mound of King Haakon the Good, the third king of Norway. King Haakon was mortally wounded in 961 at the Battle of Fitjar at nearby Stord. Håkonshaugen is the millennium site in the municipality of Lindås.

The historical play Håkonarspelet ("King with the golden helmet") is performed here every year. The play is one of several plays written by author Johannes Heggland. The play was written in five parts between 1995 and 1996. It centers on events in the life of King Haakon the Good and the king's only daughter, Thora.

Geography
Lindås municipality was located mostly on the mainland of the Nordhordland region, just north of the city of Bergen. The municipality was north of the Osterfjorden and Romarheimsfjorden. The Lindås peninsula heads north from there. The peninsula juts out west of the Austfjorden, south of the Fensfjorden, and east of the Radfjorden. The municipality included the very southernmost tip of the neighboring island of Radøy as well as the island of Luro. The Lurefjorden cuts into the middle of the peninsula. On the east side of the municipality was a mountainous area that was sparsely populated.

The municipality was surrounded by water on three sides, and the fourth side is mountainous, so there were few road connections to Lindås. On the east side, the municipality was accessible by the Eikefet Tunnel, part of the European route E39 highway. On the southwest side, the Hagelsund Bridge crossed the fjord to connect to the municipalities of Bergen and Meland to the southwest. The Alversund Bridge on the west side connected Lindås to the island municipality of Radøy. The municipality of Austrheim was to the north, and it included a small part of the mainland Lindås peninsula, so there was road access there too.

Lindås Church
Lindås Church (Lindås kirke) was consecrated 20 September 1865. The church was built just west of where the old stone church stood. The architect was Ole Syslak who was responsible for the construction of several other churches in western Norway. The church received its first church organ in 1906, which was replaced in 1978 with an organ built by Josef Hilmar Jørgensen. The church has two church bells. The oldest clock was made by Laxevaag Værk in Bergen in 1865, while the other was made by O. Olsen & Son in Tønsberg in 1955.

The first time a church in Lindås mentioned was in 1315. This was a stone altar, which stood under the open sky. Walls were erected later, so that the priest was standing under a roof, while the audience stood on the ground outside and listened. Later walls were raised so that the church was under roof. This church was extended in 1600 and repaired in the 1700s.

Heathland Centre at Lygra
Heathland Centre at Lygra (Lyngheisenteret på Lygra) is a cultural museum consisting of a conserved heather moorland. It is also an information centre for the coastal heathlands. The center was established in the 1970s. An information center with a restaurant, auditorium, and permanent exhibition was opened in 2000. Heathland was founded by the University of Bergen, Vestland county, Lindås Municipality, the Regional Council in Nordhordland and Gulen. It is administrated by the Museum Centre in Hordaland.