Tveit (municipality)

Tveit is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 107 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality was located in the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Kristiansand along the river Topdalselva. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Tveit where Tveit Church is located.

History
The parish of Tveit 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 1965, the municipalities of Tveit (population: 2,802), Oddernes (population: 18,668), and Randesund (population: 1,672) were merged with the town of Kristiansand (population: 27,100) to form a new, larger municipality of Kristiansand.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Tveit farm (Þveit) since the first Tveit Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "a piece of cleared land cut from a forest". Historically, the spelling of the name has varied including Tved, Thvet, and Tveid.

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 Tveit 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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Tveit (incomplete list):


 * 1854-1855: Christian Jørgensen Drangsholt
 * 1874-1877: Christian Gundersen Ve
 * 1914-1918: Cay Hegermann
 * 1932-1934: Olav Lømsland
 * 1943-1944: Bernhart Ryen
 * 1949-1958: Torgeir Tveit
 * 1959-1962: Hans Ommedal
 * 1963-1964: Ivar Opdahl