Mosterøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Askje where the Askje Church is located. The 23-square-kilometre (8.9 sq mi) municipality existed from 1884 until 1965. The island municipality included the islands of Mosterøy, Klosterøy, Fjøløy, Sokn, Bru, and the western half of Åmøy. Today, Mosterøy is part of the municipality of Stavanger.[3]

Mosterøy Municipality
Mosterøy herred
Mosterø herred  (historic name)
Mosterøy municipality included the islands on the right half of the picture
Mosterøy municipality included the islands on the right half of the picture
Rogaland within Norway
Rogaland within Norway
Mosterøy within Rogaland
Mosterøy within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°05′07″N 05°38′11″E / 59.08528°N 5.63639°E / 59.08528; 5.63639
CountryNorway
CountyRogaland
DistrictRyfylke
Established1 July 1884
 • Preceded byRennesøy Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1965
 • Succeeded byRennesøy Municipality
Administrative centreAskje
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total23 km2 (9 sq mi)
Population
 (1965)
 • Total817
 • Density36/km2 (92/sq mi)
DemonymMosterøybu[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1143[2]

The Utstein Abbey, the best-preserved medieval monastery in Norway, is located on the island of Klosterøy. It was one of the most notable historic sites in the municipality.[3]

History edit

 
View of the island of Mosterøy
 
View of the historic Utstein Abbey
 
View of Askje, one of the islands in Mosterøy municipality

The municipality of Mosterøy was established on 1 July 1884 when it was split off from the large island municipality of Rennesøy. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 1,309. On 1 January 1923, the westernmost group of outlying islands of Kvitsøy were separated from Mosterøy to form a separate municipality Kvitsøy. The split left Mosterøy with 745 inhabitants. On 1 January 1965, many municipal mergers took place in Norway due to the recommendations of the Schei Committee. On that date, Mosterøy was merged back into the municipality of Rennesøy. Prior to the merger, Mosterøy had a population of 817.[4]

Name edit

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Mosterøy (Old Norse: Mostr or Monstr) since the first Utstein Church was built there. The meaning of the first element of the name is uncertain. One possibility is that it is a shortened version of the Latin word monasterium which means "monastery", since the Utstein Abbey is located on the northwest end of the island. Another possibility is that it comes from the word mǫn which means "mane". A third possibility is that it comes from the word mœnir which means "ridge", likely referring to the 154-metre (505 ft) tall Mastravarden, the highest point on the island. The last element of the name is øy which means "island".[5] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Mosterø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Mosterøy. The letter y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name (ø is the Danish word for "island" and øy is the Norwegian word).[6]

Government edit

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.[7]

Mayors edit

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Mosterøy (incomplete list):

Municipal council edit

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Mosterøy was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mosterøy herredsstyre 1964 [8]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 2
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 2
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 4
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 5
Total number of members:13
Mosterøy herredsstyre 1960–1963 [9]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 3
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 2
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 3
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 5
Total number of members:13
Mosterøy herredsstyre 1956–1959 [10]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 2
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 3
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 3
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 5
Total number of members:13
Mosterøy herredsstyre 1952–1955 [11]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 3
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 2
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 2
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 5
Total number of members:12
Mosterøy herredsstyre 1948–1951 [12]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 2
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 2
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 2
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 6
Total number of members:12
Mosterøy herredsstyre 1945–1947 [13]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 3
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 2
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 2
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 5
Total number of members:12
Mosterøy herredsstyre 1938–1941* [14]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 2
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 4
  Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) 1
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 5
Total number of members:12
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  3. ^ a b Store norske leksikon. "Mosterøy – sogn" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  4. ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  5. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 266–267.
  6. ^ "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1057–1065. 1917.
  7. ^ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 30 July 2020.