# Hjelme

Hjelme is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The 19-square-kilometre (7.3 sq mi) municipality was located within the northern part of the present-day municipality of Øygarden. It existed from 1910 until 1964. The administrative centre was located at Hjelme, where the Old Hjelme Church was located. The municipality included the main islands of Alvøyna, Seløyna, Lyngøyna, and Hernar as well as many smaller surrounding islands. The Fedjeosen strait was the northern boundary, the Hjeltefjorden was the eastern boundary, the small Nordra Straumøysundet strait was the southern boundary, and the North Sea was to the west.

## History

On 1 January 1910, the western district of the municipality of Manger (population: 986) was separated to form its own municipality called Hjelmen. On 5 November 1912 the name was changed from Hjelmen to Hjelme by royal resolution. 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 Hjelme (population: 956) was merged with the majority of the neighboring municipality of Herdla to form the new municipality named "Øygarden".

### Name

The municipality is named after the old Hjelme farm (Old Norse: Hjalma). The name was likely the old name for the island of Hjelme. The name is the plural form of hjalmr which means "helmet", likely referring to a helmet-shaped mountain on the island near the farm. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hjelmen. On 5 November 1912, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hjelme.

## Churches

* The Old Hjelme Church in 1875
* The Old Hjelme Church in the present day
* The "new" Hjelme Church

## 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 Hjelme was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Hjelme heradsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 13 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Hjelme heradsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 11 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Hjelme heradsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 10 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Hjelme heradsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidarar, fiskarar, småbrukarar liste) | 7 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Hjelme heradsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) | 6 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Hjelme heradsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 4 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidarar, fiskarar, småbrukarar liste) | 1 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 7 |
| Total number of members: | 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. |||