# Vossestrand

Vossestrand is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The 527-square-kilometre (203 sq mi) municipality existed from 1868 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Voss. The municipality was centered on the nearby villages of Vinje and Oppheim, where the two churches for the municipality are located: Vinje Church and Oppheim Church. The large lake Oppheimsvatnet sat in the central part of the municipality. The administrative centre was at Vasstrondi, on the south side of the lake Oppheimsvatnet.

## History

The municipality of Vossestrand was created on 1 January 1868 when the old (large) municipality of Voss was divided. The northern part became Vossestrand and the southern part remained as Voss. Initially, Vossestrand had a population of 2,009. On 21 August 1869, an unpopulated area of Voss was administratively transferred to the municipality of Vossestrand. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the entire municipality was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Evanger and Voss, forming the present-day Voss Municipality. There were 1,573 residents at the time of the merger.

### Name

The municipality is named after an old name for the area, Strand (Old Norse: Strǫnd). The name Vossestrand was created in the 1860s when the municipality was established. The first element is named after the traditional district of Voss (Old Norse: Vǫrs). That name is likely derived from the word vǫrr which means "water" (likely the old district name was originally used as the name for the lake Vangsvatnet. The last element is dereived strǫnd which means "beach" or "shore". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Vossestranden. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Vossestrand, removing the definite form ending -en.

## 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 (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Vossestrand:
* 1868–1871: Christian Johannes Hammer
* 1871–1880: Torstein Hellesnes
* 1881–1910: Olav Brekke (MV)
* 1911–1918: Eirik T. Hellesnes (V)
* 1919–1925: Torstein Skjervheim (Bp)
* 1926–1934: Sjur Bygd (Bp)
* 1935–1941: Odd Hole Høen (Bp)
* 1942–1945: Lars Rygg
* 1945–1947: Odd Hole Høen (Bp)
* 1948–1959: Lars A. Hauge (Bp)
* 1960–1963: Per Årmot (Sp)

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Vossestrand was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Vossestrand heradsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 3 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 1 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 11 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 17 |
Vossestrand heradsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 4 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 1 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 12 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 17 |
Vossestrand heradsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 2 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 1 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 11 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Vossestrand heradsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 1 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 9 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidarar, fiskarar, småbrukarar liste) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Vossestrand heradsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 9 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| | List of workers, fishermen, and small farmholders (Arbeidarar, fiskarar, småbrukarar liste) | 2 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Vossestrand heradsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 4 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 9 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
| 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. |||