# Sæbø Municipality

Sæbø is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The 27-square-kilometre (10 sq mi) municipality existed from 1924 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in what is now Alver Municipality in Vestland county. It occupied the southern part of the island of Radøy, some small areas on the Lindås peninsula, and some small areas on the island of Holsnøy. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Sæbø, where Sæbø Church is located.

## History

The municipality of Sæbø was created on 1 July 1924 when the old municipality of Manger was split into three municipalities: Hordabø, Manger, and Sæbø. Initially, Sæbø had a population of 1,125.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality was dissolved and a merged with the following places to form the new Radøy Municipality.
* most of Sæbø Municipality, except the Titland area on the Lindås peninsula (population: 916)
* all Hordabø Municipality (population: 1,679)
* all Manger Municipality (population: 1,344)
* the island of Bognøy from Herdla Municipality (population: 29)
* the Sletta area on the island of Radøy from Lindås Municipality (population: 305)
* the Straume area on the island of Radøy and the small island of Fesøy from Austrheim Municipality (population: 56)

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sæbø farm (Old Norse: Sæbœr) since the first Sæbø Church was built there. The first element comes from the word sær which means "sea" or "ocean". The last element is bœr which means "farm" or "farmstead". Thus, the name means "farm by the sea".

## 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 Sæbø:
* 1924-1925: Olav Maraas
* 1926-1928: Hans K. Askeland
* 1929-1948: Alfred O. Haukeland
* 1948-1963: Benjamin Storheim

### Municipal council

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