# Herdla Municipality

Herdla is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed a large group of about 2,000 islands and skerries covering about 115-square-kilometre (44 sq mi) of land area, to the northwest of the city of Bergen in what is now parts of Øygarden, Alver, and Askøy municipalities in Vestland county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the small island-village of Herdla. The municipality included the northern third of the island of Holsnøy, the northern third of the island of Askøy, and the islands of Misje, Turøy, Toftøy, Rongøy, Blomøy, Ona, Bognøy, and many smaller surrounding islands.

## History

On 1 January 1871, the western island district of the municipality of Manger was separated to form the new municipality of Herlø (an old spelling that was changed to Herdla in 1917). Initially, the municipality had 2,484 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. In January 1964, the municipality of Herdla was dissolved and its land was split up as follows:
* the islands of Misje and Turøy (population: 404) became part of Fjell Municipality
* the island of Herdla and all of Herdla on the island of Askøy (population: 1,564) became part of Askøy Municipality
* all of Herdla on the island of Holsnøy (population: 811) became part of Meland Municipality
* all of Herdla located west of the Hjeltefjorden (population: 2,131) became part of Øygarden Municipality
* the island of Bognøy (population: 29) became part of Radøy Municipality

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Herlø farm (Old Norse: Herðla) since the first Herdla Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain. One possibility is that it is derived from hǫrðar which is the old name for a person from medieval Hordaland. Another possibility is that it means "to split" or "to divorce", likely referring to the fact that the island on which the farm is located is separated from Askøya by the narrow Herdlesundet strait. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Herlø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Herdla.

## Herdla Church

Herdla Church (Herdla kirke) dates back to 1863. The stone structure has 600 seats. The original church was demolished in the 19th century because it had too little space for the congregation.
During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, the tower and the roofs were removed because of the belief that the British Royal Air Force used the church to navigate attacks on the west coast of Norway. The church was restored during 1910, 1935, and 1950.

## 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 Herdla was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Herdla heradsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 6 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 8 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 25 |
Herdla heradsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 6 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 6 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 25 |
Herdla heradsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 6 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 7 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 7 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 24 |
Herdla heradsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 5 |
| | Conservative Party (Høgre) | 3 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 8 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 24 |
Herdla heradsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 8 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristeleg Folkeparti) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgarlege Felleslister) | 2 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 9 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 24 |
Herdla heradsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Nynorsk) | Party name (in Nynorsk) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet) | 9 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 8 |
| | Joint list of the Conservative Party (Høgre) and the Free-minded People's Party (Frisindede Folkeparti) | 4 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 24 |
| 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. |||