# Øvrebø (municipality)

Øvrebø is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed twice during the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally, from 1838 until 1865, the 398-square-kilometre (154 sq mi) municipality encompassed roughly the same boundaries as the present-day municipality of Vennesla. The second iteration of the municipality was only 109 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and it corresponded to the central part of present-day Vennesla municipality. The municipal centre was the village of Skarpengland. The small village of Øvrebø is located about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Skarpengland, and this is where the Øvrebø Church is located.

## History

The parish of Øvrebø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It existed as a municipality until 1865, when it was dissolved and split into two: the southeastern part of the municipality (population: 1,103) became the new municipality of Vennesla and the remainder of the municipality became Øvrebø og Hægeland (population: 1,829). On 1 July 1896 the municipality of Øvrebø was re-created when the municipality of Øvrebø og Hægeland was divided into two separate municipalities: Øvrebø (population: 888) and Hægeland (population: 843).
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Eikeland area (population: 39) of Øvrebø was transferred to neighboring Songdalen municipality, while the rest of Øvrebø (population: 925) was merged with Hægeland and Vennesla to form a new, larger municipality of Vennesla.

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Øvrebø farm (Old Norse: Øfribœr) since the first Øvrebø Church was built there. The first element comes from the word øfri which means "upper". The last element is bœr which means "farm" or "farmstead" (it is cognate with the Dutch language word "boer" which means "farmer"). The name therefore means "the upper farm".

## Government

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.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Øvrebø was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Øvrebø herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 6 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Øvrebø herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 8 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 13 |
Øvrebø herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 2 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 10 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Øvrebø herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 2 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 10 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Øvrebø herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 3 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 9 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 12 |
Øvrebø herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 2 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 6 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 4 |
| 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. |||

### Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Øvrebø (incomplete list):
* 1838-1839: Aksel Christian Pharo
* 1842-1843: Aksel Christian Pharo
* 1861-1861: Alf A. Robstad
* (1865-1896: Municipality dissolved)
* 1896-1901: Terje Horrisland
* 1902-1907: Lars O. Røyneland
* 1908-1914: O.G. Homme
* 1914-1916: Lars O. Røyneland
* 1917-1940: O.S. Ilebekk
* 1941-1945: Anders Skarpengland
* 1945-1947: O.S. Ilebekk
* 1948-1955: Torjus Eikeland
* 1956-1959: Anders Skarpengland
* 1960-1963: Tellef Lie