Moster is a former municipality in the old

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1916 until 1963, when it was merged into the new, larger municipality of

Bømlo Bømlo () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the muni ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality was the village of Mosterhamn, where the

Old Moster Church Old Moster Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bømlo Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, and it is one of the oldest churches in all of Norway. It is located in the village of Mosterhamn on the Moster (island), island of ...

is located (the oldest surviving stone church in Norway). The municipality encompassed the southeastern part of the island of Bømlo and the island of Moster as well as many surrounding islets.

History

The municipality of Moster was established on 1 July 1916 when the old municipality of Finnås was split into the three new municipalities: Moster (population: 1,316),

(population: 1,217), and Bremnes (population: 3,411). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1963, the three municipalities of Moster (population: 1,834), Bømlo (population: 1,463), and Bremnes (population: 4,829) were merged into a new, larger Bømlo Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the island of Moster () since the first Moster Church was built there. The meaning of the first element is uncertain. It may come from the word which means "mossy swamp", likely because the island is marshy. It could also come from the word which means "pleased" or "large amount", possibly referring to the fact that the island is very hilly. Another possibility is that it comes from the word which means " mane".

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The

of Moster was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2023 Bømlo Former municipalities of Norway 1916 establishments in Norway 1963 disestablishments in Norway

History

Name

Government

Municipal council

See also

References