Tysnes () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Sunnhordland Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Harda ...

. 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 ...

is the village of

Uggdal Uggdal is the administrative centre of Tysnes municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the west side of the island of Tysnesøya. The village is located in the northern part of the Uggdalsdalen valley, just about from ...

. Other population centres in Tysnes include the villages of Våge and

Onarheim Onarheim is a village in Tysnes municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the southeastern shores of the island of Tysnesøya, along the Hardangerfjorden The Hardangerfjord () is the fifth longest fjord in the world, ...

. The island municipality is located in a group of islands near the mouth of the

Hardangerfjorden The Hardangerfjord () is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the List of Norwegian fjords, second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mou ...

. The majority of the municipal population lives on the island of Tysnesøya, the largest island in the municipality. The municipality is the 283rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tysnes is the 232nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,910. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has increased by 6.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The historic

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 ...

of ''Tysnæs'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). On 1 January 1907, the small portion of Tysnes located on the mainland (population: 67) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of

Kvinnherad Kvinnherad is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland, along the Hardangerfjorden. The municipality was the 5th in siz ...

. The municipal borders have not changed since that time.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old ''Tysnes'' farm () since the first

Tysnes Church Tysnes Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tysnes Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Våge on the northern shore of the island of Tysnesøya. It is the church for the Tysnes parish which ...

was built there. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the name of the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

god

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the . In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off ...

. The last element is which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

". This is probably the only place in

named after the god Týr. Several place names around the farm also have sacred meanings: ''Ve'' (holy place), ''Helgastein'' (holy rock), ''Godøy'' (the god's island), and ''Vevatnet'' (the

holy lake Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric. Th ...

). The old name of the big island of Tysnesøy was ''Njarðarlǫg'' (the district of the god Njord). Recently, a sun phenomenon connected to the original Tysnes headland has been discovered, and this seems to be the starting-point of the sacral name complex.

Coat of arms

The first

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

for Tysnes was adopted on 28 October 1971 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when a new coat of arms replaced it. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Azure Azure may refer to: Color * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 * ...

, under a chevron two crossed axes

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is two crossed

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

s under a chevron. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms were derived from the seal of the medieval

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

(''Olavsgildet''). Onarheim is a village on the island of Tysnesøya which was historically a

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

center of power in the

region. The chevron above the axes was added to the municipal arms to distinguish it from the medieval arms and the arms for 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. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms. The old coat of arms was never formally adopted because it was too similar to the coat of arms for

county and the government refused to approve it. After

county became part of the new

county, the Hordaland arms were no longer used. Additionally, a law was also changed, giving the municipal councils the ultimate authority to determine their own coats of arms, so Tysnes decided to review their arms. The council debated approving the old arms or choosing to adopt the arms of the old Hordaland county (with different colors). In 2020, the council adopted a new coat of arms based on the old Hordaland arms. The official

is ''"

, under a royal crown two crossed axes

"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

(background) and the

is a two crossed

s under a three pointed crown. The charge has a

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen because it more closely resembled the old Onarheim arms than the previous design. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has three parishes () within the municipality of Tysnes. It is part of the Sunnhordland prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

Government

Tysnes Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is 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 ...

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. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Haugaland og Sunnhordland District Court and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Vestland and Rogaland plus Sirdal Municipality in Agder county ...

Municipal council

The

() of Tysnes is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

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 ...

Mayors

The

mayors 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 ...

() of Tysnes: * 1838–1841: Georg Døderlein Greve * 1842–1845: Hans Olsen Bakke * 1846–1849: Rudolph Grip Normann * 1850–1853: Johan Frederik Voss * 1854–1861: Herman Olai Hermandsen * 1862–1863: Bård J. Nordbustad * 1864–1873: Carl Marius Mohr * 1874–1881: Herman Olai Hermandsen * 1882–1885: Halvor Gjestland * 1886–1889: Ole H. Mevatne * 1890–1898: Amund J. Utne * 1899–1918: Lars B. Sunde * 1918–1934: Aksel Gjersvik * 1935–1942: Jens Flornes * 1942–1944: Erling Jonsgard ( NS) * 1944–1945: Reidar Johannessen ( NS) * 1945–1945: Jens Flornes * 1947–1947: Johannes M. Lunde * 1948–1955: Torbjørn Onarheim * 1956–1959:

Johannes Heggland Johannes Heggland (29 June 1919 – 24 January 2008) was a Norwegian novelist, short story and children's literature writer, playwright, and elected official with the Centre Party. He is most commonly associated with two of his historic p ...

* 1960–1967: Martinus A. Færevaag * 1968–1971:

* 1972–1979: Leif Andersland * 1979–1983: Tor Ottersen ( H) * 1983–1995: Helge Hauge ( Sp) * 1995–2003: Lorentz Lunde ( Sp) * 2003–2011: Helge Hauge ( Sp) * 2011–2015: Kjetil Hestad ( Sp) * 2015–2023: Kåre Martin Kleppe ( H) * 2023-present: Synnøve Bakke ( Ap)

Geography

The municipality consists of a group of

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s, located south of the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

where the

and the coastal

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

meet. The

Bjørnafjorden Bjørnafjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It runs through the municipalities of Austevoll, Bjørnafjorden, and Tysnes. The large island of Tysnesøya (and many small, surrounding islands such as Reksteren) lie along the south side ...

lies north of the municipality and the

Langenuen Langenuen is a strait in Vestland county, Norway. The strait runs between the islands of Stord and Huftarøy on the west, and Tysnesøy and Reksteren on the east. The strait ranges from wide, and it forms the municipal boundaries between the ...

strait runs along the western side of the municipality. The largest of these islands, named Tysnesøya, can be reached from the mainland either by

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

to the village of Våge on the north side of the island or by the

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

constructed on the eastern side of the island. The second largest island is

Reksteren Reksteren is an island in the municipality of Tysnes in Vestland county, Norway. The island covers an area of . Its highest point is the tall Bjørnkletten. The island lies northwest of the larger island of Tysnesøy. The small Bårdsundet ...

, which is connected to Tysnesøya by a small road bridge.

Population

Notable people

* Anders Mowatt of Hugoland (ca. 1530 – ca. 1610 in Tysnes), a Scottish merchant, navy admiral, and landowner *

Axel Mowat Axel Mowat (1592 – 27 January 1661) was a Norwegian naval officer and land owner. Mowat was born in Sunnhordland, probably on the Hovland farm at Tysnes which his father had acquired ca. 1590. Mowat was the son of Anders Mowatt of Hugola ...

(1592 in Tysnes – 1661), a Norwegian naval officer and land owner becoming

Barony Rosendal Barony Rosendal (Norwegian: ''Baroniet Rosendal'') is a historic estate and manor house situated in Kvinnherad in Hordaland county, Norway. The barony was built in the 17th century by Danish noblemen on the old estate of the Norwegian noble Galt ...

* Karen Mowat (ca. 1630 in Tysnes – 1675), a Norwegian noblewoman, heiress, and landowner of Scottish origins * Claus Pavels Riis (1826–1886), a Norwegian author who settled in Tysnes as a landowner and gardener * Olav Gurvin (1893 in Tysnes – 1974), a Norwegian

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

and academic *

(1919 in Tysnes – 2008), a novelist, short story and children's literature writer, playwright, and politician * Magnus Aarbakke (born 1934 in Tysnes), a Norwegian judge and

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice from 1994 to 2002

Media

The newspaper ''

Tysnes Tysnes () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Uggdal. Other popul ...

'' has been published in Tysnes since 1953.

Gallery

File:Insel Tysnes, Norwegen..2H1A8385WI.jpg, Island of Tysnes File:Mittsommerfest in Norwegen, Insel Tysnes IMG 4425WI.jpg, Midsummer festival, Island of Tysnes File:Nationaltracht. Insel Tysnes, Norwegen 2H1A8177WI.jpg, National dress on the island of Tysnes File:Fähre in Norwegen, Tysnes, Vage IMG 4572WI.jpg, Ferry in Tysnes

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

Tysnes municipality home page

''Tysnes'' newspaper

''Tysnesingen'' online newspaper

Video about the sun phenomenon connected to the Tysnes headland, pre-Christian cult and the sacral place names in the area
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Vestland 1838 establishments in Norway