Årstad 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 in

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 1838 until 1915 when it was merged into 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 ...

. The municipality of Årstad (historically spelled ''Aarstad'') was a southern suburb of the city of Bergen, mostly located in the valley to the south of the bay

Store Lungegårdsvannet Store Lungegårdsvannet is a bay located in the city and municipality of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The bay separates the city centre, located in the borough of Bergenhus, from the southern boroughs of the city, Årstad, Fana and Ytreby ...

and the

Puddefjorden Puddefjorden, often anglicized as Pudde Fjord,Koop, Gerhard, Klaus-Peter Schmolke. 2014. ''German Light Cruisers of World War II: Warships of the Kriegsmarine''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth, p. 83. is an inlet or fjord in the central part of the city ...

all the way south to the village of Nattland. 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 Årstad was the village of Kronstad. The mountain

Ulriken Ulriken (or the older, ''Ålreken'') is the highest of the Seven Mountains () that surround the city of Bergen, Norway. It has a height of above sea level. Ulriken has an aerial tramway, Ulriksbanen, that can bring people to the top. At the t ...

lies to the east of Årstad and the mountain Løvstakken lies to the west. The municipality is named after the medieval farm

Alrekstad Alrekstad ( Norwegian: ''Kongsgården på Alrekstad'', Old Norse: ''Álreksstaðir'') was one of the largest Kongsgård estates on the west coast of Norway during the early Middle Ages. History Alrekstad was situated at the foot of Ulriken, the ...

, located on this site. The area of the old municipality somewhat corresponds to the present-day borough of Årstad in the city of Bergen.

History

The parish of ''Aarstad'' was established as a municipality 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). Originally, it sat south of both the city of

and the Bergen Landdistrikt. Årstad and the city of Bergen worked closely together from the start since both made up one large urban area. In fact, most of Årstad had been part of the Bergen Police District since 1808. On 1 July 1915, Årstad municipality (population: 7,463) was merged into the city of Bergen increasing the area of Bergen municipality from . The merger happened after a long political process, following decades of close cooperation between the two municipalities. The merger also moved Årstad from

Søndre Bergenhus Hordaland () was a Counties of Norway, 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 Hordala ...

county to

county.

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 old ''Aarstad'' royal estate () since the first

Årstad Church Årstad Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bergen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Årstad neighborhood in the city of Bergen. It is the church for the Årstad parish which is part of the Bergens ...

was built there. The first element is identical to the old male name . The male name is a compound word that is derived from which means "all" and which means "mighty". This is the same root as the nearby mountain

. The last element is the plural form of which means "town" or "

abode In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence, abode or domicile) is a self-contained unit of accommodation – such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, recreational vehicle, or other "substantial" structure – used as a home by on ...

". During its time as a municipality, it was always spelled ''Aarstad''. On 21 December 1917 (after the municipality had been dissolved and merged into Bergen), a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled ''Aarstad'' with the

digraph Digraph, often misspelled as diagraph, may refer to: * Digraph (orthography), a pair of characters used together to represent a single sound, such as "nq" in Hmong RPA * Ligature (writing), the joining of two letters as a single glyph, such as " ...

" aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled ''Årstad'', using the letter å instead. Since then, when referring to the old municipality, the new spelling is used, but the letter "Å" was never used while the municipality existed.

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.

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 Årstad: * 1837–1850: C. Wiese * 1850–1856: Ole Nicolai Løberg * 1856–1860: Samuel B. Meyer * 1860–1862: A. Christie * 1862–1876: Hjalmar Løberg * 1876–1880: Anders Paulsen * 1880–1882: A. Christie * 1882–1887: Carl Berg * 1888–1896: J.C. Meyer * 1896–1899: Samuel B. Michelsen * 1899–1902: Statius Arentz * 1902–1906: Halvor Kloster * 1906–1915: Gerdt Meyer Bruun

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarstad (municipality) Geography of Bergen Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1915 disestablishments in Norway

History

Name

Government

Mayors

See also

References