Evanger is a former municipality in the

Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...

district of 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 1885 until 1964 when it was dissolved and its lands split between two municipalities. The municipality included the eastern part of the

Eksingedalen Eksingedalen or Eksingadalen is a valley that makes up the northeastern part of Vaksdal Municipality in Vestland County, Norway. The Eksingedalen valley stretches over from the Vikafjell mountains all the way to the Inner Osterfjorden. The Ek ...

valley, the area surrounding the lake Evangervatnet, and the

Bergsdalen Bergsdalen is a river valley in Vaksdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long valley begins at the lake Hamlagrøvatnet on the border of the municipalities of Vaksdal, Voss, and Kvam. The valley then runs to the northwest along t ...

valley.

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 Evanger where Evanger Church is located. Evanger Church served the central part of the municipality. Nesheim Church and

Eksingedal Church Eksingedal Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vaksdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Flatkvål in the Eksingedalen valley. It is the church for the Eksingedal parish which is part of t ...

served the northern part of Evanger and Bergsdalen Church served the southern part of the municipality.

History

The municipality was established on 1 January 1885 when the western district of the large municipality of

(population: 2,045) was separated from Voss to become the new municipality of Evanger. 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 1964, the municipality of Evanger was dissolved. The

and

valleys (population: 251) were merged with parts of the municipalities of Bruvik and

Modalen Modalen is a municipality in the Nordhordland Districts of Norway, district in the central part of Vestland county in Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mo, Hordaland, Mo. The other main village in the municip ...

to create the new Vaksdal Municipality. The rest of Evanger, with 1,075 inhabitants, was merged into the neighboring

Voss Municipality Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, ...

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 '' Evanger'' farm () since the first Evanger Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "to rest and eat" or "to rest and feed". The last element is the plural form of which means "

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 ...

" or "

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

". The name probably means something like "a place where one lets horses graze while on a journey". Historically, the name was spelled ''Ævanger'' until the early 20th century.

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 Evanger 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:

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 Evanger: * 1885–1887: Gulleik Horvei * 1888–1897: Anders Kvilekvaal * 1898–1898: Johannes Horvei ( V) * 1899–1913: Nils B. Mugaas ( V) * 1914–1916: Johannes Horvei ( V) * 1917–1928: Nils B. Mugaas ( V) * 1929–1937: Olav B. Rongen ( V) * 1938–1941: Gustav A. Hantveit ( V) * 1942–1945: Lars B. Horvei ( NS) * 1945–1946: Gustav A. Hantveit ( V) * 1946–1947: Magne Hjørnevik ( Bp) * 1948–1963: Ivar Bjørgo ( Bp)

Notable people

Knute Nelson Knute Nelson (born Knud Evanger; February 2, 1843 – April 28, 1923) was a Norway, Norwegian-born United States, American attorney and politician active in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served in sta ...

(1843–1923), a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

* Bjørn Rongen (1906–1983), a novelist and children's book writer * Viking Mestad, a politician for the Norwegian Liberal Party

References

External links

Evanger parish records
{{use dmy dates, date=June 2023 Vaksdal Voss Former municipalities of Norway 1885 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway