Øvrebø og Hægeland is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1865 until its dissolution in 1896. The area is now part of Vennesla Municipality in Agder county. The administrative centre was the village of Øvrebø, where Øvrebø Church is located.
General information The municipality of Øvrebø og Hægeland was established on 1 January 1861 when the old Øvrebø Municipality was divided into two separate municipalities: the southeastern district (population: 1,103) became the new Vennesla Municipality and the rest of the old municipality (population: 1,829) became the new Øvrebø og Hægeland Municipality. The new Øvrebø og Hægeland Municipality existed for only 35 years before it was dissolved. On 1 July 1896, it was divided to create two new municipalities: the southern district (population: 888) became the new Øvrebø Municipality and the northern district (population: 843) became the new Hægeland Municipality. (Later, in 1964, both Øvrebø and Hægeland were merged into Vennesla Municipality.)
Name In 1861, the parishes of Øvrebø and Hægeland were put together to form this municipality and it was given the compound name Øvrebø og Hægeland, literally meaning "Øvrebø and Hægeland".
The parish of Øvrebø is named after the old Øvrebø farm () since the first Øvrebø Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "upper". The last element is which means "farm" or "farmstead" (it is cognate with the Dutch language word "boer" which means "farmer"). The name therefore means "the upper farm".
The parish of Hægeland is named after the old Hægeland farm () since the first Hægeland Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "holy", likely since this area was important to ancient Norse pagan worship. The last element is which means "land" or "district".
Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Øvrebø og Hægeland Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Øvrebø prestegjeld and the Torridal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder.
Churches in Øvrebø og Hægeland MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtØvrebøØvrebø ChurchØvrebø1800HægelandHægeland ChurchHægeland1830
Geography The municipality was located in the northern part of the present-day Vennesla Municipality, to the west of the Otra river. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Oksla, located in the northern part of the municipality. Hornnes Municipality (in Nedenes county) was located to the north, Iveland Municipality (also in Nedenes county) was located to the east, Vennesla Municipality and Oddernes Municipality were located to the southeast, Søgne Municipality was located to the south, Øyslebø og Laudal Municipality was located to the southwest, Finsland Municipality was located to the west, and Bjelland og Grindum Municipality was located to the northwest.
Government While it existed, Øvrebø og Hægeland Municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Torridal District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Mayors The mayor () of Øvrebø og Hægeland Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
1861–1861: Alf A. Robstad 1862–1873: Ole A. Egeland 1874–1875: A. Stubstad 1876–1877: Osmund J. Neset 1878–1885: Nils O. Homme 1886–1889: Anders A. Robstad 1890–1891: Kristen Vehus 1892–1895: Anders A. Robstad 1895–1896: Torje Horrisland
See also List of former municipalities of Norway
References