Øvrebø is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed twice during the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally, from 1838 until 1861, the municipality encompassed roughly the same boundaries as the present-day Vennesla Municipality. The second iteration of the municipality was only and it corresponded to the central part of present-day Vennesla Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Skarpengland. The small village of Øvrebø is located about west of Skarpengland, and this is where the Øvrebø Church is located.
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 501st largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Øvrebø Municipality was the 618th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 5.3% over the previous 10-year period.
General information The large parish of Øvrebø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It existed as a municipality until 1 January 1861, when it was dissolved and split 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 municipality of Øvrebø was re-established on 1 July 1896 when the old Øvrebø og Hægeland Municipality 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.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Eikeland area (population: 39) of Øvrebø Municipality was transferred to the newly-created Songdalen Municipality to the southwest. On the same date, Øvrebø Municipality was dissolved and its remaining land was merged with the following areas to form a larger Vennesla Municipality: most of Øvrebø Municipality (population: 925), except for the Eikeland area all of Hægeland Municipality (population: 849) all of Vennesla Municipality (population: 7,321)
Name The municipality (originally the parish) 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".
Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Øvrebø Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Vennesla prestegjeld and the Otredal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder.
Churches in Øvrebø MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtØvrebøØvrebø ChurchØvrebø1800
Geography Øvrebø Municipality was located in the Otra river valley, a little west of the river. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Rystheia. Hægeland Municipality was located to the north, Vennesla Municipality was located to the east, Oddernes Municipality was located to the southeast, Greipstad Municipality was located to the south, Øyslebø Municipality was located to the southwest, and Finsland Municipality was located to the west.
Government While it existed, Øvrebø Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The 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 Setesdal District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council of Øvrebø Municipality was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors The mayor () of Øvrebø Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
1838–1839: Rev. Aksel Christian Pharo 1840–1841: H.P. Smith 1842–1843: Rev. Aksel Christian Pharo 1844–1845: Alf Robstad 1846–1849: H.P. Smith 1850–1851: Ole A. Egeland 1852–1855: H.P. Smith 1856–1856: J. Boysen 1857–1857: Ole A. Egeland 1858–1860: Alf A. Robstad (1861–1896: Municipality dissolved) 1896–1901: Terje Horrisland 1902–1907: Lars O. Røyneland 1908–1914: O.G. Homme 1914–1916: Lars O. Røyneland 1917–1940: O.S. Ilebekk 1941–1945: Anders Skarpengland 1945–1947: O.S. Ilebekk 1948–1955: Torjus Eikeland 1956–1959: Anders Skarpengland 1960–1963: Tellef Lie
See also List of former municipalities of Norway
References