Kvam Municipality

Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settlements in the municipality include Øystese, Strandebarm, Ålvik, Tørvikbygd, Omastranda, Vikedal, Vikøy, and Mundheim. Historically, it was named Vikør Municipality.

The municipality is the 187th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Kvam Municipality is the 129th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of . The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

thumb|left|View of the village of Norheimsund

thumb|left|View of [[Vikøy Church]]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) was first named Vikør after the old Vikøy farm () since the first Vikøy Church was built there. The first element is which means "small bay", "cove", or "inlet". The last element is the genitive case of which means "island". This is likely referring to the small island in the little cove just east of the farm.

On 1 December 1911, a royal resolution changed the name of the municipality to Kvam, bringing back an old name for the area (). The name is identical to the word which means "small valley" or "grassy hollow", possibly referring the Steinsdalen valley west of Norheimsund.

Kvam Municipality () is one of only three municipalities in Norway that uses the word instead of in its name. Both Norwegian words can be translated to be "municipality", but herad is an older word that historically was only used for rural municipalities. Municipalities can choose to use one or the other, but most use the more modern kommune. From 1838 until the mid-20th century, most municipalities used herad or herred (using the Nynorsk or Bokmål spelling) for their name, but after some legal changes in the law on municipalities in the 1950s and onwards, most municipalities switched to kommune. The only other municipalities to use herad in 2026 are Voss Municipality and Ulvik Municipality. There are also a few municipalities with herad in the name such as Kvinnherad Municipality.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 27 November 1981. The official blazon is "Azure, a pale pattee argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the ordinary is a pale that curves inwards on each side. The ordinary has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms were designed to look like the Fyksesund, a narrow fjord in the municipality. The shape of the fjord is that it is narrower in the middle and this is symbolized in the design. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes () within Kvam Municipality. It is part of the Hardanger og Voss prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Kvam Municipality

!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built

|Strandebarm||Strandebarm Church||Strandebarm||1876

|rowspan="2"|Vikøy||Norheimsund Church||Norheimsund||1992

|Vikøy Church||Vikøy||1838

|Øystese||Øystese Church||Øystese||1868

|Ålvik||Ålvik Church||Ålvik||1962

History

The old parish of Vikør was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census, the parish had a population of 2,321. On 1 January 1882, a small area of Ullensvang Municipality (population: 22) was transferred to Vikør Municipality. In 1912, the municipality changed its name from "Vikør" to "Kvam".

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Åsgrenda area on the Folgefonna peninsula (population: 61) was moved from Kvam Municipality to the neighboring Ullensvang Municipality. On the same date, Kvam Municipality also gained a considerable amount of territory, making it a much larger municipality. The following places were merged to create a new, larger Kvam Municipality a population of 9,119: and Norwegian Historical Data Centre

|1845|2444

|1855|2619

|1865|2853

|1875|2988

|1891|3205

|1900|3539

|1910|3613

|1920|3993

|1930|4288

|1946|5232

|1951|5530

|1960|6525

|1970|9017

|1980|8733

|1990|8773

|2000|8592

|2010|8360

|2020|8457

|2023|8531

Government

Kvam Municipality is 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 is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Kvam Municipality is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Kvam Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. In 2007, Kvam Municipality participated in a trial where the mayor was directly elected. The sitting mayor, Astrid Selsvold, won the election with 26.7% of the votes. The following people have held this position:

1838–1839: Fredrich Christian Bruun
1840–1843: Torgeir P. Aarhus
1844–1857: Gjermund N. Skaar
1858–1859: Ola S. Aksnes
1860–1865: Johannes S. Neteland
1866–1885: Nils N. Skaar, Sr.
1886–1887: Lars Lofthus
1888–1919: Nils N. Skaar, Jr.
1919–1922: Hans Jakobson Vik
1923–1931: Jakob N. Vik
1932–1937: Jakob H. Vik
1938–1940: Lars Matre
1940–1945: Jakob H. Vik (NS)
1945–1945: Lars Matre
1946–1960: Olav L. Skeie
1960–1975: Olav M. Laupsa (KrF)
1976–1983: Guttorm Skeie (Sp)
1984–1987: Johannes Waage (KrF)
1988–1989: Sigvard Berge (Ap)
1990–1991: Guttorm Skeie (Sp)
1992–1993: Sigvard Berge (Ap)
1994–2003: Martin Vik (Sp)
2003–2011: Astrid Farestveit Selsvold (Ap)
2011–2015: Asbjørn Tolo (H)
2015–2019: Jostein Ljones (Sp)
2019–present: Torgeir Næss (Ap)

Notable people

150px|thumb|Johannes Nilssøn Skaar

150px|thumb|Geirr Tveitt)

Johannes Skaar (1828 in Øystese – 1904), the Bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros
Jon Flatabø (1846 in Kvam – 1930), a writer of popular literature
Nils Nilsson Skaar (1852 in Kvam – 1948), a teacher, farmer, editor, and politician
Ingebrigt Vik (1867 in Øystese – 1927), a distinguished sculptor
Jakob Nilsson Vik (1882 in Kvam – 1960), a farmer, dairy manager, and politician
Svein Rosseland (1894 in Kvam – 1985), an astrophysicist who pioneered theoretical astrophysics
Geirr Tveitt (1908–1981), a composer and pianist who has family in Kvam
Gunnar Aksnes (1926 in Kvam — 2010), a chemist and poet
Magnus Midtbø (1942 in Ålvik – 2010), a trade unionist and politician
Kaj Skagen (born 1949 in Strandebarm), a writer
Nils Gunnar Lie (born 1950 in Øystese) a television personality
Torill Selsvold Nyborg (born 1952 in Kvam) a nurse, missionary, and politician
Valgerd Svarstad Haugland (born 1956 in Kvam), a teacher, politician, and civil servant
Geir Botnen (born 1959 in Kvam), a pianist
Gisle Torvik (born 1975 in Tørvikbygd), a jazz musician who plays guitar
Torstein Lofthus (born 1977 in Øystese), a drummer and composer
Frank Kjosås (born 1981 in Øystese), an actor of theatre and film