Midsund Municipality

Midsund is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1965 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Molde Municipality in the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre was the village of Midsund on Otrøya island. Other settlements on the island included Uglvik and Raknes in the north and Nord-Heggdal in the southeast.

The municipality consisted of many islands. The main islands were Otrøya, Midøya, and Dryna, as well as the smaller populated islands of Magerøya and Tautra—both are less than . There were also many tiny uninhabited islands and skerries. The islands all sit at the mouth of the great Romsdalsfjord.

General information

thumb|left|View of Dryna island, looking northeast

thumb|left|View of the interior of Otrøya island

The municipality of Midsund was established on 1 January 1965 when the old Sør-Aukra Municipality (population: 1,912) was merged with part of Midøya island and the neighboring island of Dryna (population: 334) which were part of the old Vatne Municipality.

On 1 January 2020, Midsund Municipality (population: 2,049) and Nesset Municipality (population: 2,946) were merged into the neighboring Molde Municipality. Together, the new Molde Municipality is significantly larger.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Midsundet (), the strait that flows between the islands of Otrøya and Midøya. The first element is which means "middle" or "centre". The last element is which means "strait" or "sound".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 15 May 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, two triangles argent the lower reversed" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is two triangles one over the other so that they look like a mirror image. The triangles have a tincture of argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if the arms are made out of metal, then silver is used. The two triangles represent the islands of Otrøya and Midøya in the ocean. These two main islands in the municipality are separated by a small strait, the Midsund. The geographical situation is symbolised in the arms. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish () within Midsund Municipality. It was part of the Molde domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

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

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

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

|rowspan="2"|Midsund||Otrøy Church||Uglvik, Otrøya||1878

|Nord-Heggdal Chapel||Nord-Heggdal||1974

Media

The newspaper Øyavis was published in Midsund from 1983 to 2016.

Geography

thumb|left|Midsund village seen from the opposite shore of the small strait that separates the islands Otrøya (far side) and Midøya.

The islands of Midsund Municipality are separated from the mainland by the wide Julsundet strait to the east and the wide Midfjorden to the south. To the north are many smaller islands including Gossa and Orta (in Aukra Municipality) plus Harøya and Sandøya (in Ålesund Municipality). To the west lie the islands of Fjørtofta, Skuløya, and Haramsøya (in Haram Municipality).

The three largest islands of the municipality were located in a line from ENE to WSW (Otrøya, Midøya, and Dryna). The island of Magerøya lies between Midøya and Otrøya and a bridge connects it to the latter. Tautra lies in the Moldefjorden, southeast of Otrøya. Otrøya was the main island of the community, measuring about from east to west. The southern coasts of Otrøya, Midøya, and Dryna rise from the fjord as sheer tall cliffs. At Oppstad, the cliff is feared to collapse, which would cause a small megatsunami in the Moldefjorden. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Opstadhornet. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Midsund Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Midsund Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1965–1969: Knut K. Sjøvik (Sp)
1970–1971: Kåre Straume (Ap)
1972–1983: Kristofer Reiten (Sp)
1984–1989: Harry Edvardsen (H)
1990–1991: Per Håvard Klauset (Sp)
1992–1995: Harry Edvardsen (H)
1995–2003: Ketil Ugelvik (LL)
2003–2011: Helge Orten (H)
2011–2015: Einar Øien (FrP)
2015–2019: Odd Helge Gangstad (Sp)