Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Spind Municipality

Spind is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The 42.6-square-kilometre (16.4 sq mi) municipality existed from 1893 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Farsund Municipality in the traditional district of Lister in Agder county. The administrative centre was the village of Rødland where Spind Church is located.

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Spind Municipality
Spind herred
Former municipality
View of the municipal church
View of the municipal church
Vest-Agder within Norway
Vest-Agder within Norway
Spind within Vest-Agder
Spind within Vest-Agder
Coordinates: 58°05′35″N 06°54′06″E / 58.09306°N 6.90167°E / 58.09306; 6.90167
CountryNorway
CountyVest-Agder
DistrictLister
Established17 Oct 1893
 • Preceded byHerad Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1965
 • Succeeded byFarsund Municipality
Administrative centreRødland
Government
 • Mayor (1950–1964)Theimann Theisen
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total
42.6 km2 (16.4 sq mi)
 • Rank#475 in Norway
Highest elevation
1
212 m (696 ft)
Population
 (1964)
 • Total
622
 • Rank#514 in Norway
 • Density14.6/km2 (38/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Decrease −9.7%
DemonymSpindværing2
Official language
4
 • Norwegian formBokmål3
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-10405
Data from Statistics Norway

Spind is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The 42.6-square-kilometre (16.4 sq mi) municipality existed from 1893 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Farsund Municipality in the traditional district of Lister in Agder county. The administrative centre was the village of Rødland where Spind Church is located.6

Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the 42.6-square-kilometre (16.4 sq mi) municipality was the 475th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Spind Municipality was the 514th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 622. The municipality's population density was 14.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (38/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 9.7% over the previous 10-year period.78

General information

Map of the area in 1964 source ↗
View of the Spind Church source ↗

The municipality of Spind was established on 17 October 1893 when Herad Municipality was divided into two: the southeastern district (population: 1,410) became the new Spind Municipality and the northwestern district (population: 1,019) remained as a smaller Herad Municipality. On 1 July 1916, a small part of the neighboring Austad Municipality (population: 4) was transferred to Spind Municipality.9

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee.1011 On 1 January 1965, Spind Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form an enlarged Farsund Municipality:9

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Spind farm (Old Norse: Spind) since it was an old name for the area. The name is identical with the Old Norse word spind which means "lump" or "knoll", probably because the land has many rolling hills.12

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Spind Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Herad prestegjeld and the Lister prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder.8

Churches in Spind Municipality
Parish (sokn) Church name Location of the church Year built
Spind Spind Church Rødland 1776

Geography

The municipality was located on the Spind peninsula which lies between the Lyngdalsfjorden and the Rosfjord. The highest point in the municipality was the 212-metre (696 ft) tall mountain Husefjellet, located near the border with Austad Municipality.1 Lista Municipality was located to the west, Herad Municipality was located to the northwest, Lyngdal Municipality was located to the north, Austad Municipality was located to the east, and the North Sea was located to the south.

Government

While it existed, Spind 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.13 The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Lyngdal District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Spind 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.

Spind herredsstyre 1963–1964 14  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 13
Total number of members:13
Note: On 1 January 1965, Spind Municipality became part of Farsund Municipality.
Spind herredsstyre 1959–1963 15  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 13
Total number of members:13
Spind herredsstyre 1955–1959 16  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 13
Total number of members:13
Spind herredsstyre 1951–1955 17  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Spind herredsstyre 1947–1951 18  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Spind herredsstyre 1945–1947 19  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Spind herredsstyre 1937–1941* 20  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 12
Total number of members:12
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Spind Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:21

  • 1893–1895: Gabriel Jacobi Jensen Bekkevig
  • 1895–1897: Tønnes Emanuel Tobiassen
  • 1897–1907: Gabriel Jacobi Jensen Bekkevig
  • 1908–1916: Gabriel Salvesen
  • 1917–1922: Hans Jacob Olsen
  • 1923–1939: Anders Risnes
  • 1939–1940: Trygve Nøtland
  • 1941–1942: Anders Risnes
  • 1942–1944: Trygve Nøtland
  • 1944–1945: Olaf Årikstad
  • 1945–1945: Kåre Helle
  • 1945–1945: Jørgen Farbrot
  • 1946–1949: Sakarias Espeland
  • 1950–1964: Theimann Theisen
See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Kart over Norge" (in Norwegian). Kartverket.
  2. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  3. "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1932. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 453–471. 1932.
  4. "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  5. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (9 January 2024). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon.
  6. Thorsnæs, Geir; Lauritzen, Per Roger, eds. (26 November 2024). "Spind". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  7. Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  8. Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 1951). Norges Sivile, Geistlige, Rettslige og Militære Inndeling 1. Januar 1951 (PDF). Norges Offisielle Statistikk (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: H. Aschehoug & Co.
  9. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  10. Grepstad, Jon, ed. (25 March 2025). "Nikolai Schei". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  11. Hansen, Tore; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (27 May 2024). "kommuneinndelingen i Norge". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  12. Rygh, Oluf (1912). Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt (in Norwegian) (9 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 213.
  13. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  14. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  15. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  16. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  17. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  18. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  19. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  20. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  21. "Ordførere i Farsund, Lista, Herad og Spind gjennom tiden". Farsund kommune (in Norwegian). 4 October 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2023.