Landvik is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The 190.7-square-kilometre (73.6 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1971. The municipality's area is now located in the western and central part of the present-day municipality of Grimstad. The administrative centre was the village of Roresanden, just up the hill from the Landvik Church. Other villages in Landvik include Molland, Reddal, Skiftenes, Tjore, and Østerhus. Today, the name Landvik is still used to designate the westernmost part of the municipality of Grimstad, near the Prestegårdskogen housing development.[1][2]

Landvik kommune Hommedal herred
Former municipality
View of the local church
Aust-Agder within Norway
Landvik within Aust-Agder
Coordinates: 58°20′24″N 08°31′13″E
Country	Norway
County	Aust-Agder
District	Østre Agder
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1971
• Succeeded by	Grimstad Municipality
Administrative centre	Roresanden
Area  (upon dissolution)[1]
• Total	190.7 km2 (73.6 sq mi)
Population  (1971)
• Total	2,781
• Density	15/km2 (38/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0924
Data from Statistics Norway

History

The parish of Hommedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1865, the municipality was renamed Landvig. Originally, the municipal council met at the Torp farm in Reddal. Starting in the 1840s, the council met at the Landvik farm near the church. In 1876, the council began meeting at the Vikmarken school, just south of Roresanden. On 1 January 1883, the uninhabited Tolleholmen part of neighboring Birkenes municipality was transferred to Landvik. In 1956, the municipal council began meeting at the Landvik herredshus in Roresanden.[2][3]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the uninhabited area of Salvestjønn in neighboring Øyestad municipality and most of the municipality of Eide (504 inhabitants) were merged into the municipality of Landvik. After the merger, Landvik had a total of 2,433 residents.

Then on 1 January 1971, the neighboring municipalities of Landvik and Fjære were merged with the town of Grimstad to create a new, larger municipality of Grimstad. Prior to the merger, Landvik had a population of 2,781.[4]

Name

The municipality (and parish) is named after the old Landvig farm since that is where the local church was located. The first element of the name means "land" (Old Norse: Land) and the last element (Old Norse: Vík) is identical with the modern Norwegian word vik which means "inlet". The farm is located on a bay on the northeast side of the Landvikvannet lake.[5] From 1838 until 1865, the municipality was named Hommedal. In 1865, it was changed to Landvig, and in the 20th century the spelling was adjusted to Landvik.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Landvik, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.[6]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Landvik was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Maps

• 
  Map of Landvik prior to 1962 (also showing Eide and Fjære municipalities and the town of Grimstad)
• 
  Map of the area of Birkenes that was transferred to Landvik in 1883
• 
  Map of the Salveskjenn area of Øyestad that was transferred to Landvik in 1962

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

External links

• Aust-Agder travel guide from Wikivoyage