Årstad Municipality

The parish of Aarstad (now spelled Årstad) was established as a municipality 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Originally, it sat south of both the city of Bergen and the rural municipality called Bergen Landdistrikt. Aarstad and the city of Bergen worked closely together from the start since both made up one large urban area. In fact, most of Aarstad had been part of the Bergen Police District since 1808 (before the municipality was even established). On 1 July 1915, Årstad Municipality (population: 7,463) was merged with the city of Bergen (population: 76,867) increasing the area of Bergen Municipality from . The merger happened after a long political process, following decades of close cooperation between the two municipalities. The merger also moved the area of Årstad Municipality from Søndre Bergenhus county to Bergen county. Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Aarstad royal estate () since the first Årstad Church was built there. The first element is identical to the old male name . The male name is a compound word that is derived from which means "all" and which means "mighty". This is the same root as the nearby mountain Ulriken. The last element is the plural form of which means "town" or "abode". During its time as a municipality, it was always spelled Aarstad. On 21 December 1917 (after the municipality had been dissolved and merged into Bergen), a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aarstad with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Årstad, using the letter å instead. Since then, when referring to the old municipality, the new spelling is used, but the letter "Å" was never used while the municipality existed. Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Årstad Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Årstad prestegjeld and the Bergen domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. ==Geography==

The municipality of Årstad (spelled Aarstad during its time in existence ) was a southern suburb of the city of Bergen, mostly located in the valley to the south of the bay Store Lungegårdsvannet and the Puddefjorden all the way south to the village of Nattland. The mountain Ulriken lies to the east of Årstad and the mountain Løvstakken lies to the west. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Haukelandsstikkene, on the border with Haus Municipality. Hamre Municipality was located to the north, Haus Municipality was located to the east, Fana Municipality was located to the south, Askøy Municipality was located to the west, and Bergen Municipality was located to the northwest. ==Government==

While it existed, Årstad 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 Gulating Court of Appeal. Mayors The mayor () of Årstad Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position: • 1838–1850: Johannes Christopher Wiese • 1850–1856: Ole Nicolai Løberg • 1856–1860: Samuel B. Meyer • 1860–1862: A. Christie • 1862–1876: Hjalmar Løberg • 1876–1880: Anders Paulsen • 1880–1882: A. Christie • 1882–1887: Carl Berg • 1888–1896: Jacob C. Meyer • 1896–1899: Samuel B. Michelsen • 1899–1902: Statius Arentz • 1902–1906: Halvor Kloster • 1906–1915: Gerdt Meyer Bruun ==See also==