Bakke is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now divided between Sirdal Municipality and Flekkefjord Municipality in the traditional district of Lister in Agder county. The administrative centre was the village of Sira where Bakke Church is located.
Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 304th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Bakke Municipality was the 490th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 29% over the previous 10-year period.
General information The large church parish of Bakke (population: 2,378 in 1835) was split into three civil municipalities on 1 January 1838: Vestre Bakke Municipality (in Stavanger county), Østre Bakke Municipality, and Gyland Municipality (both in Lister og Mandal county). This division occurred because the main church parish of Bakke contained land in both the counties of Stavanger and Lister og Mandal and they had to be divided according to the newly-passed formannskapsdistrikt law. This situation was very rare in Norway - most parishes were only in one county. Due to the very low populations of the three municipalities, this arrangement did not last long. In August 1838, the county border was moved westwards to its current position, and Østre Bakke Municipality and Vestre Bakke Municipality were merged to form Bakke Municipality. Then about a year later, in November 1839, Gyland Municipality was merged (back) into Bakke Municipality.
In 1849, Bakke Municipality was divided: the northern district (population: 1,804) became the new Sirdal Municipality and the southern district (population: 2,597) remained as a smaller Bakke Municipality. On 31 December 1893, Bakke Municipality was divided again. The southeastern district (population: 1,085) was separated to become the new Gyland Municipality and the remaining areas (population: 1,368) continued on as a smaller Bakke Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the Øksendal area (population: 226) was removed from northern Bakke Municipality and merged with the following areas to form a new Sirdal Municipality: all of Tonstad Municipality (population: 651) all of Øvre Sirdal Municipality (population: 549) the Øksendal area of Bakke Municipality (population: 226)
On 1 January 1965, Bakke Municipality was dissolved and the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Flekkefjord Municipality: the town of Flekkefjord (population: 3,163) all of Hidra Municipality (population: 1,277) all of Nes Municipality (population: 2,757) all of Gyland Municipality (population: 691) all of Bakke Municipality (population: 925)
Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bakke farm (), located on the south side of the present-day village of Sira since the first Bakke Church was built there. The name is the plural form of which means "river bank" or "ridge".
Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Bakke Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Bakke prestegjeld and the Flekkefjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder.
Churches in Bakke MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtBakkeBakkeSira1865Haughom ChapelHaughom1930
Geography The municipality included the southern part of the Sirdalen valley along the lake Sirdalsvatnet down to the lake Lundevatnet in the south. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Solhomheia, located near the eastern border with Fjotland Municipality. Sirdal Municipality was located to the north/northeast, Gyland Municipality was located to the southeast, Nes Municipality was located to the south, and Lund Municipality was located to the west (in Rogaland county).
Government While it existed, Bakke 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. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Flekkefjord District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council of Bakke Municipality was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors
The mayor () of Bakke Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Since Bakke was located in two counties when it was established in 1838, the eastern part (Østre Bakke) and the western part (Vestre Bakke) each had their own mayor and municipal council. In the fall of 1838, the county border was moved so that all of Bakke could be one municipality starting in 1839. The following people have held this position:
1838–1838: Torkell Aanensen Birkeland (Mayor of Østre Bakke Municipality) 1838–1838: Ommund Carlsen Fintland (Mayor of Vestre Bakke Municipality) 1839–1841: Per Svensen Nedland 1842–1854: Brynjulv Johnsen Sandsmark 1855–1856: Nils Gabriel Salvesen Ranestad 1857–1860: Per Tjøstelsen Oftedal 1861–1862: Sigbjørn S. Modal 1863–1866: Per Tjøstelsen Oftedal 1867–1868: Henrik Eiriksen Skibelid 1869–1871: Per Tjøstelsen Oftedal 1871–1874: Henrik Eiriksen Skibelid 1875–1876: Tønnes Svensen Hegland 1877–1878: Evert Tollaksen Sporkeland 1879–1892: Tønnes Svensen Hegland 1893–1907: Gabriel Rolfsen Ersdal 1908–1910: Staale Lenne 1911–1922: Gabriel Rolfsen Ersdal 1922–1923: Anton Ersdal 1924–1928: Nils A. Sandsmark 1929–1931: Staale Lenne 1932–1934: Nils A. Sandsmark 1934–1940: Reinert Ersdal 1945–1947: Ole A. Modalsli
See also List of former municipalities of Norway
References