Hamre (municipality)

Hamre was a former municipality in the old Nordhordland district of Vestland county, Norway. It existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed land on the islands of Osterøy and smaller surrounding islands, northeast of the city of Bergen. The administrative center was the village of Hamre, where the Hamre Church is located.

History:

Hamre was established as a municipality on 1 January 1867 when the large municipality of Hosanger was divided into three separate municipalities: Hosanger (south of the Osterfjorden), Hamre (north and east of the Osterfjorden), and Alversund (west of the Osterfjorden). Initially, Hamre had a population of 1,980.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Hamre was dissolved. The island of Osterøy and all the islands to the north and east of it were merged into the newly enlarged Osterøy Municipality. The small, unpopulated islands north and west of Osterøy were transferred to Lindås Municipality. Prior to the merger Hamre had a population of 2,269.

Geography:

Hamre municipality primarily encompassed the northeastern part of the island of Osterøy, as well as smaller surrounding islands. The terrain is characterized by fjords, mountains, and valleys.

Name:

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hamre farm (Old Norse: Hamarr), since the Hamre Church was located there. The name is identical to the word hamarr which means "rocky hill" or "hammer".