Bremnes is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1916 until 1963, when it was merged into the new municipality of Bømlo which is now part of Vestland county. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Svortland, where Bremnes Church is located. The 125 km2 municipality covered the northern and western half of the island of Bømlo as well as the many small, surrounding islets.

History

The municipality of Bremnes was established on 1 July 1916 when the old municipality of Finnås was split into the three new municipalities: Moster (population: 1,316), Bømlo (population: 1,217), and Bremnes (population: 3,411). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the three municipalities of Moster (population: 1,834), Bømlo (population: 1,463), and Bremnes (population: 4,829) were merged into a new, larger Bømlo Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named Bremnes. The first element is which means "surf" or "the surface of the sea". It is a name that is common in Western Norway, referring to places that are highly exposed to the sea. The last element is which means "headland".

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Bremnes was made up of 23 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: