Sund is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in the traditional district of Midhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Skogsvåg. Other larger villages in Sund included Klokkarvik, Tælavåg, Kausland, and Hammarsland. Sund covered the southern third of the island of Store Sotra, west of the city of Bergen. It also included many smaller, surrounding islands. Sund was a predominantly rural municipality, with no major settlements, the largest being Hammarsland with approximately 900 inhabitants (in 2013). Due to the proximity to the city of Bergen, a large proportion of the population commuted to the city to work. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 100 km2 municipality is the 381st largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Sund is the 149th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,058. The municipality's population density is 74.5 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 24.5% over the last decade.

General information

The parish of Sund was established as a formannskapsdistrikt (municipality) on 1 January 1838. It originally included many islands to the southwest of the Bergen Peninsula. On 1 January 1886, the southern archipelago in Sund (population: 2,396) was separated to form the new Austevoll Municipality. This left Sund with 2,112 residents. On 1 January 2020, the three neighboring municipalities of Fjell, Sund, and Øygarden were merged into one large island municipality called Øygarden.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sund farm since the first Sund Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "strait", "sound", or "channel".

Coat of arms

The original coat of arms was granted on 26 April 1966 and they were in use until the new arms were approved on 23 March 1988. The blazon is "Azure, two piles in the point argent issuing from each side of the chief and a lighthouse on an island sable over three bars wavy argent". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a black lighthouse on an island over three wavy lines. There are also two triangle-shapes emitting from the lighthouse. The triangles and wavy lines have a tincture of argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if the arms are made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms were designed to look like a lighthouse on an island in the ocean, emitting light to guide travelers. A new coat of arms was granted on 23 March 1988 and they were in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved (its successor, Øygarden Municipality, adopted these arms starting on that same day). The official blazon is "Argent, a lighthouse couped azure". The arms were designed to replace the old "unofficial" arms (since they did not meet the legal requirements for arms). They were designed to be similar to the old arms while meeting the state requirements. The arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is the top of a lighthouse. This design was chosen to symbolize the importance of the sea and the alertness of the local population. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sund. It is part of the Vesthordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Transport

The Sotra Bridge, opened in 1971, drastically improved travel to and from Sund and it spurred rapid population growth after ages of stagnancy. Due to the rapidly increasing traffic across the bridge and on the highways of Sotra, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration developed plans in the 2000s for a new bridge and highway between Bergen and Sotra. The plans include a new dual carriageway bridge to replace the Sotra Bridge, and new highways that lead northwards to Øygarden and southwards to Sund.

History

On 26 April 1942, after having discovered that two men from the Linge company were being hidden in Telavåg, the Gestapo arrived to arrest the Norwegian officers. Shots were exchanged, and two prominent German Gestapo officers, Johannes Behrens and Henry Bertram, and the Norwegian Arne Værum, were shot dead. Reichskommissar Josef Terboven ordered the Gestapo to retaliate, burning all buildings in the village, executing or sending the men to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and imprisoning the women and children for two years. In addition, 18 Norwegian prisoners at a Norwegian internment camp were killed as a reprisal. The event has since become known as the "Telavåg tragedy", and is sometimes compared to similar World War II atrocities, such as the Lidice massacre, with higher death tolls.

Population

Geography

Sund covered the southern third of the island of Store Sotra, as well as the many islands that surround it. The largest of the smaller islands are Toftøya, Lerøyna, Bjelkarøyna, Tyssøyna, Risøy, Vardøy, Golten, and Viksøy. In total, the municipality encompassed 466 islands and skerries, which gave it a total coastline of about 110 km. The highest peak in Sund was the 284 m tall Førdesveten. The fjord separating Store Sotra from the mainland, Korsfjorden, was historically the most used sea route into the city of Bergen, and is as much as 600 m deep in some places. The treacherous waters in the area mean there has been a continuous need for piloting services, and this tradition is kept alive by the "Viksøy Losstasjon".

Climate

On an average, Sotra experiences 1328 mm of rainfall annually, less than the 2250 mm that the nearby city of Bergen receives. The year-round average temperature is 7.6 C, with the coldest month being February, when the average temperature reaches 2.1 C. The warmest month is August, with an average temperature of 12.8 C.

Settlements

There were six urban settlements, as defined by Statistics Norway, within the border of the municipality. The largest is Hammarsland in northern Sund, with 875 inhabitants as of 2013. The others are Tælavåg, Skogsvåg, Klokkarvik, Forland, and Glesnes.

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 (Kommunestyre) of Sund was made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Sund: