Haus (historically Hougs) is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The 96-square-kilometre (37 sq mi) municipality encompassed the southern half of the island of Osterøy as well as the area across the Sørfjorden from the island to the east, south, and west (although the municipality was quite a bit larger when it was first created in 1838). The administrative centre was the village of Haus, where Haus Church is located.

History

The parish of Haus (historically spelled "Hougs") was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1870, the northeastern half of the municipality (population: 2,062) was separated from Haus to form the new Bruvik Municipality. The split left Haus with a population of 4,229.

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 Haus was dissolved. The part of Haus municipality that was situated on the island of Osterøy was transferred to the new Osterøy Municipality and the remaining part of Haus (on the mainland) formed the new Arna Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Haus farm (Old Norse: Hauss) since the first Haus Church was built there. The name is identical with the word hauss which means "skull". It is likely referring to the shape of a nearby mountain. Historically, the name was spelled Hougs.

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.

Mayors

The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Haus:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Haus was made up of 37 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway