Dverberg (municipality)

Dverberg is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Dverberg where Dverberg Church is located. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed areas on the island of Andøya in what is now Andøy Municipality. Starting out at about in 1838, it was reduced in size in 1924. Upon its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was only . The prestegjeld of Dverberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It originally included the whole island of Andøya as well as about on the northeastern tip of the large island of Hinnøya, plus a number of very small surrounding islets. On 1 January 1924, Dverberg municipality was divided into three. The northern part of Dverberg became the new municipality of Andenes (population: 2,213) and the southern part of Dverberg was separated to become the new municipality of Bjørnskinn (population: 1,410). This left 1,477 residents in Dverberg which now only covered the central part of the island of Andøya. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Bjørnskinn (population: 1,835), Andenes (population: 3,812), and Dverberg (population: 1,719) were all merged back together again to create the new Andøy Municipality. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Dverberg farm (Dvergaberg) since the first Dverberg Church was built there. The first element is dvergr which means "dwarf". The last element is berg which means "mountain". Thus the name is referring to a mountain where dwarfs live. While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.