The county governor of Hordaland county in Norway represented the central government administration in the county. The office of county governor is a government agency of the Kingdom of Norway; the title was Amtmann (before 1919) and then Fylkesmann (after 1919). On 1 January 2019, the office was merged with the county governor of Sogn og Fjordane into the county governor of Vestland.
The large Bergenhus stiftamt was established in 1660 by the king and it had several subordinate counties (amt) including Bergenhus amt. In 1662, a stiftamtmann was named for Bergenhus stiftamt (see List of Diocesan Governors of Bergen). Then in 1681, the first amtmann of Bergenhus county was named. In 1763, the northern part of the county was split off to become Nordre Bergenhus amt and the southern part that remained was renamed Søndre Bergenhus amt. The seat of the amt was at Bergen. In 1871, the city of Bergen was split off as a separate county. Bergen and Søndre Bergenhus counties shared a county governor from 1919-1972. In 1919, the Søndre Bergenhus county was renamed Hordaland. In 1972, Bergen county was merged back into Hordaland. In 2020, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane counties were merged into Vestland county.
The county governor is the government's representative in the county. The governor carries out the resolutions and guidelines of the Storting and government. This is done first by the county governor performing administrative tasks on behalf of the ministries. Secondly, the county governor also monitors the activities of the municipalities and is the appeal body for many types of municipal decisions.
Names
editThe word for county (amt or fylke) has changed over time as has the name of the county. From 1681 until 1762, the title was Amtmann i Bergenhus amt. From 1763 until 1918, the title was Amtmann i Søndre Bergenhus amt. From 1 January 1919 until 1 January 2019, the title was Fylkesmann i Hordaland fylke.
List of county governors
editHordaland county has had the following governors:[1][2][3]
| County governors of Hordaland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Name | |
| 1681 | 10 Oct 1690 |
Laurids Lindenov (1650–1690) | |
| 1691 | 1697 | Hans Nielsen (c. 1630–1697) | |
| 1697 | 1702 | Axel Rosenkrantz (1670–1723) | 
|
| 1702 | 1704 | Christian Stockfleth (1639–1704) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1704 | 1704 | Mats de Tonsberg (1638–1705) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1704 | 1710 | Vilhelm de Tonsberg (1680–1731) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1710 | 1711 | Edvard Hammond (1688–1711) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1711 | 1728 | Andreas Undall (1669–1728) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1728 | 1738 | Wilhelm August von der Osten (1697–1764) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt (1728-1732). |
|
| 1738 | 1741 | Christian Bagger (1692–1741) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1741 | 1749 | Christian Møinichen (1683–1749) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1743 | 1744 | Jonas Lym (1679–1760) Acting for Møinichen |
|
| 1749 | 1766 | Ulrik Fredrik de Cicignon (1698–1772) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1766 | 1768 | Jørgen Erik Skeel (1737–1795) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1768 | 1772 | Christian Petersen (1701–1775 Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1772 | 1774 | Albrecht Philip von Levetzau (1744–1817) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt |
|
| 1774 | 1789 | Christian de Schouboe (1737–1789) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1789 | 1802 | Frederik Hauch (1754–1839) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1802 | 1815 | Johan Randulf Bull (1749–1829) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1815 | 1825 | Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (1778–1849) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1825 | 1827 | Christian Magnus Falsen (1782–1830) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1829 | 1831 | Georg Jacob Bull (1785–1854) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt. |
|
| 1831 | 1834 | Edvard Hagerup (1781–1853) | 
|
| 1834 | 1850 | Jens Schydtz (1792–1859) | |
| 1850 | 1860 | Niels Petersen Vogt (1817–1894) | 
|
| 1860 | 1869 | Hans Thomas Meinich (1819–1878) | 
|
| 1869 | 1877 | Niels Mathias Rye (1824–1905) Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt (1871-1877). |
|
| 1878 | 1897 | Claus Nieuwejaar Worsøe (1822–1906) Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt. |
|
| 1898 | 1918 | Hroar Olsen (1859–1941) Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Bergen stiftamt (1907-1918). Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt. |
|
| 1918 | 1929 | Kristian Friis Petersen (1867–1932) Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt. |
|
| 1929 | 1933 | Ernst Andreas Johannesen (1870–1957) Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt. |
|
| 1934 | 1949 | Gjert Lindebrækk (1879–1960) Replaced from 1941-1945 by the WWII occupied government. Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt. |
|
| 1941 | 1941 | Ketil Gjerløv Fleischer Harnoll (1909–1974) (WWII occupied government) |
|
| 1941 | 1 July 1944 |
Christian Astrup (1909–1983) (WWII occupied government) |
|
| 1 July 1944 |
May 1945 |
Ole Eberhard Rømcke (1899–1968) (WWII occupied government) |
|
| 1949 | 1966 | Mons Lid (1896–1967) Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt. |
|
| 1966 | 1984 | Lars Leiro (1914–2005) Served concurrently as Amtmann for Bergen amt (1966-1972). |
|
| 1984 | 1998 | Håkon Randal (1930–2012) | |
| 1998 | 1 April 2010 |
Svein Alsaker (1940–present) | 
|
| 1 April 2010 |
1 June 2010 |
Rune Fjeld (1951–present) (Acting governor) |
|
| 1 June 2010 |
31 Dec 2018 |
Lars Sponheim (1957–present) | 
|
| Office abolished on 1 January 2019. See List of county governors of Vestland | |||
References
edit- ^ Cahoon, Ben (2000). "Norwegian Counties". Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ "Stiftamtmenn, amtmenn og fylkesmenn 1814-1994" (in Norwegian). regjeringen.no. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ Berg, Ole T., ed. (2016-06-13). "Fylkesmenn og amtmenn (stiftamtmenn) siden 1671". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2020-01-25.