Øyestad is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1992 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arendal which is now located in

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county. At the time of its dissolution, the municipality of Øyestad encompassed most of the coastline between the towns of

Grimstad Grimstad () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the Grimstad (tow ...

and Arendal, along with the forested areas along the

Nidelva Nidelva is a river in Trondheim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name of the long river translates to "the River Nid" since the suffix ''elva'' or ''elven'' is the Norwegian word for "the river". Location The Nidelva starts at th ...

river heading inland. Back in 1838, however, the municipality was far larger in size. The administrative centre was the village of

Bjorbekk Bjorbekk is a village in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located between the Norwegian County Road 407 and the European route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg ...

near the

Bjorbekk Church Bjorbekk Church ( no, Bjorbekk kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bjorbekk. It is one of the churches for the Øyestad parish which is part of the A ...

History

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of ''Øiestad'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1846, the southern district of Øiestad (population: 2,806) was split off to form the new municipality of

Fjære Fjære is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1846 until 1971. It was located to the north of the town of Grimstad. The name is still used to refer to that area, which is now a part of Gr ...

. The municipality was again split in 1850 when the northern district of Øiestad (population: 1,976) was separated to become the municipality of

Froland Froland is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative center is the village of Blakst ...

. After that, Øiestad had 5,215 inhabitants. On 1 January 1875, an area of the neighboring town of Arendal (population: 52) was transferred to Øyestad. Then on 1 January 1881, the island of

Hisøya Hisøya or Hisøy (historically: ''Hisøen'') is an island in Agder county, Norway. The island has been part of the municipality of Arendal since 1992. The main village areas on the island are Kolbjørnsvik, His, Slåbervig, and Sandviga. The ...

and its small, surrounding islands (population: 2,652) were separated to form the new municipality of

Hisøy Hisøy (historically: ''Hisø'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1881 until 1992 when it was merged into the municipality of Arendal in what is now Agder county. At the time of its ...

. This left Øiestad with a population of 4,474. In the early 1900s, the spelling of the name was changed to ''Øyestad''. In 1936, an area of Øyestad (population: 33) was transferred to neighboring

Austre Moland Austre Moland (historic: ''Østre Moland'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The roughly municipality existed from 1838 until 1962 when it was merged with several neighboring municipalities to form the new municip ...

municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1962, the uninhabited area of Salvestjønn was transferred from Øyestad to the neighboring municipality of

Landvik Landvik is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1971. The municipality's area is now located in the western and central part of the present-day municipality of ...

. On 1 January 1992, there was another large municipal merger. Øyestad (population: 8,679) was merged with the municipalities of

(population: 4,026), Tromøy (population: 4,711),

Moland Moland is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1962 until 1992 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arendal which is located in what is now Agder county. The administr ...

(population: 8,148), and the town of Arendal (population: 12,478) to form a new, much larger municipality of Arendal.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old ''Øiestad'' farm ( non, Øyjarsstaðir), since the first

Øyestad Church Øyestad Church ( no, Øyestad kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Rykene, on the north side of the river Nidelva. It is one of the churches for the Ø ...

was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name and the last element is which means "homestead" or "

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was granted on 19 April 1985 and it was in use until the dissolution of the municipality on 1 January 1992. The arms are white and they show a wavy river flowing across them diagonally. The river represents the local river

that runs from the mountains into the fjord as it passes through the municipality. The river played an important role in the local economy.

Government

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Øyestad was made up of 33 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Attractions

Øyestad Church

(''Øyestad kirke'') is a medieval, Gothic nave church. The church built in stone with 300 seats. Dating is uncertain, but it is generally assumed that it was built around the year 1200. The congregation celebrated the church's 800th anniversary in 2000. Øyestad was formerly the main church for several parishes: Øyestad,

, and

. The church was damaged by fire in 1900. The choir, sacristy, tower, altarpiece and pulpit were destroyed along with the paintings on the walls. The church was restored and rededicated in 1902. In 2008, the church underwent extensive restoration.

Notable residents

* Peter Munch Brager (born 1806), the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Øyestad *

Brit Hoel Brit Hoel (born 19 December 1942 in Arendal) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Aust-Agder in 1981, and was re-elected on three occasions. She had previously served in the position o ...

(born 1942), a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

* Ole Olsen Risholt (born 1809) *

Niels Rosenkrantz Niels Rosenkrantz (9 September 1757 in Øyestad, Norway - 6 January 1824 in Copenhagen) was a Danish-Norwegian statesman, diplomat and prime minister. He was the son of Otto Christian Rosenkrantz and Karen Johanne Rønning. After a short time ...

(1757−1824), a diplomat and prime minister of Denmark-Norway

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oeyestad Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 1992 Former municipalities of Norway Arendal 1838 establishments in Norway 1992 disestablishments in Norway