Frei is a former municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county,

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 t ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2008 when it was incorporated into

Kristiansund Municipality Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

. It was located between the

Kvernesfjorden Kvernesfjorden or Kvernesfjord is a fjord between the municipalities of Gjemnes, Kristiansund, Averøy, and Hustadvika in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is about long. The fjord begins at the end of the Kornstadfjorden near the vill ...

and

Freifjorden Freifjorden is a fjord in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord flows through the municipalities of Kristiansund, Tingvoll, and Gjemnes. The fjord begins near the island of Tustna and flows southwest between the islands of Nordland ...

, primarily including the island of Frei and the smaller surrounding islands. Rensvik

The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality was the village of

Rensvik Rensvik is a village in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the northern part of the island of Frei, just west of the Omsund Bridge which connects to the island of Nordlandet to the north. The ...

, the largest village on the island, located on the northern end of the island. Other main villages that were in Frei Municipality include the village of

Nedre Frei Nedre Frei is a village in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. The village is located along the Freifjorden on the southern part of the island of Frei. The village sits about south of the village of Rensvik and about ...

, located on the southern end of the island and the village of

Kvalvåg Kvalvåg is a village in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village lies on the southeast side of the island of Frei, along the Freifjorden, about southeast of the town of Kristiansund. Some neighboring villages ...

, located on the eastern side of the island. The main church for the municipality was

Frei Church Frei Church ( no, Frei kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Nedre Frei on the southern shore of the island of Frei. It is the church fo ...

, located in the village of

History

The municipality of ''Fredø'' was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). On 1 January 1882, a small part of Fredø (population: 40) was merged into the neighboring Øre Municipality to the south. On 1 September 1893, an area of Frei (population: 231) was merged into the new

Gjemnes Municipality Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former steamship ...

. In 1897, the Grip archipelago (population: 198) was separated from Frei to form the new

Grip Municipality Grip () is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. With a land area of only and a population of 104, Grip was the smallest municipality in Norway during its existence from 1897 until it merged with Kristiansund in 1964. Grip mu ...

. 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 1964, the northern part of the island of Frei (population: 884) was transferred from

Bremsnes Bremsnes is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1897 until its dissolution in 1964. Bremsnes municipality surrounded the Bremsnesfjorden and it included parts of the islands of Averøya, Frei ...

Municipality to Frei Municipality. Also on the same date, the part of Frei on the island of

Aspøya Aspøya is an artificial island in Tingvoll Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located between the Freifjorden and the Tingvollfjorden. The European route E39 highway crosses Aspøya and connects it to the nearby island of ...

(population: 147) was transferred to the neighboring

Tingvoll Municipality Tingvoll is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Tingvollvågen. Other villages include Meisingset, Kvisvik, and Torjulvågen. The municipality cove ...

. On 1 January 2008, Frei Municipality ceased to exist when it was merged into the neighboring

to the north.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 6 February 1987, and they were designed by local architect and painter Nils Fiske. The two gold

crowns A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

on a red background symbolize the relationship between Frei and two Norwegian Kings: King Håkon the Good had a hunting lodge in the area in the 10th century, and the King and the villagers took part on the

Battle of Rastarkalv The Battle of Rastarkalv ( no, Slaget på Rastarkalv) took place in 955 on the southern part of the island of Frei in the present-day Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This was one of several battles between the force ...

in the municipality in 955. King Håkon VII has visited the village in 1955 at the 1000th anniversary of the battle.

Name

The municipality was named after the island of Frei ( non, Freiðr). The meaning of the name is unknown, but is maybe derived from ''fríðr'' which means "good" or "beautiful". Until 1889, the name was written ''Fredø''.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Frei. It was part of the

Ytre Nordmøre prosti Ytre may refer to: People: * Knut Ytre-Arne (1896–1968), Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party Places: *Ytre Østfold, the outer area of Østfold county (Norway) that has a fjord or coastal line * Ytre Øydnavatnet, lake in the municipality ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Møre The Diocese of Møre ( no, Møre bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center ...

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 counci ...

of Frei was made up of 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 feature f ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References