Askøy is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island municipality is located in the Midhordland district of the county, sitting in a large group of islands immediately northwest of the city of Bergen. 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 is the urban village of Kleppestø on the southeastern shore of the island of Askøy. The municipality is the 328th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Askøy is the 36th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 29,816. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 13.8% over the previous 10-year period. Since the opening of the Askøy Bridge connecting it to the mainland of Bergen in 1992, the population has increased rapidly. Its population growth among the highest in Norway. Most of the population growth is due to migration from Bergen and the surrounding districts of Nordhordland and Midhordland.

General information

The parish of ''Askøen'' was established as a municipality 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). In 1879, a small area of the neighboring municipality of Fana (population: 18) was transferred to Askøen. On 1 January 1904, a small area near the village of

Hanevik Hanevik is a village in the municipality of Askøy in Vestland county, Norway. It is located along the Herdlefjorden, on the northeastern shore of the island of Askøy. The lake Askevatnet lies just southeast of the village. History Hanevik was ...

(population: 32) was transferred from Askøen to the neighboring municipality of

Alversund Alversund is a village in Alver municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland of the Lindås peninsula, along the shore of the Alverstraumen strait. The village sits between the villages of Alverstraumen (acr ...

. On 1 July 1918, the southern (mainland) portions of Askøy (population: 6,957) were separated from the municipality to form the new municipality of Laksevåg. This split left Askøy with 4,822 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the

area (population: 193) on the island of Askøy was transferred to Askøy from the municipality of

Meland Meland is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1923 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality in Vestland county. ...

. Also on that date, the old municipality of Herdla was dissolved. The parts of Herdla on the island of Askøy and the island of Herdla (population: 1,564) were also transferred to Askøy. This boundary adjustment put the entire island of Askøy, the island of Herdla, and many tiny surrounding islands in the municipality of Askøy.

Name

The first element is the name "Askøy" came from the old ''

Ask Ask is the active verb for a direct question. Ask may also refer to: Places * Ask, Akershus, a village in Gjerdrum municipality, Viken county, Norway * Ask, Buskerud, a village in Ringerike municipality, Viken county, Norway * Ask, Vestland, a ...

'' farm ( non, Askr) and the last element is ''øy'', meaning "island". The name of the farm is identical with the word ''askr'', meaning "

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergree ...

". Until 1918 the name was written as ''"Askøen"''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 28 September 1961. The arms are a canting showing an

''(ask)'' on an island ''(øy)'' with waves of the sea in the base of the shield.

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 ...

has five parishes () within the municipality of Askøy. It is part of the Vesthordland prosti

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

Culture

Askøy is home to several sports teams. Askøy Fotballklub is an association football club, formed in 1999 by the merger of Florvåg Idrettsforening and Kleppestø Fotball. The club has a large number of teams, of which the majority are junior football teams. The men's senior team plays in the Norwegian third division . The oldest sports club on the island is Ask Idrettslag, mainly an athletics club, founded in 1928. The music festival Lost Weekend is held on the island every summer in

Kollevågen Kollevågen ( no, Kollevåg friluftsområde) is a recreational area in Askøy Municipality Askøy is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island municipality is located in the Midhordland district of the county, sitting in a large gro ...

. The festival, first held in August 2001, attracts a large number of minor Norwegian bands. The festival has been threatened by economic trouble several times. In the village of

Strusshamn Strusshamn is an urban village in the municipality of Askøy in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies along the Byfjorden on the southern coast of the island of Askøy, just west of the large urban village of Kleppestø. Strusshamn is one of ...

are old wooden houses, dating back to the early 19th century. Strusshamn then served as a quarantine harbour for Bergen. Today, Strusshamn is one of the cultural capitals of Askøy, with a lot of activities and a museum of its own showing life on Askøy in earlier times.

Geography

Askøy is an island municipality including the main island of Askøy and the minor island of Herdla as well as many small surrounding islands. The municipality is surrounded by three fjords:

Hjeltefjorden Hjeltefjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord runs north–south between many islands leading from the open ocean to the city of Bergen. It passes through the municipalities of Fedje, Øygarden, Alver, and Askøy. Its name ...

to the west and north, Byfjorden to the east, and

Herdlefjorden Herdlefjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord runs between the islands of Holsnøy (in Alver Municipality) and Askøy (in Askøy Municipality). The fjord connects with the Salhusfjorden and the Byfjorden on the southeast ...

to the northeast. The municipality borders Alver to the northeast, Bergen to the southeast, and

Øygarden Øygarden is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is an island municipality located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Midhordland, stretching along the west coast of the cou ...

to the west. Askøy has one of the fastest growing populations in Norway due to an influx of new inhabitants from the Bergen, Midhordland and Nordhordland after the opening of the Askøy Bridge in 1992. North of Askøy lies the island of Herdla, a popular recreational area on the site of the disused German Herdla Airport from World War II. The densely populated part of the municipality is on the south and eastern coasts. Kleppestø and

are located on the southern coast and Florvåg is on the east coast. Florvåg was connected to downtown Bergen for many decades via ferries. The northern and western parts of the island are thinly populated. There is a large lake on the southeast part of the island, called Askevatnet. The tallest mountain on the island is Kolbeinsvarden. The recreation area of

lies in the western part of the island.

Settlements

;Ask

Ask is a village in the eastern part of Askøy. Due to its pleasant climate and its convenient location to Bergen, Ask was the location of a ''kongsgård'' (lit. "royal farm"); the very old Ask Church and churchyard was also located in Ask. The location where the church was situated from about 1200 until 1741 is today marked by a stone cross. Ask is the

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

location for a famous dispute over inheritance between

Egill Skallagrímsson Egil Skallagrímsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; 904 995) was a Viking Age war poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer.Thorsson, 3 He is known mainly as the anti-hero of ''Egils saga, Egil's Saga''. ''Egil's Saga'' historically narrates a p ...

and Berg-Önundr. The local dialect of the village also reflects the close ties to Bergen, with the dialect being more similar to that of Bergen than that of the rest of Askøy except the dialect of Florvåg; the connection was reinforced into modern times as the wealthy merchants and other residents of Bergen spent their summer there. Ask has had famous residents up to recent times.

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

lived in a house near Kongshaugen in a short period. Amalie Skram lived at Lien at Ask from 1876 to 1878. ;Other settlements Some of the other notable settlements in Askøy include Abbedisso, Erdal,

, Kleppestø,

Skjelviki Skjelviki is a small village in the municipality of Askøy in Vestland county, Norway. It is located along the Herdlefjorden on the northern shore of the island of Askøy. It lies just north of the larger village of Hanevik. History Skjelviki ...

, and

Tveitevåg Tveitevåg is a village in Askøy municipality in Vestland 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 portio ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Askøy, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen services, unemployment and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Hordaland District Court and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six Court of appeal (Norway), courts of appeal in the Norway, Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen (city), Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the cou ...

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Askøy is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Askøy (incomplete list): *2019–present: Siv Høgtun ( H) *2015-2019: Terje Mathiassen ( Ap) *2011-2015: Siv Høgtun (H) *2007-2011: Knut Hanselmann ( FrP) *1999-2007: Kari Manger (Ap) *1994-1999: Øyvind Fluge ( KrF) *1990-1993:

Oddvard Nilsen Oddvard Nilsen (born 24 June 1940, in Bergen) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hordaland in 1993 and was re-elected on two occasions. Nilsen was a member of the executive commi ...

(H) *1988-1989: Øyvind Fluge (KrF)

Industry and trade

Askøy is well known for the tasty

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

from

. The seafood industry is also well settled at Askøy. Askøy also houses several boat building companies; the most famous of which are Viksund Yachts of Norway situated in

, Viknes situated in Bakarvågen, Selby situated in

and NB Marine situated at Herdla. Askøy houses some big industrial facilities such as Hanøytangen, Mjølkeviksvarden, and Storebotn.

Notable people

* Knut Robberstad (1899 in Askøy – 1981) a Norwegian jurist, philologist and academic *

Halldor Espelid Halldor Espelid (6 October 1920 – 29 March 1944), known as "Harold" was a Norwegian Supermarine Spitfire pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He is notable for the part he took in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in Ma ...

(1920 in Askøy – 1944) a Norwegian

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

pilot, escaped from

Stalag Luft III , partof = ''Luftwaffe'' , location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland) , image = , caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...

, re-captured and shot by the Gestapo * Ingrid Espelid Hovig (1924 in Askøy – 2018) a television chef and author of cook books *

Arne Tumyr Arne Tumyr (6 March 1933 – 17 February 2023) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor, politician and leader of Stop Islamisation of Norway. Career and activism Tumyr grew up in Ask in Askøy, from where he moved in 1950. He was educated ...

(born 1933) a former journalist, newspaper editor and politician, grew up in Ask *

Geir Magnus Nyborg Geir Magnus Nyborg (February 15, 1951 in Askøy – February 13, 2018 in Bergen) was a Norwegian media scholar and theologian. Nyborg headed the Christian organization Familie & Medier from 2001 to 2009, and after that headed the training an ...

(1951 in Askøy – 2018) a Norwegian media scholar and theologian

Sport

* Trygve Andersen (born 1934 in Askøy) retired footballer, 27 caps for Norway * Martin Jensen (1942 in Askøy – 2016) a Norwegian triple jumper * Frode Syvertsen (born 1963 in Askøy) a speed skater, competed at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Askoy Municipalities of Vestland 1838 establishments in Norway