Ølen is a former municipality in the Vestlandet region of Norway. The municipality existed from 1916 until 2006, and originally it was a part of Hordaland county, but in 2002 it was transferred to Rogaland county prior to its dissolution in 2006. The 181-square-kilometre (70 sq mi) municipality was located on the south side of the Bjoafjorden and east of the Ålfjorden. The administrative center of Ølen was the village of Ølensjøen. The municipality of Ølen makes up the northern part of the present-day Vindafjord Municipality in Rogaland county.[4]
History
Map of Ølen in Hordaland county prior to 2002 when it was transferred to Rogaland countyView of Ølen in the first half of the 20th centuryØlen Church
The parish of Ølen was established as a municipality on 1 July 1916 when it was split off from the large municipality of Fjelberg. Initially, Ølen had 1,715 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipality of Vikebygd was dissolved and the eastern half of it (population: 578) was merged into the municipality of Ølen.[5]
On 1 January 2002, the municipality of Ølen was transferred administratively from Hordaland county to Rogaland county. On 1 January 2003, the people of Ølen and the neighboring municipality of Vindafjord held a merger referendum which was successful. On 1 January 2006, Ølen and Vindafjord merged, forming a larger municipality called Vindafjord. Before the merger, Ølen had a population of 3,426. The coat of arms of the new Vindafjord municipality bears the design of the old Ølen arms and the colours of the old Vindafjord arms.[4][5]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Ølsfjorden (Old Norse: Ǫlund) since it was a central geographical feature of the municipality. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it may come from the word ala which means "to produce" or "to nourish", possibly referring to the rich fishing in the fjord.[6]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The official blazon is "Gyronnyembowedargent and vert" (Norwegian: Åttedelt av sølv og grønt ved virvelsnitt). This means the arms are a whirl design that divides the shield into 8 curved sections. The field (background) alternates colors, with half having a tincture of green and the other half have a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen to symbolise the way that several major roads come together in the municipality, making it an important centre of trade. The arms were designed by Vigdis Viland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[7][8][9]
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Ølen was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four-year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council of Ølen was as follows:
