Grindheim


Grindheim is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Byremo where Grindheim Church is located. The municipality was generally located in the northern half of the present-day municipality of Audnedal.

History

The municipality of Grindum was established on 1 January 1902 when the old municipality of Bjelland og Grindum was divided into two separate municipalities: Grindheim and Bjelland.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Grindheim was merged with the Ågedal and Midtbø areas in Bjelland and the neighboring municipality of Konsmo to create the new municipality of Audnedal.

Name

The municipality was named after the old Grindheim farm, since the first Grindheim Church was built there. The first element is grind which means "gate" or "wicket" and the last element is heimr which means "home", "homestead", or "farm".
Prior to 1889, the name was written as Grindem. Then from 1889-1917, the spelling was changed to Grindum. Then again in 1918, the spelling was changed to its present form: Grindheim.