Aker, Norway
For the Norwegian Aker group of companies, see Aker Kværner.Aker (from the
Old Norse akr, acre) is a former municipality in
Akershus, which lends its name to a municipality and a county. The name was originally that of a farm which was located near the current
Old Aker church, the church in turn was the source of the name for the municipality and county.
The former municipality of Aker had previously been subdivided into Østre and Vestre Aker in
1861, and again in
1906 was further subdivided into
Ullern and
Nordstrand. On 1 January 1948 Aker municipality was incorporated into the city of
Oslo. The municipality then had 135,000 inhabitants and included the residential areas of Ullern, Vestre Aker, Østre Aker and Nordstrand, as well as outlying areas were all incorporated into Oslo.
Since the city of
Christiania was founded in
1624, Aker had been the source of territory for expansion of the city, the first time as early as 1629 when a number of farms was transferred inside the city
Bymark; the
Bymark area lay under the city's civil administration, but for ecclesiastical purposes remained part of Akers parish. Akers boundary with the
Bymark was on the west side of the
Skillebekken
[Skillebekk is a former suburb of Oslo.], on the east side it was the river
Akerselva. The entire Bymark and portions of the Akerselva were incorporated into the city in
1859. Adjustments were made again in
1878 and Aker was finally fully incorporated into Oslo in
1948.
