• Nynorsk
  • English

Universitetet i bergen logoUniversity of Bergen

Search form

Search form

The clustered community in Hjølmodalen early in 1900.

Hjølmo

26.05.2018 - 11:29

In the steep hillside in Hjølmodalen, a small side valley from Øvre Eidfjord (Upper Eidfjord), which has been a key entrance to the Hardanger Plateau, the hamlet of old farmhouses still lie clustered together. The yard is empty today, some of the houses are used in the summer, but the grass grows round all the corners.

There are two holding in the hamlet at Måbø.

Måbø

26.05.2018 - 11:31

Måbø is the uppermost farm in Måbødalen. This narrow and steep mountain valley has been one of the routes from the fjord communities up to the mountain plateau from times immemorial. We are not certain of the meaning of the name Måbø. Perhaps it has its origin in an Old Norse male name Mávi, from the name for seagull, már. The last syllable “bø” means farm. Today Måbø gives us a compact close-up of the subsistence economy: the small farm with the clearance piles, stone walls and a lane that guided the animals into the yard, at the foot of the great mountain expanse.

The mountainside in Sysendalen

Sysendalen

30.11.2018 - 10:35

If you are lucky you can find 9000-year-old pine stumps on Hardangervidda. Since that time, the tree line has continuously declined. But now, it is on its way back up again.

“The Karla Tannery”, Valestrand

Valestrandsfossen- tanning industry

18.06.2018 - 20:04

Valestrand became a centre for the tanning industry in Osterøy; one of the old crafts that has developed into a local industry with many places of work. From the 1870s ever more ventures were started. Many of the large sea houses we see today around the bay have been places for tanning and leather enterprises.

Havrå and the arable fields up to the enclosed meadow.

Havrå

12.05.2023 - 11:07

In the sunny, steep fjord landscape along Sørfjorden on the east side of Osterøy is the farm Havrå. The small “hamlet” is one of the few undisturbed farming communities that gives us the impression of the large communal yards in West Norway in the 1700s, with houses built close together and strips of arable land.