Øystese- Kvam rural museum

Vikøy

Through Adolph Tidemand’s detailed close-ups of smokehouses in Kvam, the vicarage in Vikøy, where he lived during his painting trips through Hardanger, has obtained a central position in the Norwegian national romanticism.

Vika

Skogasel

Sandven

Norheim

Norheim, “the farm by the narrow sound” is mentioned in a diploma from the Middle Ages and in an inheritance document. This is one of the large farms in Hardanger, of those that belonged to the powerful families; Sandven in Kvam, Torsnes in Jondal, Aga in Ullensvang and Spånheim in Ulvik.

Måbø

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.

Kvalvåg

Kvalvåg on Stolmen is first mentioned as a trading post in 1655, and in 1731 the owner Jens Meyer, was granted a royal trading privilege.

Krosshamn

Krosshamn lies in the shipping lane northeast of Hundvåkøy, near Sandtorv. The name probably derives from the fact that this is Austevoll’s harbour situated nearest to Korsfjorden.

Hufthammar

Farming in Austevoll has nearly all been in combination with fishing as the main industry. The farms in the district are therefore small, even in a west Norwegian context.