Finnås rectory

The Hertzberg dynasty in Finnås played a key role amongst the priests in Hordaland during the period of the Enlightenment. Three generations of Hertzbergs as parish priests from 1744 to 1830 turned the place into a cultural centre. For 27 years the brothers Christian, Nils and Peder jr. were parish priests at the same time in Finnås, Kinsarvik and Kvinnherad. As their father, they were all rural deans. Peder Harboe snr. is the best known “potato priest” in Norway. “A hat full” of potatoes that he received from a colleague, became many more at the rectory at Finnås. He wrote a book about potato cultivation and was a member of “Det Nyttige Selskab” (The association for useful practice) in Bergen. His son, Nils – with the nickname “treskoprest” (the priest with the wooden clogs) – conducted scientific studies and wrote a series of articles in the magazine Bustikken 1818-21 about the parish of Kinsarvik.