Borgund stave church in Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Built sometime between 1180 and 1250 AD. | Photo: Oliver Webb - adobe stock - copyrighted.

Vintage photos | the stave churches | Norway

Some of the beautiful Norwegian wooden stave churches are almost 1000 years old. Today, there are 28 of them left.

Interior from Torpo stave church in Ål, Buskerud, Norway

Interior from Torpo stave church in Ål, Buskerud, Norway. Estimated built around 1160. | Photo: Teigen – kulturminnebilder.ra.no T058_01_0084 – Public domain.

Rollag stave church in Rollag, Buskerud, Norway

Rollag stave church in Rollag, Buskerud, Norway. Sections estimated built in late 1200s. | Photo: Dagfinn Rasmussen – kulturminnebilder.ra.no Rollag_169_DSC5291_DxO – CC BY.

Rødven stave church in Rauma, Møre og Romsdal, Norway

Rødven stave church in Rauma, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. Estimated built around 1300, but contains older elements. | Photo: Karin Axelsen – kulturminnebilder.ra.no T328_01_0400 – CC BY.

Urnes stave church in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Urnes stave church in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Estimated built around 1140. | Photo: Harald Ibenholt – kulturminnebilder.ra.no T284_01_0787 – CC BY.

Lom stave church in Lom, Oppland, Norway

Lom stave church in Lom, Oppland, Norway. Estimated built in the second half of the 1100s. | Photo: Dagfinn Rasmussen – kulturminnebilder.ra.no Lom_DSC7862 – CC BY.

Heddal stave church in Notodden, Telemark, Norway

Heddal stave church in Notodden, Telemark, Norway. Estimated built in the first half of the 1200s. | Photo: Dagfinn Rasmussen – kulturminnebilder.ra.no Heddal_stor_DSC7340 – CC BY.

Ringebu stave church in Ringebu, Oppland, Norway

Ringebu stave church in Ringebu, Oppland, Norway. Estimated built around 1220. | Photo: Dagfinn Rasmussen – kulturminnebilder.ra.no Ringebu_DSC2944 – CC BY.

Interior from Kaupanger stave church in Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Interior from Kaupanger stave church in Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Estimated built around 1137. | Photo: Unknown – kulturminnebilder.ra.no T287_01_0002 – CC BY.

Hopperstad (Hoprekstad) stave church in Vik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Hopperstad (Hoprekstad) stave church in Vik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Estimated built around 1130. | Photo: Ragnhild Hoel – kulturminnebilder.ra.no T291_01_0161 – CC BY.

May we tempt you?
Norway | wooden buildings one thousand years old

LA Dahlmann | vintage photos

Wooden buildings one thousand years old | Norway

buildings and structures

The oldest wooden buildings in Norway are almost 1000 years old – like Urnes stave church in Luster. How come these buildings do not rot away and disappear?

Homestead | moving into the barn during summer | Norway

homestead and farm

The first half of the 1900s was a time of enormous change in Norwegian society. It was then that a young boy experienced a peculiar family custom.

Kipe | means a basket in Norwegian | Norway

words from history

A kipe is a tall, woven basket, often made of twigs from the birch tree. It was carried on the back, and typically used when carrying loads in a landscape full of steep fields and paths.

The old Norwegians needed no money | Norway

farming community

The old Norwegian farming society was a self-sufficient and balanced world. Coins and notes were all but an alien concept.

Queen Maud of Norway | her background and childhood years

norwegian royal history

Queen Maud of Norway was born in London in 1869, as Princess Maud of Wales. Her grandmother was none other than the formidable Queen Victoria.

Ice export | a booming business for more than a century | Norway

landscape

From the early 1800s and well into the 1900s, Norway was a significant exporter of natural ice. But how did they prevent the ice from melting?

Fjords | gateways to mystery | Norway

landscape

Once upon a time in the distant past, imagine yourself sitting in a small boat, facing this mighty gateway into the bowels of the land.

Norway | a land of water

landscape

In the spring, the Norwegian mountain-snow melts and turns into creeks, rivers and magnificent waterfalls.

Norway | on the coastal path along the Oslofjord

landscape

Whether it be on a rainy day – or a beautiful summer’s day like this one – the coastal paths take us through some pleasing stretches of Norwegian scenery.

Norwegian Buhund | viking dog with an ancient history | Norway

domesticated animals

The first Norwegian Buhund breed-standard came in 1926, based on a dog that had evolved, lived, and worked with the Norwegians since time immemorial.

The last workhorse at Sandaker farm | Norway

domesticated animals

When I was a boy, it was the workhorse that pulled the heaviest weight in agricultural life. And this had been the reality for as long as anyone could remember.

Reindeer | an ancient presence in the Norwegian mountains

wild animals

When the ice melted after the last ice age, herds of reindeer followed in its wake. And with the animals came their main predator: the humans.

Horse history in the land of the Vikings vol 2 | Norway

domesticated animals

The horse no longer roams wild in the Norwegian landscape. But it still has an important place in the Norwegian psyche.

Food history | the difference between mead and beer | Norway

food history

Mead and beer are both alcoholic drinks known from Norwegian history. The Norwegians call them «mjød» and «øl». But do you know the difference between the two?

Food history | the «Viking pizza» | Norway

food history

In Norway, the pizza appeared as an exotic newcomer in the 1970s. But bread topped with foodstuffs is nothing new in Norwegian food history.

Grøt | a nation built on porridge | Norway

food history

Some claim that porridge is the oldest hot dish in the Norwegian diet. Was it to our ancestors what bread is to the modern family of today?

Klippfisk | what is Norwegian klipfish? | Norway

food history

Klippfisk – or klipfish – is fish preserved through salting and drying. Since the early 1700s, the Norwegians have been large-scale klippfisk producers and exporters.

Quiz vol. 1 | what is the name of the capital city? | Norway

quiz

Do you know the name of Norway’s capital city? Test yourself, friends, and family in this 10 multiple-choice questions quiz vol. 1. See the correct answer below each photo.

Norwegian art | the mysterious boy from Setesdal | Norway

art

Carl Fredrik Sundt-Hansen created this fascinating oil painting in 1904. It is like a window leading into the house of history. If only we could climb through.

Bergen | historical city once plundered by pirates | Norway

towns and cities

Bergen is Norway’s second-largest city and one of the country’s oldest urban locations. The first post-viking king, Olav Kyrre, gave it market-town-status around AD 1070.

The mountain safety code | always be prepared | Norway

general facts

The majestic Norwegian mountains can be treacherous – and they steal human lives every year. Study the Norwegian mountain code – and be prepared for your next journey.

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External link: How to trace your ancestors in Norway

Vintage photos | the stave churches | Norway

Interior from Torpo stave church in Ål, Buskerud, Norway

Rollag stave church in Rollag, Buskerud, Norway

Rødven stave church in Rauma, Møre og Romsdal, Norway

Urnes stave church in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Lom stave church in Lom, Oppland, Norway

Heddal stave church in Notodden, Telemark, Norway

Ringebu stave church in Ringebu, Oppland, Norway

Interior from Kaupanger stave church in Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Hopperstad (Hoprekstad) stave church in Vik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

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