Abelseth

This page is made to show American relatives some photos taken at Abelset and surroundings
The internet is a great way of staying in touch, and I hope to receive photos and other information that you want me to publish.
Mail to the webmaster

This is a recent photo of part of the Abelset farms. They have the fjord as their neigbour in the south and a mountain in the north. The photo was taken at the beginning of October, and so was the photo below of a lake between Aalesund and Sjøholt / Abelseth.

As you can see, the snow has painted the tops of the highest peaks, and now (2 November) the trees have dropped their leaves in the mountains, but down here it still looks pretty much the same as in the picture.

January, 23. 1904 / 2004

At 2.15 a.m. a hundred years ago 1.3 miles of the center of Ålesund were destroyed in a sea of flames. 850 houses were burnt down and 11000 people lost their homes. However, many European countries sent help, and especially the help sent by the German Emperor Wilhelm made a difference. He sent ships with anything you could possibly need - even toys. His first ships came to Ålesund only 3 days after the fire. One of the main streets in new Ålesund has its name after him. Only one person was killed in the flames.

In the next few years the town was rebuilt, and 50 architects influenced by the same architectural trend - art nuveau / Jugend / art-deco-style - built a very homogenius town, which has been extraordinarily well preserved.

On the same day a hundred years later between 8000 and 10000 people walked through the streets of Ålesund in the middle of the night. We started at 2.15 a.m. on the spot where the fire began, and stopped on corners and squares where stories from the terrible night were told by the town historian Harald Grytten. His entertaining stories were accompanied by slide shows on the walls of buildings along the route. Just before 5 a.m. the stroll ended, and soup was served in the town centre. We went to bed at 5. 45 a.m.


 


 There are of course a lot of photos of old Ålesund, but nobody has found photos taken on the night of the fire. Probably people had more important things to do. These two photos are reconstructions taken from a TV program.

Newspaper article in English
The same article as pdf-file

Moviefile from the march
from the web site of NRK - Møre og Romsdal
("double-click" on the film for full screen)
 

A road at Mt Ørskogfjellet. We are 900 foot above sea level. Note the differences in colours and vegetation. The photo on the left is taken on 14 September and the one to the right on 2 November: