Welcome to my web site - Postcards from Hol Kommune.
My name is Erik Westedt. I live in Geilo and my passionate hobby is collecting old postcards. I have created this site because I wish to share the wide variety of my nice, old postcards with you. My collection is still growing. If you have a postcard in which you think I may be interested, you are welcome to contact me. You find in Hol Kommune one of the best Norwegian photographic archives, with photos dating from 1860 until the present day. Eight photographers have enriched Hol Kommune. Each one has in his own way contributed to the various photographic material in the archives. At the last count, the archives held approximately 15,000 photos.
Torbjørn.A. Trøgathon (1840 - 1893) was the first photographer in Hol Kommune and one of the first in the entire country of Norway.
Olav S. Reinthon (1886 - 1916)
L.K. Ødegaard (1877 - 1933)
Grøvo family, three generations : Arne E. Grøvo, Nicolay Grøvo and Nils Erik Grøvo.
Brye family with four, well-known photographers, Johannes K. Brye, Lars K. Brye, Knut J. Brye and from Ål,Ole Johannes Brye .
Please click the photographer's name to see his pictures
A.E. Grøvo (1892 - 1961)
Was born on the Grøvo farm in Hovet. He attended Voss Art and Craft School. Arne Grøvo married Guri Bakkegaard, niece of photographer L.K. Ødegaard. Grøvo started his PhotoShop in a workman’s hut in Geilo. In 1923 he built a house with photo studio and shop in the center of Geilo. In the early fifties Arne`s son, Nicolay and wife Agnes took over the business. Later his son, Nils Erik and his daughter Åse Gry started in the photo business. All 11,000 glass negatives formerly belonging to A.E. Grøvo have been copied and filed in the, Bygdearkive in Hol.
Olav S. Reinthon (1886 - 1916)
Worked as a chief cashier from 1906-1916. He started to take photos in 1908 with an emphasis on both portraits and landscape postcards, recording, all the details of his photos, in his notebook. Olav R. built a photo studio near Hol Stave Church, like A.E. Grøvo, all of Olav Reinthon’s glass negatives have been copied, registered and archived in the Bygdearkive in Hol..
L.K. Ødegaard (1877 - 1933)
Was born on the farm Ødegaard in Lien east of Geilo. In 1901 he sat his teacher exams. In addition to teaching he was very interested in photography. He studied under photographer Larsen in Tønsberg where he learned the profession of photographer,then he worked a while at photographer Forbech in Kristiania. In 1902 he moved to Nesbyen and started as teacher at Dokken school and later at Skoterudmoen school. In 1907 he started to take pictures and in 1908 postcards. In 1926 he moved to the centre of Nesbyen and started his own photo studio and shop. L.K. Ødegaard made the photos, developed them, but contracted with a business in Oslo for printing the photos and postcards. The area between Finse and Hønefoss was well covered, he took also photos in Valdres and Numedal . When he moved to the centre of Nesbyen, most of his glass negatives, left in a building on Skoterudmoen. This building burned down, and all the negatives were left in the building were destroyed. In 1996 his only living daughter, Hidur S. Ødegaard, gave the glass negatives made prior to, and after the fire, to the "Bygdearkive" in Hol.
If you have one of L.K.Ødegaard`s postcards, I would appreciate it if you could write to me, and let me know the number, the date, and title,or subject of the card, as I am collecting his cards and registering them.
To see more photos of Hol Kommune Clik here
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