Aurland, Norway
This used Normann color photo postcard has the number 631 at the upper right corner on the reverse. The picture shows the community of Vangen and the fjord. When Dick Thompson and his sister Anna visited this area in 1951 they met with a cousin, Monrad Johnsen and his family. Monrad sent this card with a Christmas greeting to Dick in 1958.
Like many of the picturesque communities in Norway, Vangen is small, with the buildings clustered around the fjord and hugging the mountainsides. The largest building in the center of the picture is the 800 year old Vangen church. The style of the church is attributed to the English merchants who used to stay in Aurland for long periods to buy different goods and they helped build the church. The building is described as an early Gothic style. There have been several restorations with the most radical changes made in the 1860s. The most recent renovation was in 1926. The stained glass windows were made by the Norwegian artist, Emanuel Vigeland. The pulpit and candlesticks date from the 1600s. The church is open to the public with no fee.
Although it cannot be told from the picture on the card, the fjord is long, 18 miles or 29 km, and narrow with a depth of 3,156 ft or 963 m. It is less than 2 km or 1.2 miles wide. The mountains surrounding the fjord are steep, rising to about 5,900 ft or 1,800 m. There are other villages along the fjord in small valleys. Large sections of the fjord are part of the West Norwegian Fjords UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Monrad Johnsen was the son of Eli Andersen Johnsen sister to Dick’s mother, Sigrid Berentine Andersdatter Thompson. He was a teacher at the agricultural college in Aurland. Dick noted in his Scrapbook that Monrad was awarded the King’s Medal of Merit during World War II.
Marie and Monrad Johnsen, 1955
No comments:
Post a Comment