Blomberg, Norway

(Please read this first )

Blomberg lies 452 metres above sea level, on a mountain plateau above Syltevik Farm on the south side of Geirangerfjorden. The farm was mentioned in written sources in 1650. In everyday speech the farm used to be called Holten. The road up to Blomberg has 28 bends, runs partly through a ravine and, even though the houses lie in the lee of the föhn winds, the road is very exposed to rock falls. During the winter, taking children to and from school in Geiranger every fortnight used to be very dangerous.

Blomberg has never been an easy farm to run, but the pasture there is good and when Martin Blomberg moved out in 1947, he had plenty of money in the bank. He could have bought many farms like Blomberg for that amount!

Blomberg has now been restored and the barn, which had collapsed, has been reconstructed using material from another old barn. Much of the external renovation has been done based on photographs taken by Magne Flem just after the war. This even involved standing with a photograph in one hand and cutting the boarding on the barn so that it looked just the same. It was worse at the back, as there were no good pictures showing the roof construction of the barn. In one of Magne Flem's old photographs it appears as though there was a loft on the covered bridge to the barn, but it is not very clear. However, in the Christmas issue of the cartoon series "Nils og Blåmann" from 1946, the barn at Blomberg is illustrated showing the loft, and the farm itself is so clearly drawn that it is can be assumed that the illustrator himself, Ivar Mauritz-Hansen, must have been up to Blomberg. What is certain is that both the illustrator and the author, Sigurd Winsnes, were on holiday in Geiranger with their families and got to know the Blomberg folk in the summer of 1946.

In any case, the barn at Blomberg now has a loft on the bridge to the barn. It took five years to restore Blomberg, and the only reason that it was possible to carry out this major project was that public funding was made available to finance it. It has cost a total of NOK 2.6 million to safeguard this historic farm for future generations.

How To Get To Blomberg

if you want to get to blomberg you need to arrive to Geiranger, Norwegia. The Geiranger Fjord (Norwegian: Geirangerfjorden) is a fjord in the Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county in Norway. It is in the municipality of Stranda. It is a 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) long branch of the Storfjord (Great Fjord). The small village of Geiranger is located at the end of the fjord where the Geirangelva river empties into it. After arrived in Oslo international airport you cn take a bus to goto GeirangerGjord. There are express bus routes from Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen daily to Geiranger. In summer, daily buses to Åndalsnes (Nkr197, three hours) via Valldal leave Geiranger at 1pm and 6.10pm. For Molde, change buses in Åndalsnes; for Ålesund, change at Linge.

If you using boat, The popular, hugely recommended run between Geiranger and Hellesylt (passenger/car with driver Nkr100/210, one hour) is quite the most spectacular scheduled ferry route in Norway. It has four to eight sailings daily between May and September (every 90 minutes, June to August). Almost as scenic is the ferry that runs twice daily between Geiranger and Valldal (adult/child single Nkr160/80, return Nkr250/120, 2¼ hours) between late-June and mid-August.

From mid-April to mid-September, the Hurtigruten coastal ferry makes a detour from Ålesund to Geiranger (departs 1.30pm) on its northbound run only.

Domestic flight connections are good, with direct flights from the largest cities of Norway to Ålesund Airport Vigra and to Ørsta/Volda Airport Hovden. Direct flights to Copenhagen and Riga. Northbound and southbound coastal express Hurtigruten calls daily at Ålesund and Torvik by Fosnavåg, and during summer season you can join daily round trips between Ålesund and Geiranger. Good bus connections to/from most cities and towns in Norway. The train trip with Raumabanen is an experience in itself, from Åndalsnes the "Train Bus" takes you further on to Ålesund & Sunnmøre.

If you choose to get there by plane, Domestic flight connections are good, with direct flights from the largest cities of Norway to Ålesund Airport Vigra and to Ørsta/Volda Airport Hovden. Direct flights to Copenhagen and Riga. Northbound and southbound coastal express Hurtigruten calls daily at Ålesund and Torvik by Fosnavåg, and during summer season you can join daily round trips between Ålesund and Geiranger. Good bus connections to/from most cities and towns in Norway. The train trip with Raumabanen is an experience in itself, from Åndalsnes the "Train Bus" takes you further on to Ålesund & Sunnmøre.

 From Geiranger you can take boat to Blomberg. (Back To GeirangerFjord)

Posted in: Norway