The Helleren houses in Jøssingfjord

Last modified 20.03.2022 | Published 24.06.20122010's, Norway, Norway Places

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Helleren is a large cliff overhanging two houses at the end of the Jøssingfjord, on the southwestern coast of Norway.

They were built in the early 19th century and abandoned in the 1920s shortly after the first road was opened. The houses are preserved as they once were, as houses for poor families subsiding on a combination of farming, sheep herding and fishing.

Have a look at these pictures and the video. The video also has a view of the Jøssingfjord made famous after the Altmark Affair in February 1940 when a British destroyer hunted down a German tanker liberating allied POWs. The Norwegian neutrality was broken by both nations and led right up to the German invasion two months later.

We visited the houses on a wet day, but they were perfectly dry inside and out. This explains why they have been kept almost intact to this day. The cliff offers a fine protection of the houses. Even the roofs only need wooden clapboards.

 

 

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I started out making a mini-series of short videos from the western coast of Norway – the fjord country – on my YouTube channel. The videos are a combination of textual narrative, video clips, animated photos and music from Norway. Here is the YouTube playlist. I then decided to include the videos and selected photos as entries on my blog, along with short descriptions. Some of the articles have been developing over time and now include much more.

Get an overview in the introduction article to Norway and the article about Towns and places of Norway.