Nothing could have prepared the Scandinavian countries for what happened in Norway five years ago on 22 July 2011, when Anders Behring Breivik exploded a car bomb near government building in Oslo, killing eight people, then travelled to the nearby island of Utøya and gunned down 68 young people attending a Labor Party youth rally.
The 2011 Norway attacks conducted by a lone wolf terrorist on 22 July 2011 claimed a total of 77 lives.
In his 1,500-page manifesto, “2083 – A European Declaration pf Independence”, Breivik claimed he had carried out the killings to precipitate a revolution against Islam and multiculturalism.
Utøya youth camp massacre
The massacre led to much soul-searching across the region, shaking as they did the traditional image of the Scandinavian countries as places of tolerance, liberalism and hospitality.
Prime minister Jens Stoltenberg after the Oslo bomb blast
In Norway, hundreds of thousands of people expressed their revulsion at the killings by demonstrating their support for democracy and unity.
As the prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, put it, “If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we could show standing together.”
Djurs Sommerland in Denmark has invested DKK 90 million in a new roller coaster with a top speed of 85 km/h, a length of 825 meters and a height of 30 meters. The new attraction will open in May 2017.
The new attraction will thus be Europe’s longest and fastest Family Suspended Coater (carts located on the underside of the rails), and the roller coaster is so large that it takes a whole year to build it. It is the largest single investment in a Danish amusement park ever.
https://youtu.be/a2B5jwr3YiY
When it is finished, the roller coaster is able to give a full blown adrenaline and 4G experience to approximately 750 people an hour, with a running time of two minutes. The new attraction will be a part pf a new and extensive theme area.
Djurs Sommerland’s latest investment is an extension of the park’s ambitious investment strategy, which also includes the Pirate (2008) and Jewel (2013).
CEO Henrik B., Nielsen (Photo: Flemming Højer)
When the new attraction is in place it will be the 27th park launch since 2008, a period in which Djurs Sommerland has invested over DKK 400 million in development. It has apparently paid off, since the number of visitors has increased from over 487,000 guests in 2007 to 801,000 in 2015, according to a press release from the amusement park.
The photographic culture of Norwegian US immigrants
Lengselens bilder (Pictures of Longing) by Sigrid Lien is a photographic image of America – as seen through the eyes of Norwegian immigrants. Many have been interested in and much has been written about the Norwegian US emigration, but few have focused on the images as historical sources like Sigrid Lien. Between 1870 and 1930 around 700,000 Norwegians immigrated to the United States.
Forde home, Winneshick County, Iowa
There was a fierce competition for work at home and plenty of jobs “across the pond”. Due to the demand and relatively inexpensive equipment some started their career as photographers after they had moved. Also women were well represented. However, the photographic profession was one of the few that could provide a good decent livelihood at the time.
High Seas (from Sigrid Lien’s book)
In spite of that, many traveled around and photographed, for example, Indians and railway construction. Some even commuted between the United States and Norway to sell their pictures.
Image from the American dream
Such photographs have documented the modernization of the American continent and also participated in helping to create our notion of America. They also helped to maintain the ties between those who moved and those who remained behind.
Although there were strong forces at work to stop people from moving, there were many who were lured by the letters and pictures from “over there.” Photographs of America and American living may thus have been a contributing factor to the massive exodus.
In Sigrid Lien’s book Lengselens bilder (Pictures of Longing) letters and images complement each other. One letter may tell that a little child has passed away, while the picture shows a desperate father with a dead child in his arms. This powerful story and many others are visualized in the book.
Sigrid Lien
About the author Sigrid Lien is professor in art history at Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aestetic Studies at the University of Bergen. She has written several books on photographic history and the art of reading images.
Pictures of Longing, written by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image (on top): Not from the book, courtesy Lars Andersen, private collection.
The landscape of Norway’s western coast, with its snow-capped mountains, deep fjords and narrow inlets, is full of contrasts – both majestic and mild at the same time.
Roughly paraphrased, that is how the Norwegian poet Tore Ørjasæter (1886-1968) opens his hymn to the west country. He puts into words what so many people are struck by when they come here: it is wild and beautiful, but also gentle and hospitable.
Norway, Sogn og Fjordane, Leardal, Vindhella, curves,Europe, Scandinavia, west Norway, Laerdal, Vindhella-Stravüe,
The west country us probably the part of Norway that offers the greatest contrasts. Here you can climb up the mountains surrounding the busy city of Bergen, or take a boat from Ålesund to the islands dotted like stepping stones to the open sea.
Old Quay, Bergen
You can wander in shady forests or rest in a quiet inlet. The west country can be described as the distillation of everything that is typical of Norwegian nature – the fjords, the sea, the mountains, wide open spaces and deep forests. All this must have left its mark on the people living here through the generations?
Aalesund, Norway
“Yes, I think so,” says Olav Grinde, who together with photographer Per Eide has written a richly illustrated guide to the region: “The Magic of Fjord Norway”. This is not a typical travel book which shows the surface of towns and villages, and tells you how to get there. “We did that too,” he goes on. “But first and foremost we wanted to paint a colorful and diverse picture. We also wanted to tell the story of the west country, about how the mountains were created, how the landscape has influenced the west country character, and how the people and culture have gone hand in hand for generations.”
Olav Grinde talks enthusiastically about his roots and his love of the west-country. He is, like most west-countrymen, a fierce local patriot, but one that does not let it tip into maudlin sentimentality. That is certainly not part of the west-country character.
Geiranger fjord, Photo: Per Eide
“I think west-country people aee rather taciturn and unsentimental, frugal and temperate,” says Grinde. “I think that is to do with how they have learned to live with the elements and made a living from the land and the sea.”
Geiranger fjord with cruise ship
The power of nature That is precisely what the first part of the book is about – the sea, the fjords, the mountains, woods and glaciers. Here the reader learns how the fjords were created through a series of ice ages, but is also tempted by the prospects in store for them if they decide to explore themselves on foot or by bike.
Hurigruten in Hjorundfjord. Photo by Erika Tiren
The second part of the book does not go as far back as the ice age, but the reader gains a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the Vikings and their way of life.
Norwegian stave church
The book is also about religion. For it is in this part of the country that Christianity was introduced in the 11th century, and it is here that strict Protestantism, Puritanism and temperance still hold sway in some local communities.
Surrounded by history Character, local culture and customs are one thing. Just as exciting is to get an introduction into local architectural and craft traditions. And this book provides it.
Travel by traiun in Flåm
“You just have to look around you,” says Grinde enthusiastically. “Much of the architecture we see today is built in ancient wisdom. And today’s wooden fishing boats resemble the old Viking ships in their design and construction. The book is a result of countless hours of research and I have spoken to a great many people with knowledge I didn’t even know existed. I learned, for example, that people had waterproofs long before Helly Hansen. But they used garments made of oil-impregnated hides or birch bark. However, I don’t mean that we should focus only on history and get all romantic,” he adds.
Tramcar to Fløyen in Bergen. Photo: Sverre Gjørnevik, Visit Bergen
“The west-country is also a modern region. That is why we have devoted a lot of space to presenting and describing our thriving towns and villages. Today. Road building, shipbuilding and oil production are important economic drivers. And the fishing industry. You could say that most of the raw materials exported from this country are produced here – oil and fish, the backbone of the Norwegian economy,” says Grinde, who emphasizes that the book is also published in English. You can also buy a paperback edition with the text in Norwegian, English and German.
Norwegian fjord
Yes, we will allow him that much advertising space. The glossy hardback edition is certainly a joy to behold.
The Scandinavian region has many national parks, each with its own claim to unique native flora and fauna.
Denmark’s parks are very new – the first opened in 2008 – and contain small but unique environments such as the tidal flats of the Wadden Sea.
Parks in the other Scandinavian countries tend to be much bigger, with marked trails. In the more remote parks, you’ll often find a chain of mountain stations set a day’s walk from one another along waymarked footpaths, providing shelter for walkers. Most are equipped with cooking facilities, a shop and comfortable beds. Some have a self-service restaurant and a sauna.
Wadden Sea National Park, Denmark
They are not hotels, but simple accommodation designed to provide a haven at the end of the day for tired walkers.
Åmotdal Cabin, Norway
Large areas of Norway have been designated as national parks to protect special habitats and support biodiversity.
Jostedals Glacier, Norway
Sweden’s 28 national parks cover everything from low-lying marshland to Sarek’s trackless mountains and glaciers.
Sarek National Park, Sweden
For spring flowers and birdsong, head to Dalby Söderskog in Skåne.
Dalby Söderskog, Sweden
Store Mosse in Småland is worth a detour for birdwatchers interested in whooper swans, marsh harriers and cranes.
Whooper Swans, Photo: David Fyles
In Sweden and Norway, the extensive networks of walking and hiking trails are marked by a red “T”.
National Parks in Scandinavia, written by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image (on top) Huldrefossen (Wood Nymph Waterfall)
From precipices overlooking fjords to architectural lookouts, could Norway be the world capital of the spectacular view?
If you want to hang out over a terrifying precipice, Norway is your country. Spots like Trolltunga (Troll’s Tongue) in Skjeggedal, are left as close as possible to how nature intended. So don’t expect protective fences on the four-hour hike to the precarious rock hanging out 700m above the lake Ringedalsvatnet.
Pulpit Rock
Slightly easier to get to is Prekestolen (the Pulpit Rock) in Forsand, which now attracts over 200,000 hikers a year for the 3.8km trek to its 25, by 25m flat top, perched 604m above the Lysefjord and the Ryfylke valley.
Kjeragbolt
Nearby is the Kjeragbolt, a 5 square meter boulder lodged in a 984m-deep crevasse in the 1,100 in the 1,100m Kjerag mountain, which is popular with hikers and BASE jumpers.
From Andøya, Norway’s national tourist routes
Norway has developed 18 National Tourist Routesto take the country’s landscape and many of these drives have been augmented with spectacular viewing points. Beautiful installations on the Andøya, Lofoten (above, designed by Snøhetta) and Trollstigenroutes, for example. You will find protecting platforms at Gaularfjell, Ørnesingen and Aurlandsfjellet (by architect Todd Saundersand Tommie Wilhelmesen). These don’t just showcase Norway’s stunning outdoors, but innovative design too.
Between 1990 and 2007 studies show that the number of Swedes commuting to work in Norway had doubled. In spite of the recent fall in oil prices and downsizing in the oil industry, the number of Swedes seeking jobs in Norway is still on the rise.
According to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, this migration could result in long-term damage to the Sweden’s growth. The number of Swedes choosing to work for their Norwegian neighbors has risen by 25 percent in just two years, to 83,000 in 2009. Of those Swedes with a tax card in the country, 35 percent are in their twenties.
More than 90,000 Swedes work in Norway today, making up the largest immigrant group in the country. Staffing company worknorway.se said it has another 50,000 Swedish job hunters in its database, seeking better pay and conditions across the border.
In the years after World War II — in which Norway had been occupied by Nazi Germany and Sweden had stayed neutral, leaving its industrial base intact — Sweden’s economy grew at a breakneck pace. Workers came from all over Europe, and not least from Norway, to fill the factories, shipyards and construction sites of the boom years.
Today the youth unemployment soars in Sweden, more youngsters are fleeing across the border to Norway in an attempt to find work. A quarter of Swedes aged between 15 and 24 now find themselves outside the labor market in their home country, with the ongoing economic crisis only making matters worse.
“Norway is an attractive country to work in,” worknorway.se’s recruiting manager Mikael Ljung told newspaper Dagsavisen. “We have more than 50,000 registered in our bases, who want to work in Norway. Norway is a nice country, and often offers better conditions than us. The service industry is the most popular. And it is the sector with the most jobs. But we provide staff within all sectors.”
“Most Swedes who come are 18 through 25, and are prepared to work hard,” said Mikael Svensson, a Swede who recruits countrymen for the staffing company Adecco. He added that Swedes are very popular among Norwegian employers.
“I have more questions than before about foreign opportunities from those with academic training,” said Pirjo Vaananen from the Public Employment Service in an interview with Stockholm News. “Often they show an active interest in working abroad just before they finish their education,” he added.
Charlotte Lundell had been a travelling youth since leaving her childhood home in Stockholm at 18. She first went to France, before she studied at the Uppsala University and in Australia and then getting a job in Oslo as Brand Manager at Orkla Confectionery & Snacks.
Working in Norway
“I love Oslo. The streets are so nice. The houses are so charming. Everything is just around the corner. You’re close to nature. One of my first days in Oslo I saw a guy with a snowboard in the city center. Strange, I thought. Later I realized he had come straight from the piste. You can take the underground straight from the city center to the hills, and ten minutes on the bus takes you to the best beach. There are coffee bars everywhere. It is easy to grab a cup of coffee before going to work, or to meet friends for a five minute break in the afternoon. I have time to meet the lovely people I have met here, both Swedes and Norwegians. Life is more than work. The quality of life is very high in Oslo.”
Johannes Sorbo
“The Swedes who currently work in Norway largely work in the service industry, like shops, hotels, restaurants and so on,” said senior adviser Johannes Sorbo from Norway’s labor and welfare administration NAV. “In addition there are many who work in the Norwegian health system. In the future, the demand for labor will increase especially within health and care, because of the aging population. Here Swedes have the advantage of knowing the language and can easily go into these jobs straight away. At the same time, the need for this type of labor will probably also increase in Sweden in the future.”
Advisor for the Norwegian Employment Service, Johannes Sorbo, said, “It is certainly a plus that wages are better than in Sweden, and it is easier for young people to find jobs in Norway than in Sweden. We have a labor shortage.” Sorbo added that young Swedes are popular with Norwegian employers as, “they are known to be skilled and easy to deal with, and the language is of course no problem.”
Economist for the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Malin Sahlen, said the issue is not so positive for Sweden. “It’s really worrying that graduates and other young people see a reason to leave Sweden. For companies, who will need these employees later, a direct consequence is that key skill and potential is leaving the country. In the long term, this means lower growth and prosperity for the country as a whole,” Sahlen told Stockholm News.
Job opportunities in Scandinavia The Riley Guide is an international job seeking guide founded in 1994 by a university librarian, Margaret F. Dikel (formerly Margaret Riley). The Riley Guide is a gateway to job, career, and education information sources available online.
For more information on job opportunities in Scandinavia, follow this link.
Norway Popular to Swedish Job Hunters , compiled by Admin
The open air Viking festival Midgardsblot, runs from 18 through 20 August in Midgard, a park in Borre in the county of Vestfold, where the mighty rulers of the Norwegian Vikings lived, feasted, and were laid to rest.
Experience a three day blot with blasting metal and true Vikings at historic grounds. Some of the world’s leading metal bands will enter the Midgardsblot stage.
Autumn at Midgard
New Open Air festivals are sprouting like mushrooms all over Europe. Yet Midgardsblot in Norway has a very special touch. It is a larger, longer, and even more ambitious festival exploring the links between extreme metal and Viking culture. You are all summoned to the world of the Vikings with exceptional concerts in unique and historical surroundings.
Runa Lunde-Strindin
Main organizer Runa Lunde Strindin says the idea to the festival came with the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution in 2014. She got a call from the Akershus county, which has a constitution building from 1814 at a place called Eidsvoll, where the constitution of Norway was signed. They wanted to do a black metal concert at one of the Viking Grave mounds there. It was one festival day on the 13th of September that year, and it was a huge success.
Midgard historical center, Borre, Vestfold, Norway
Last year Midgardsblot was arranged in Borre. One of the performers, Wardruna founder Einar Selvik, a man steeped in Viking history, not least in his musical contribution to the much loved TV series, Vikings, emphasizes that Borre is a stunning place and the whole Vestfold region should be highly significant for anyone who is into Norse history. The area is full of historical sights. “Last summer I had the great privileged to perform a song on the site’s biggest burial mound in front of 700 Viking re-enactors honoring the past,” says Selvik.
Viking activity at Midgardblot Festival. Photo: Espen Winther
The festival this year is bigger than last year and will include a beer festival with craft beer and tastings, Viking village and market, festival camp at the beaches of Borre park where you can live like a Viking. There will be Viking battles and ancient Norse games, guided tours, exhibitions, lectures and activities for the whole family.
Feature image (on top): Midgardblit Festival in Borre, Norway
Open Air Viking Festival in Norway, written by Tor Kjolberg
Swedish musician Martin Molin, 33, spent a year on a machine that turns marbles into part of a musical instrument. He spent 14 months working on the instrument that plays both melody and rhythm.
Martin Molin, 33, lead musician of Swedish band, Wintergarten, debuted the Wintergatan Marble Machine earlier this year to an outpouring of amazement and praise from the public.
Martin Molin and his Wintergatan marble machine
The Marble Machine is a hand-cranked music box loaded with instruments including a circuit of 2,000 cascading steel marbles. As the devices cycles it activates a vibraphone, bass, kick drum, cymbal and other instruments that play a score programmed into a 32 bar loop comprised of LEGO technic parts. The marbles are moved internally through the machine using funnels, pulleys, and tubes.
Molin officially unveiled his “Marble Machine” on Feb. 29 with a YouTube video featuring an original instrumental composition.
“It follows a long tradition of marble machines that ‘play with physics’”, Molin explains, except his marble machine “differs in the way that you can program how the marbles are falling.”
Molin began work on the marble machine in August 2014 and hoped to spend about two months on the project. Its complexity soon spiraled out of control as all 3,000 internal parts had to be designed and fabricated by hand, a time-consuming process that eventually took 14 months.
The Swedish musician was inspired to build his machine after visiting a museum with mechanical instruments in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Despite the extreme interest an oddity like the Wintergatan Marble Machine is bound to generate—especially on the internet—don’t expect to see it on tour anytime soon, as the contraption has to be completely disassembled to move it. Molin hopes to build additional music devices, some smaller, or perhaps more suited for transport.
Feature image (on Top) Martin Molin in Liseberg amusementpark, Gothenburg
Swedish Musician Turns 2,000 Marbles into Music, written by Admin
2016 will be the eleventh summer in a row with rolling Vikings in the world’s most beautiful 7 day cycling stage race in Norway, The Viking Tour.
There are no time limits and participants can choose to ride with non-timed enthusiasts in the touring class. The challenge is simply to reach the finish line every day and get all the shared thrill at evenings while recovering.
Participants from las summer say it is a heartwarming atmosphere in this steepest race north of the Alps through the World heritage Norwegian fjord land.
From Viking Tour 2013
“We hope to welcome just the right mix of young and old, fly-weight, bantams and elephants as in previous tears. This mix is surely the single most important contributor to the special informal and warm atmosphere that makes VT more than another cycling competition,” say the organizers.
For anyone who has ever wanted to do a multi-day road cycling stage race/adventure, this is a great first event. It is low key, a relatively small field and a touring option if you miss a day.
Both organizers, roadside fans and not to mention the riders themselves are very keen to welcome anyone simply up for an ultimate cycling holiday. Whether your goal is to complete the week or to drown in lactic acid just a little later than your best competitor.
During Viking Tour you can skip stages. Having a bad day, needing rest or just wanting to take photos for a day: at any time you can step off and ride with the pick-up van to the daily stage finish.
Make no mistake: The Viking Tour is also a tough stage race, with a route unmatched north of the Alps. For the competition classes there are challenges in abundance. Creating new routes, the organizers always end up asking themselves if this is simply too much vertical madness.
The Viking Tour 2016 runs from 6 through 12 August.
Despite the extreme interest an oddity like the Wintergatan Marble Machine is bound to generate—especially on the internet—don’t expect to see it on tour anytime soon, as the contraption has to be completely disassembled to move it. Molin hopes to build additional music devices, some smaller, or perhaps more suited for transport.
