Kategori: Ancient monuments

Sundgata 12: Solbakke

Sundgt. 12 was built in 1897, first as a private residence for Otilie Andersen. She sold to Helge Myrvang, and the house was then used as a commercial building for a period.

It has housed both children's clothes, a shoemaker with horse equipment, a sewing room, a warehouse and a glass store. The building initially had 9 small rooms. In 1987-1994, the house was restored and converted into a residence again by Odd and Astrid Myrvang. B

y then, the house was almost 100 years old, and it was time for restoration. It was a big job. Among other things, the entire back wall had to be taken down due to rot, and for a period it was left open, with only one post to hold the roof up.

The current owner is Espen Jansen.

Gullverket – the country's most famous gold mine.

If you drive the county road from the center of Eidsvoll to Nord-Odal, you pass an area called Gullverket. The place has a prehistory that deals with exactly what the place name implies: Norway's most famous gold mine was located here.

Mining for gold continued far into the forest from 1758 to 1907, with long interruptions in between. The Danish-Norwegian state, Bernt Anker and two English companies were among the owners of the gold works. Norwegian and Danish government officials, professors and writers visited the work in the pioneering period and wrote about their impressions and great hopes.

The Gold Mine became famous, but the truth was that neither company made any money. When the operation was at its most intense at the beginning of the 20th century, approximately 200 men worked in the gold operation at the Gold mine The mining community was international and modern with English directors and skilled workers, Swedish and Norwegian miners. The area had electricity and a telephone. The children of the miners had their own school, and the place had a shop and cultural offerings.

In 1907 it came to an abrupt end. The English company itself filed for bankruptcy, workers had to move away, buildings and machinery were sold at auction. Today, only the piles of rock, the mine shafts and the foundations of the settlement remain, apart from one house – the old laboratory. For well over 100 years, it has stood as it was left when operations ceased – with the chemical jars on shelves along the walls and the crucibles ready to be put into the melting furnaces.

The Norwegian Mining Museum at Kongsberg has described the laboratory as unique in a national context. The association of friends of the gold mines, Guldværket Cirkumferens, takes care of all the gold memorabilia and runs information on mining history. Information boards have been set up in several places, and the old laboratory has been restored and furnished as a museum where the association has collected all objects and photos from the mining era. Tours are now offered both in the museum and at the largest mining area, Brøstad mine.

Where the large gold washery stood while the English operated the works, the Friends' Association has built a cabin/hut with photos, maps and information about the operations and the ruins. Just book a tour.

On special days, the museum is opened for visitors without registration, with a subsequent offer of a guided tour of the mining area.

A book has also been written about the exclusive mining operations in the constitutional village; "The dream of gold". It is sold by the association of friends. Further information can be found online: http://www.gullverketmuseum.no/.

Camilla Wergeland was born in Kristiansand on 23 January 1813.

When her father Nicolai Wergeland got the position of parish priest in Eidsvoll in 1817, the family moved to the vicarage.

Camilla grew up here, as the second youngest in a group of five siblings. Camilla's childhood was carefree and happy. She was good at walking on stilts, and could even walk stairs on stilts! She enjoyed dressing up and doing theater. She could be quite wild, and together with her siblings she was allowed to express herself freely in the nature around the home. Here they balanced on the railing of the bridge over the Andelva, and they coal sailed on the Vorma.

During her teenage years, Camilla alternated between a quiet life at home and hectic weeks of social life visiting friends in Christiania. At home, she spent much of her time reading, or going on horse-riding trips. She loved to ride and spent a lot of time on horseback around Eidsvoll. She was also visited by friends and together they roamed the landscape around the vicarage, which consisted of gardens, paths, gazebos and hiding places.

Camilla received more education than was usual for girls of the time. She was homeschooled with her siblings, and three years of schooling. The young Camilla was beautiful and talented, and gained entry into fashionable circles both at home and abroad. She received several marriage offers, but Camilla refused.

She didn't want a marriage of convenience, she wanted to marry for love. It was not until 1838, when she was 25, that she met Jonas Collett, who was to become her husband. They married on 14 July 1841 in Eidsvoll church, and settled behind the castle in Christiania.

Camilla is considered Norway's first feminist, and is one of Norway's greatest and most important writers. She made her debut as a writer in 1842, but her greatest work was not published until 1854. Amtmandens Døttre was Norway's first socially critical novel. It was published anonymously, as was the custom for the few female writers at this time, but there was little doubt as to who was behind it. Over time, Camilla consolidated her position in Norwegian literature, and she published her works under her own name.

After her husband's death in 1851, Camilla lived a restless existence, moving from town to town in Europe, often with a couple of her sons in tow. She lived at home for certain periods, and often visited Eidsvoll, but never for long at a time.

She managed to make a living as a writer, but it was a poor existence. In 1862, the autobiographical memoir I de lange Nætter appeared. This book, together with her diary notes and letters, has been an important source of knowledge about Camilla's upbringing, and the rest of the Wergeland family's time, at Eidsvoll rectory.

 Camilla never forgot that she was a Wergeland. When she died aged 82 in 1895, she was cremated at her own request, and the urn was placed in the grave of Jonas Collett at Vår Frelser's cemetery. The grave is just a few steps from her brother Henrik Wergeland's tombstone, and is simply marked  "Camilla Collett f. Wergeland".