Alvøen

File:Alvøen.2.jpg

Alvøen Manor
picture by Nina Aldin Thune

File:Alvøen.1.jpg

Alvøen papermill

Alvøen or Alvøy is a manor house located on a historic industrial site in the Laksevåg borough of the city of Bergen, Norway. Alvøen Manor was once one of the grander private homes in Bergen.

History

Alvøen was the site one of Norway’s oldest industrial communities. In 1626, a gunpowder mill and corn mill were started on the site. Later it started production of saltpeter, linseed oil and paper. Alvøens Papirfabrik A/S began manufacturing paper in Alvøen from 1797. The paper mills stopped production in 1981. At that time, it was the oldest paper mill in the country. The specialty was finer paper for documents and from 1908, supplier of paper for Norwegian banknotes.

This mansion was the main residence of the owners of the paper factory of Alvøen. Alvøen Manor was originally built as a countryside retreat in 1797. Eventually the roccoco main building was surrounded by several gardens.

Alvøen is one of the oldest and best preserved industrial sites in Norway. Alvøen Manor and the factory were opened as a museum (Alvøen Hovedbygning) in 1983, as a branch of the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art. The site includes Alvøen Manor together with some forty worker cottages and production buildings dating from the 1800s.

Alvøen lies at the Vatlestraumen strait, west of Bergen, where the cargo ship Rocknes hit an underwater rock and capsized in January 2004. The wreckage was towed to Alvøen, stabilised and partly examined, before being taken to the CCB base at Ågotnes in Sotra for further examination and recovery.

See also

• Battle of Alvøen
• Alvøy is the name of islands in Øygarden and Fjell in Hordaland county, Norway.

External links

• Alvøen Hovedbygning
• Pictures from Alvøen