The Most Beautiful Town in Norway
Ålesund’s Astounding Art-Nouveau Architecture
The town of Ålesund (pronounced “oh-le-sund”) was voted “The most beautiful town in Norway” in a recent survey of Norwegians.
“Why,” you ask, incredulous, “would a little cod-fishing town on a remote northern island deserve such a high honor?”
Because Ålesund has the largest concentration of Art-Nouveau buildings in the entire world. Several hundred of these century-old houses are all clustered together on this little island. A walk around the town center leaves you breathless from the gorgeousness of so much whimsy embedded in such a wild, grey, and rainy landscape. The town is simply stunning to behold.
“But hang on,” I hear a note of surprise in your voice, “Isn’t Budapest famous for Art Nouveau? What about Vienna? Paris? How the heck could this tiny town, nothing but a speck on a map of the coast of Norway, end up with block after block of what today are considered the architectural treasures of central Europe?”
What an astute question!
The answer is simple, tragic, inspiring, and lucky, all at once.
A fire destroyed 80% of Ålesund in January 1904, leaving more than 10,000 people homeless in the middle of winter. Amazingly, only one person died in the flames. Nearby commumities sent emergency aid at once, and within a few days four German relief ships arrived, filled with food, medical supplies, and everything needed to build emergency shelters — a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm, who often vacationed in the impressive fjords nearby, and knew Ålesund well.
Norwegian construction workers and tradesmen soon arrived en masse from all over the country. A national depression had left many of them unemployed, so when news of the fire spread, they simply headed to Ålesund, where every hand was put to work.
Norwegian architects, including those who were educated and employed abroad — in England, Germany, Austria — dropped what they were doing and came to Ålesund. They brought with them the latest trend in architecture and design: Art Noveau. This new, expressive style drew inspiration from forms found in nature, with curves and flourishes, vines and flowers.
One final stroke of luck: just a few short years before the fire, home insurance companies began operating in the region. As a result, most of Ålesund’s houses were insured when the fire struck (which naturally enough let to the supposition that arson might have been the cause of the fire; this was never proven, however).
The reconstruction of Ålesund coincided with the independence of Norway, after 400 years of rule by Denmark and Sweden. This lent a sense of patriotic pride to the rebuilding effort, a desire to show the world what Norway was capable of. That sense of nationalism led the architects to infuse distinctly Norwegian elements into the design of their buildings, borrowing viking-era motifs known as Dragestil, or “Dragon Style,” like these:
Here’s some examples of how “Dragon Style” embellishes Ålesund’s Art Nouveau facades:
One of the most magnificant Art Nouveau houses was built in stone for the wealthy town pharmacist. Every corner of the interior of the shop and home was decorated with Art Nouveau/Dragestil furnishings and flourishes — including the cash register. It was so magnificent, it has been preserved as the town’s Art-Nouveau museum:
Teresa and I took an Art Nouveau guided walk through town with a lovely local resident named Randi (roll the ‘r”), her greying blonde hair held in a single, thick braid. Randi was born and raised in Ålesund in the 60s and 70s, and she told us that when she was young, she thought the town was so boring, so drab!
“That’s because all these houses,” she gestured towards the brightly colored streets, “were never painted! The beautiful colors we see in Ålesund today weren’t there for the first 70 years after the fire. After the architects and builders were finished, they left town. By then, the insurance money had run out. So the residents and shop owners simply never got around to painting their new homes and businesses!”
Instead, they left them looking like this one (below left):
By the 1970s, people were starting to tear down their now-old Art-Nouveau houses and replace them more modern homes.
“What saved them?” you ask, your relentless curiosity still undimmed.
This was also our question to Randi. By way of an answer, she led us to a statue by the bridge in the center of town (see photo above right).
“This is Harald Grytten,” she introduced us to the statue as if to an old friend. “He single-handedly convinced the citizens Ålesund not to tear down its Art Nouveau houses, and instead, to paint them, as was originally intended! He lives in Ålesund to this day…he’s quite a character!”
I love how Grytten is portrayed in this sculpture, his hand in a gesture that seems to say, “Isn’t it obvious? This is our heritage. We must preserve these houses for the good of our town!”
Today, this heritage has put Ålesund on the map as one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Norway.
“What an amazing man! What and amazing tale of town!” I hear you exclaim, satisfied, at last, now that all your questions about Ålesund have been answered.
