Vik, Sogn og Fjordane County, Norway
 |
| The Town of Vik next to Sognefjord, Largest fjord in Norway |
VIK I SOGN, NORWAY (Our ancestors from this area include Anderson, Berdahl, Hove, Reutz, Espeseth, Tistel)
 |
| Our Cousin Eirik Tistel in front of Cabins owned by our families from 1600 |
 |
| Beth at the Stave Church in Vik |
Vik is a lovely town, a small tourist destination, located about ½ way inland on the longest Fjord in Norway on the west coast of Norway northeast of Bergan. The only way to drive to the town is via Highway 13, over a high and desolate road that is closed in the winter. There was still agreat deal of snow on the mountains in June. Ferry boats also provide good service back to Bergan and smaller towns north of the Fjord. The ferry boat from Bergan takes about 5 hours. Note the similarity of the town name Vik to Vikings.
The view from high above Vik is awesome, with views across to snow covered mountains, the Fjord, the town, and a major waterfall called "Lady". In the town of Vik two small rivers roar through town. The Sogn Fjord is the longest in Norway, and the glacier across the Fjord from Vik is the largest in Europe. The small harbor contains a few pleasure boats. Most of the fishing boats are gone. We saw porpoises swimming 50 feet off the Vik Shoreline. While we were in Vik we saw a large French cruise ship stay overnight anchored off the town.
The Town of Vik has about 1,400 people. The entire County has about 3,100 people. The town only had about 400 people in 1900. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people from Vik Sogn immigrated to America in the 1800's. In 1999 Vik conducted a jubilee in honor of the migration, which began in 1839.
The first person we met at the outskirts of Vik directed us to the Espeseth farm high above the town of Vik on Route 13. I got the directions wrong, and went to the Tistel farm next door. The Tistels are also ancestors of ours. We are descended from the Tistels as follows:
Roland Guttorman Tistel 1778 Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather to Craig
Kari Rolandsdatter Tistel 1804
Gjertrud Munth Reutz 1827
Eli Berdahl 1854
Peter Anderson 1877
Edna Sophia Anderson 1901
Louise Liffengren Hullinger (I won' tell)
 |
| Kari Marie and Eirik Tistel in front of Their Museum, Homes of our Ancestors |
The buildings all include sod roofs. The oldest building is from about 1700. The Tistels own a number of books from the family dating back to 1603 and 1647. Most of them are religious books. His museum included numerous interesting items, including a Hardingfele violin from 1780 to 1790 with three strings below four strings. He also had a wooden press to make spoons from cow and goat horns, and a large number of farm and household items.
Most of the Tistels who lived in Sogn immigrated to America. The Tistel's who stayed on the farm eventually died out, and Eirik Tistel assumed the name when he bought the farm (a common practice in Norway, also what our great grandfather Liffengren did). Eirik also noted that the Espeseth farm was adjacent, and the Reutz farm was across the creek. The Espeseth's had also assumed the name when they purchased the Espeseth farm. Our ancestors intermarried among these three nearby families of Tistel, Espeseths, and Reutz. The Tistels (Tisdals) in the US have an association, directed by Bob & Shari Nelson in Baxter, MN at email 2928nels@brainerd.net
Eirik and Kara owned several books that present the history of the area. There were several references to and photographs of the historic Tistel farm.
Bygdabok for VIK SOGN I and II , ISBN 82-90576-11-0 with pictures of the farm and a description of the farm and ownership.
Ein Stad Skal Ein Vera 1989 Sogn on Fjord
Eirik and Kari drove Beth and I around the area, and showed us the farms of our numerous ancestors. The Asterisk indicates that we saw the farm:
 |
| Fast Running Stream Through Vik |
Kari Rolandsdatter Tistel 1804 *
Sigrid Undi Espeseth 1842 *
Andres Bendicson Undi Espeseth 1813 *
Gjertrud Munth Reutz 1827 in Feios *
Adam Munthe Reutz 1799 *
Keri Hopperstad *
Mons Adersson Helland
Anna Hagen 1815 *
Eli Berdahl 1854
Ingebrikt Berdahl 1816 in Feios
Breta Ingebriktsdatter Berdal
Ole Hohannson Hagen 1765 *
Agatha Ingebritson Hove 1828
Keri Hopperstad *
Anders Per Limmesand Grov 1799
Bendix Stursen Undi 1799
Anders Alvson Nummedal 1697 *
Anna Botolvsdt Skjorvo 1827 *
Morton Edvardson 1732
Per Anderson 1824
We did not see an Anderson farm. It could be in the back country where we did not find it. The Anderson family seems to have moved among several communities, so their roots are not so deep in Vik. Our genealogy shows Per Anderson born in 1824 in Sogn, which is a large county, not in Vik, which is the largest town in Sogn. He died in Ridgeway, Iowa 1966. We did see some Anderson gravestones in Vik.
The Berdahl farm is shown on a map of Feios, near Vik, as indicated in our genealogy. A large tourist map on the Café / Tourist stop / bus stop map in Vik near the Fjord shows many of our ancestral farms by name on a map.
I looked up the names of our ancestors that came from the Vik area. The Sogn Phonebook covers a very large area, and shows where people live who share our forbears names.
Total names in the Phone book for the region who share our ancestral names include:
Berdahl (Berdal) 10
Reutz 0
Tistel 16
Helland 11
Espeseth 0
Hagen 3
Hopperstad 17
Undi 4
Hove 44
Saebo 0
Grov 5
Limmesand 0
There are also 8 Berdal's in Luster, a large rural area north of Vik on the other side of the Fjord. There are 21 Espeseth's in Flora, north of Vik towards the coast. There are 4 Espeseths and 24 Hagens in Forde, northwest of Vik.
There are three churches in Vik. The Stave Church is very lovely, and was built around 1150. The Hopperstads own the land on which the Stave Church is located, and are the only people who are allowed to be buried on the church grounds. This is likely where our Hopperstad ancestor is buried. The Stave Church in Morehead, Minnesota is a copy of this church.
There is also a large stone church that dates back to medieval times. The modern church looks like a large frame South Dakota Church.
Photos:
Craig Hullinger
