Petter Dass and the Petter Dass-Museum

Petter Dass has been a big poet and priest in the 17. Century in Helgeland or more specific in Alstahaug. He has a central role in the Norwegian cultural history and is known for his special way to poetize, which is characterized by the nature and living conditions of Northern Norway in that time. Dass is also known as one of the most outstanding Danish-Norwegian poets of his time.

Petter Dass was born in 1647 at Herøy, an island in Helgeland. In the age of 13 he travels to Bergen to start his education at a Latin School. In 1666 he moves to Copenhagen and starts his studies there. Two years later he returns to Helgeland and starts to work as a teacher of a priest´s family and thereby gets involved in his later career as a priest himself, which starts in 1671 as a chaplain. Even though he was married and had two sons he became a priest in 1689. He publishes his first song “Den Norske Dalevise” (The Song of the Dalesman”) in 1683, but most of his songs got popular and published after his death in August 1707. He wrote his texts and hymns to strengthen the people’s faith and to teach them how to act, how to be a human being, which is why his poetry is used in churches until today. His most famous song is called “Nordland Trompet”.

The main exhibition in the Petter Dass-Museum deals with the social and religious preconditions of Petter Dass´s time as a writer. Thereby it looks closer at the person Dass itself, his life as a poet and his life as a priest. The exhibition is not arranged in a special order, so you can just go in and start wherever you want. The new building also helps underlining Petter´s love for nature and his role as a connector between the past and the future. The building itself is integrated into a hill and fits perfectly into the nature. Just like Petter always wrote about his nature and surroundings, the museum connects with its surroundings itself, it is melting together with the nature. Since Dass´s hymns and texts are still in use until today, telling about the life in the 17. Century, he connects our past and our future indirectly. The museum does the same. It is build out of glass, so that the visitors are on the one hand able to feel the close connection to the nature all the time, but it also builds a bridge between the past and the future. On the side of the entrance you can

see the old church Alstahaug, build in 1200, which presents the past, while on the other you look out into the nature and the sea, always in movement, always changing and thereby representing the future. The exhibition itself shows in a lovely way the life and work of Petter Dass and it is really great to be able to listen to his music in such a great atmosphere.