Nordlands Museum

Hello everybody!

Last tuesday (November 17th) we start the new Adventure Knowlege course: Experience of Architecture, Art and Cultural Heritage. We started the day with a trip to get to know more about Bodo's history and we made a tour in Bodo sentrum. We saw many buildings such as the Nordland Museum, Bodo's cathedral, the post-office, Bodo Kommune, the railway and many more. A tower marks the most important buildings in town. Apart from that, all those buildings have some similarities, such as the windows, the main entrance and the roof, to mention some.

Nordlands Museum

We saw many buildings, but the most interesting for me was the Nordland Museum, probably because we stayed there longer than in other places. The Nordland Museum is located in Bodo Sentrum. The building is yellow and it has big windows with some details in the boarders. The main entrance is visible and  the construction has a Swiss style. In this museum you can find a lot of information about Bodo's history, but mainly in Norwegian. In the inside you can find pictures and illustrated photos, that makes the visit more visual and therefore, more enjoyable. It is a bright place, which makes the museum more attractive. There is a good use of the space: In the lowest floor there is a fishbowl with different species; In the first floor there are some informative panels with some pictures; Finally, in the second floor everything is more visual, here you can find a model of Bodo city before the attack in 1940, after the attack and how it looks like nowadays. Also, you can see the tools that the hospitals used and some daily objects that help us to understand how the norwegian society was in the 19th-20th century. Apart from that, there is a film with subtitles in english that you can watch.

This trip has been meaningful for me, because I can relate with my studies (education). For example, the film is quite interesting for children. It is an appropriate way for turning on the interest of the puppils. Furthermore, in the film Bodo's history was explained in a positive way and that is really important in education: The children should join the school activities with good and positive feelings and this way their motivation for learning will increase. However, the language is an important factor to take into account. For example, the film contained a lot of information and we had to see the film and read the subtitles at the same time, so it was difficult to follow the text and the photos at the same time. In adition, almost everything was in norwegian, so if you let the children to explore the place and learn by their own, the puppils should know Norwegian. In our case, the best option was to make a tour with a guide, who explains everything in a common language. To sum up, the museum was really interesting and I liked the idea of focus the history in a positive way.

Bodin Church

Day 2, 18.11.2015

The Bodin Church is one of the oldest buildings in Bodø. It is located a little bit outside of the town centre. It is said that people come to worship at this place for almost thousand years. The church was torn down and rebuilt several times. But people believe that it is built around 1240 A.D.. The place where the church is located served even in earlier times as a place to worship the old gods. The architecture of the church is quite different to younger churches. Maybe it the it is today because it was rebuilt so often. 

Very striking is the altar-piece. It is quite big and made from wood. It is typical for the period, the baroque age. In the center of the altar-piece the story of Christ is told: the last supper in the centre, the crucifixion above, the burial at the bottom and above it all: Christ ascending into heaven. In early years the ceiling of the church was very low so the people could not se Christ ascending into heaven. There was literally a hole in the ceiling because the altar-piece was so tall.

On the same level as the last supper is Moses and his brother Aaron and on the next level is St. Paul and St. Peter. On top of them there are the four evangelists. On the extreme right and left are Adam and Eve to one side, and the baptism of Christ on the other. The date of the altar-piece is supported by two mermaids, 1670. There is also a record who gave it, and that it was painted by Gotfried Ezekiel, a german painter, in 1745. It is said that at that time no one in Nordland was able to paint like that. The baptism font was designed by Oscar Bodøgaard, a famous local artist who also restored the altar-piece in 1964.

I really liked the visit at the Bodin Church. It was very impressive to hear that the church was rebuilt several times, and that it was a worhshiped place for a long time either for the Norse gods or Christianity. I think it is very important to preserve such places to be able to teach history to our children and keep up their cultural interests. We should never forget where we come from. History is a important teacher for the future.

2. Bodin church

Bodin church was our next stop with course. This church is probably almost eight hundred years old and it is one of the oldest churches in Nordland. We had really interesting visitation and heard a lot from history of this church. During our tour I was thinking that finally I found place in Bodø which reminds me in some kind of way my home.
 I come from the Prague - the capital of Czech Republic. My country is one of the smallest but actually quite different in compare with Norway. Especially when we are talking about churches and historic monuments, there are plenty of them (because everything is so close and together on small area). So for me was actually interesting realize how much I am used to see historic monuments every day without deeper thinking. Now I realized that many people are passing these monuments every day ("another old building"). But actually I don't know too much about them.
 I had the same feeling approximately one year ago when I started to work with migrants in Prague. I also planned walks through the city and talking about main historical monuments for them. But for me was surprising, that a lot information people know, even though they are born in another country. Also they surprised me with questions to which I didn't know answer. So this visit reminds me, that next time I should rise my head and watch carefully things around me.

The Louis-Philippe Room

The Louis-Philippe Room contains the oldest interior furnishing in whole Norway. You can find it in the cultural center in Bodø, which initiated the restauration process of the furniture and the mural paintings in 2009. The room is entitled after the French King Louis Philippe who came to Bodø in 1795 as a refugee of the revolutionary government in Paris. In the time he stayed in Bodø he lived in the Bodin parsonage which was decorated and painted in the rococo style. The wall painting has been removed from its original room into a smaller one, so the paintings do not have their original size anymore. The first restauration process has not been done very thoughtfully so that the paintings started to deform and got stained. That is why the second project to preserve this important cultural heritage started in 2010. Since there is barely qualified staff in Norway they got help from Polish and German students who took over the process. Since the restauration process is very long the room is still not open for the public today but it is planned to reopen it for visitors for the 200-year-old anniversary of Bodø. The room itself was really beautiful and I totally support to preserve such cultural heritage. The effort to restaurate paintings like that is enormous and the students working on it did a great job. Finding and reproducing the exact colors that have been used originally takes a lot of time and research. The atmosphere was great, like being in another time. All the details are beautiful. I really hope that the room will last very long, since the conditions to obtain the wall paintings are not perfect in Norway. The humidity is quiet high in Bodø, which could cause another deformation. But removing it from its original location is not a possibility either.

Bodin church

During my stay in Norway I got to visit many Norwegian churches. Be it a church in Bergen, another in Alesund, Bodø Domkirke, the ice cathedral in Tromø, the famous Nidaros cathedral in Trondheim or one of the rare stave churches in the Stavanger region. This week it was time to see Bodin church, which I only spotted several times before, but never had the chance to catch a glimpse inside.

Built around 1240 in the quarter called “Bodøsjøen”, this catholic church plays a crucial role in the life of any catholic Bodø-inhabitant. Until 1886, the founding year of Saltstraumen church, every catholic had to take the risk of travelling to Bodin church in order to get baptised. People even crossed the fjords, and several died. The local parson told us everything about the fountain built of marble from Fauske, the ancient worth of a candle, the altar with its four-dimensional evening meal, the german church painter Gottfried Ezechiel and the hanging church. I listened very carefully and gave my best not to forget any detail, but there was something which occupied my mind: Is there any difference between “the” church in Norway and “the” church in Germany? And, if there is, do I evaluate it as a reasonable difference?

Regardless of my own faith, I got the subjective impression that Norwegian churches have a greater impact on the Norwegian youth than it is the case in Germany. In contrary to Germany, Norwegian churches offer evening meals with a local rock band or realise guided tours to famous churches with employees who have tattoos and wear black bracelets from a music festival they just participated in.

I don’t know about the relationship between state and church in Norway, but those two value-creating keystones try to kept separated in Germany. I myself admit to have critical and reflective thoughts about the churches’ goals, religious cults within peer-groups, about current church-debates (be it the new open-minded Pope in Rome or the german bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who misappropriated church-funds on a big scale), but even on atheism. To be a social worker in Germany means to choose your future employer whose institution will be part of the church in 50% of all cases, whether you like it or not. Is it a form of discrimination if you are automatically excluded from all job candidates because of your personal belief? Is “faith” considered to be something you can act out within your own inner privacy, without feeling the urge to defend your beliefs in public? As those church-institutions search for qualified employees, is it, in the same way, condemnable for a social institution offering pregnancy counselling to look for a female candidate for the team, because women are considered to be more empathic in the whole thematic and might identify with the institution’s values in a different way than a man could do? Or is it a vital right nobody should take away from them?

This should be discussed from now on. Maybe I should have asked the local parson about his opinion. Or I will write a letter to the church of the flying spaghetti monster…

Bodø Town History

Day 1, 17.11.2015

On the first day of our third module of Adventure Knowledge we visited the Nordland Museum in Bodø and had a look at some of the main buildings concerning architecture.

The Nordland Museum is a follow up of the Nordland Fishing Museum. The current museum was built in 1903 and is one of the oldest buildings in town. The exhibition contains the history of the town Bodø, the history about the Samen in Salten, the lifestyle of the farmers and fisherman, a part of the rich birdlife in this region, the history of the fish industry on the Lofoten islands, and a big silver treasure from the Viking Age.

One part of the exhibition took all my interest, The part about the history of Bodø. Bodø was established as a town in 1816. Especially the part of Bodø history while World War II took my attention. I am a quite a big fan of history. Maybe thats why it fascinates me so much. Bodø was nearly destroyed by german bombers on the 27.05.1940. 400 of all 600 buildings where destroyed in 2 and a half hours. The town was one of the worst hit towns in Nordland. It had to be built up again from scratch with swedish support. After war a new great period of growth started for the town again. After the Second World War the armed forces played a big role in Bodø. During the Cold War Bodø gained military importance. The western powers lead by America feared a soviet arming on the Kola-Peninsula. Therefore the NATO invested a huge buzz of money into the extension of Bodø's military airport.

Bodø has still today a very huge importance for the NATO. 

I really enjoyed the first day at the museum and the tour through the city. I see the city now with different eyes. I never had the idea that Bodø had such a rich history.

The film about Bodø

Bodø and the World War II

Our first day of the new course: “Adventure Knowledge: Art, Architecture and Cultural Heritage“ began on the 17^th of November at the Nordlandsmuseum. The Nordlandsmuseum is one of the oldest buildings in the center of Bodø which was not destroyed in the World War II. In the museum are exhibitions of the history of Bodø, the Vikings, the Sami and the Lofoten fisheries. We watched a film about the history of Bodø and we learned that it was a town with canneries, a steam ship wharf and shops. And then, the World War II broke out and Bodø was affected. Bodø was attracted on the 27^th of May 1940 by the German air force and was almost completely destroyed. Therefore, there are only a few historical sights today. Bodø was the most destroyed city in Norway. After bombing raids, the city had to be rebuilt almost completely. The vast majority of inhabitants were housed in temporary barracks and homeless shelters, till the war ended. After rebuilding, a completely different town arose, which is characterized by a sober and functional style. It was quite interesting for me to learn something about the history of Bodø and to see, what kind of city Bodø was before and after the World War II. The development of the city is fascinating and almost everything was destroyed. And then, the city had to develop again. Personally, I find Bodø not really spectacular and quite simple. But if one knows the background and the historical past of the city, one should the inhabitants and the city face with respect.  

Restoration – an example from Bodø

On the second day of our course - the 18^th of November- we went to the Bodin church and heard something about their history and their restoration. Restoration designated the rebuilding of the old state, which has often been lost over time. Which disciplines are involved in the restoration process, depends on the restored object, on the materials and on the used techniques. After visiting the church, we went to the Louis-Philippe room at the cultural center of Bodø. This restoration is the most comprehensive project in the field of conservation of historic interior since 1995 – in the region Nordland. The restoration began 2009 and was carried out by conservationists and students from Poland and Germany. 1795, the French citizen king was a guest in the vicarage Bodin. Later, the vicarage was demolished and some of the finest canvases could be obtained. On the canvases are hunting scenes (picture 1) and elegant gentlemen and ladies shown (picture 2). On the door are Chinese figures and landscapes printed (picture 3). The Louis-Philippe room contains the oldest preserved interiors with Rococo style in Norway and has therefore an utmost national importance. Because of the high art and cultural historical value of the canvases, the assurance of the room has the highest priority.  

Picture 1:

Picture 2:

Picture 3:

The Nordland Museum and it´s presentation of Bodø´s Histiory

 

http://nordlandsmuseet.no/en/nordlandsmuseet/

The Nordland Museum is focused on the town it is built in, Bodø. It shows its history from the early 19^th century on, when the first inhabitants settled down in Bodø and started to build a town with only a few houses, right at the sea where approximately the harbor is today. But it also includes a silver treasure from the second half of the 10^th century, found in Bodø In 1919, and an exhibition of the Sami people. The structure of the museum itself but especially of the exhibition "Our Town" on the second floor is quiet unusual. It does not follow specific rules since it starts with the bombing of Bodø in the Second World War, continues backwards to its roots and afterwards begins again with the post-war period, goes on until today and even shows plans for the next few years. The entrance to the second floor is amazing and grabs your attention right away. The exhibition begins with a reconstruction of a cellar room in a house hit by a bomb from the Nazis in the Second World War. The presentation is very real and made me feel uncomfortable, but in a positive way, so that I wanted to learn more about the background of this room or entrance. The explanation followed immediately with a model of Bodø after the attack of the Germans in 1940. As already mentioned the exhibition continues back in time, with many photos and objects fitting the timeline and ends its first part with a model of Bodø in 1816 where the foundation stones of the town have been set. Between this model and the next part of the exhibition is a huge leap in time to the post-war period and the cold war in which Bodø armed its forces and increased its military significantly. Afterwards it shows the daily life in the 60^th, again supported by pictures, objects and clothes from this time. The end is marked by Bodø´s image film and some models of further plans, to make the town even more attractive. The exhibition itself is supported by the installation of light and a film which again shows the history, but this time in the right order. The light installation is very interesting and supports the mood of the different times. In the beginning, which means in the part of the bombing of Bodø in the Second World War, it is very dark, only the exhibits are lighted. This underlines perfectly the tragic of these events. The illumination gets brighter the further you get. Also the film helps understand the history better, even though there is a little too much information for this short time, especially if you don´t understand Norwegian. It is only possible to focus on the subtitles and you miss all the amazing pictures. But the idea of telling the story with reference to some important families in Bodø is great and makes the film special. All in all the museum offers a great insight in the history of Bodø, especially with the support of all the town models and great photos.