![]() “One saved the lives of 20 Spanish sailors whose ship was torpedoed during World War I,” he says. While it didn’t win the money, he tells me, his design was used to build 34 Brude lifeboats. Photo by Liz CampbellĮllefsen has written a book about Brude and his unusual lifeboat. Aalesands Museum curator Ole Ellefsen takes a moment to enjoy the water-tight interior of Uræd, the egg-shaped lifeboat designed in Norway. Not a bad place to wait for rescue from a shipwreck. It’s not hard to imagine the astonishment citizens of Gloucester, Massachusetts felt when a giant metal egg arrived at Pavilion Beach in January 1905, and four bedraggled sailors emerged. When they did arrive, he tells me, they made quite an impact. “But there were many storms that summer and they prevented them from arriving in time.” ![]() They decided to sail to America in the egg to prove its sea-worthiness and claim the prize,” explains Ellefsen. “Brude and three friends heard about this. ![]() In 1904, France offered a prize of one million francs for an improved lifeboat design, to be awarded at the St. Designed by a local seaman, Ole Brude, who had seen too many lives lost to exposure in open lifeboats, the egg is actually a lifeboat. Inside the museum, sitting in a replica of the egg’s interior, the curator, Ole M. Wander further along and you’ll arrive at the Aalesands Museum and there, outside it, is a giant metal egg! Nautilus? Death Star? Whose imagination created this? Many Norwegians were executed for their role in this rescue that carried on throughout the war. At great personal risk, some 300 boats of all sizes transported to Scotland more than 3,200 people escaping the German occupation. A sailor standing on the bow of a small boat pays tribute to Englandsfarten, the North Sea traffic during World War II. One remarkable bronze commemorates a history few people know. Sculpture of the fisher boy overlooking Alesund harbor She, like the young fisher boy overlooking the inner harbor, his large sou’wester hat a favorite perch for seagulls, is a reminder of its seafaring history. Most, like the woman cleaning herring, simply tell the story of this town. Some, like the newspaper boy waving from a street corner, are whimsical. And scattered through the city are public art installations. But among these, Ålesund is somewhat unique in having started with a clean slate after the fire, and it has held fast to Art Nouveau dictates.Įach turn along its winding streets reveals new colorful architectural features. It includes cities like Glasgow, Barcelona and Vienna. Ålesund is a partner in the Réseau Art Nouveau Network, a European network of cooperation created in 1999 to protect and foster the development of Art Nouveau. Photo by Sverre Hjornevik, Destination AlesundĪt the Jugendstilsenteret National Interpretation Centre, visitors can learn more about the rebuilding of the town and the Art Nouveau movement. Visit the Jugendstilsenteret National Interpretation Center to learn more about Art Nouveau. Grand, imposing construction gave way to clean lines, curved glass, simple decorative touches, and most strikingly, to color. Thus, buildings, their furnishings, and even functional edifices like railroad stations, all incorporate highly stylized, flowing curvilinear shapes. The Jungendstil ( Art Nouveau) movement was sweeping Europe and the replacement Ålesund was designed by Norwegian architects and master builders who had embraced its organic, nature-inspired motifs.Īrt Nouveau believes that art should be part of everyday life. Then he assisted in its rebuilding, this time in stone and brick, in a striking new design. Touched by their plight, he sent ships filled with materials to build temporary shelters to house the destitute community. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had spent holidays in the Sunnmøre Alps. But something extraordinary arose from the ashes. On January 13, 1904, this small town was almost completely destroyed as fire ripped through its wooden buildings, leaving more than 10,000 residents homeless. And as with any good fairy tale, this happy ending began with a disaster. It feels as if I have wandered onto the set of a fairy tale. Small details – faces, flowers, animals – give each a unique design. Towers, turrets and imaginative ornamentation decorate graceful buildings in shades of pink, yellow, blue. But this does not look like a fishing village. Most of the 66,000 inhabitants of this main city in Southern Norway depend on the sea for their livelihood, and there’s even a fishing museum celebrating its heritage. Walking through Ålesund in the Sunnmøre region of Norway is necessarily a slow stroll there’s just too much to take in. View from Mt Aksla of the city of Alesund and surrounding mountains.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |