Norway Then and Now: Tilbakeblikk
"Tilbakeblikk" is the name of a joint project between the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute and Norsk Folkemuseum. Tilbakeblikk means “retrospect” or “looking back” in Norwegian, describing the project’s use of photographs taken of the same places separated by long periods of time to illustrate landscape changes in Norway. The images below (starting with photo number two) are interactive—click on each image to see the difference the decades can make.
HINTS: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
An animation showing Hammerfest, Finnmark in 1889, then again in 2004. Hammerfest was a fishing community and a market town with the best ice-free harbor in these northerly waters. During the German retreat in February 1945, the entire town was burned down. The town is still characterized by houses rebuilt in the 1950s. #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Tilbakeblikk
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A view of Melkevollbreen Glacier, in Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane in 1888 and (click to fade) 2007. By comparing older photographs of farms with the same farm today, it is surprising to see how often old houses have been preserved. This is especially the case in the inner courtyard where storehouses and farmhouses are often the oldest still standing. The picture from Yri in Stryn shows that three of the five buildings from 1888 still exist. The stone walls of two of them are particularly easy to see. The house foremost in the picture was a mill, but is no longer there. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Kabelvåg, Nordland in 1905 and (click to fade) 2004. Kabelvåg is presumably Lofoten’s oldest, and has also been its largest fishing community. In 1905 Kabelvåg was an urban environment, the capital of Lofoten, and an important trade center. The Vågan church, the Lofoten Cathedral, was one of Norway’s largest wooden churches. With the motorization of coastal boats, the harbor was no longer serviceable, and Svolvær took over most of the boat traffic and expanded. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Images of Rysstad, a village in Aust-Agder, in 1888, and again (click to fade) in 2013. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Karl Johans gate in Oslo, seen circa 1899 and again (click to fade) in 2007. Karl Johans gate is known as Norway’s number one boulevard. Its name came from the Swedish-Norwegian king Karl III Johan in 1852. Here, the street can be seen from Egertorget to the Castle, a stretch which before 1852 was briefly called Slottsveien. The pictures show that Karl Johan’s façade has changed relatively little since the turn of the century. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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A view of islands from the hole in Torghatten, a mountain with a natural tunnel in its center, near Brønnøy-municipality Nordland, seen in 1889, and again (click to fade) in 2014. [Click the image to view transition.]#CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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A scene near Ågvatnet, looking towards Blokktinden, Rødøy, Nordland, seen in 1885 and again (click to fade) in 2008. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Røstlandet, Nordland in 1910, and again (click to fade) in 2010. Four hours by ferry from Bodø lies Røst – an island community in Lofoten that most people have heard of but very few have seen. In 1900 a new church was built at Røstlandet, midway between the fishing harbors in the south and the agricultural settlement in the north. Today, the church is located in the center of the municipality surrounded by homes, town hall, schools, and a nursery school. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Swimmers in Ingierstrand, Oppegård Municipality, Akershus in 1947, and again (click to fade) in 2006. Both pictures show a number of people on a particularly hot summer day along the Oslo Fjord. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Town of Ålesund, Møre and Romsdal, seen in 1902, and again (click to fade) in 2011. On January 23 1904, Ålesund was hit by a terrible storm, followed by a devastating fire. The strong wind drove the flames from house to house and the town burned for almost 16 hours. In the region, about 850 houses were lost, and around 10,000 people became homeless. Within 3 to 4 years, the Ålesund as it is today rose from the ashes.[Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Engabreen Glacier at Holandsfjorden, Nord, in 1889, and again in 2010. Axel Lindahl’s picture of Engabreen from 1889 shows the foot of the glacier, where there was only ice, glacial gravel, water and bare mountainsides in a seemingly cold and hostile landscape. Now, more than 120 years later, the valley has become far more fertile. Birch forest, shore meadows, willow thickets and marshland have established themselves, while the glacier arm has retreated far back up the mountainside. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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The Borgund stave-church, Lærdal municipality, in 1902, and again (click to fade) in 2004. Stave-churches are unique, both in Norwegian and international-building heritage, and the initiative to save them was the beginning of the heritage preservation movement in Norway. In the Middle Ages, there were around 2000 stave-churches in Norway. Now 28 remain, and the one in Borgund is considered to be the best preserved.[Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Seljestadjuvet, Odda Municipality, Hordaland, seen in 1887, and again (click to fade) in 2004. The pictures show Seljestadjuvet in Odda, one of many road routes, which in the 1880s were considered to be major feats of engineering. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Torpo, municipality of Ål, Buskerud, seen in 1890, and again (click to fade) in 2004. The older photograph shows a typical landscape from the era of manual tools. Out in the field, the many poles laden with drying sheaves of corn are visible. Today most of the farmer’s tasks are done by machinery, and the use of resources has changed drastically. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Town center of Kragerø, Telemark, seen in 1906, and again (click to fade) in 2008. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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A bridge in Flåmsdalen, Aurland municipality, Sogn og Fjordane, seen in 191, and again (click to fade) in 2004. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Kjeåsen Railway Bridge, Drangedal, Telemark, photographed in 1927 and again in 2008 (click to fade). The older image shows Kjeåsen Bridge on December 2, 1927 – the day the Sørlandet Line’s Nordagutu-Neslandsvatn and the Kragerø Line were opened. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Anders Beer Wilse / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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Bakka on the Nærøy fjord, Aurland municipality, seen circa 1890, and again (click to fade) in 2004. In 2005, the fjords of Nærøy and Geiranger were listed on UNESCO’s list of world-heritage sites as western Norwegian-fjord landscapes. The oldest picture shows an environment typical of the time before the first Great Change: many small buildings and an open landscape characterized by manual farming. Today the buildings show a surprising lack of change, while the surrounding landscape has become more wooded. This is due to both natural regrowth and the planting of spruce. [Click the image to view transition.] #CC BY-NC-ND Axel Lindahl / Oskar Puschmann / Skog og landskap bildearkiv / Tilbakeblikk
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