Tag: cultural history

Chefs recreated 200-year-old dishes: “Surprisingly good”

In Norway, women from wealthy families prepared their own meals. This was not the case in other countries in the 19th century.

Want to get started with genealogy research? Here are some tips

"If you're lucky enough to have a criminal, a priest, or nobility in your family, there's a lot of material to find," says genealogist.

Parents make different choices when burying their stillborn child

Each year, 200 children die before or during birth in Norway, leaving parents with tough decisions to make in a short amount of time.

What did people use as rain gear in the past?

ASK A RESEARCHER: It wasn’t until the 1980s that we were able to be completely dry and warm.

Knitting came back, but not hairpin lace. Why?

Some types of needlework disappear, while others become popular again. Have you heard about hairpin lace and the Viking technique of nålebinding?

Horse meat was banned over 1,000 years ago, but that did not keep people from eating it

And yet, the prejudices still remain.

The culture of sleeping: Some slept in rose-painted beds, others barely had time to sleep

In his new book, cultural historian Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen takes us back to a time when decorative beds were a status symbol, and having to share a bed with random relatives was quite normal.

These days we indulge. But in the past, you had to wear ragged clothes and eat bad food in the run-up to Christmas

Even after fasting stopped being a part of the run-up, the idea was still to not treat yourself before Christmas Eve.

This hat marked the beginning of Norwegian national costumes - the bunads

Dark skirts and waists made of wool, with embroidered local patterns. This was how the traditional folk costumes were supposed to be, according to Hulda Garborg - who designed the first bunad.

One of the most famous acts of sabotage during WWII happened in the basement of this building. Now it's open to the public

On a mission to prevent Hitler from developing a nuclear bomb, a group of brave soldiers made their way into the basement where heavy water was being produced. That very basement was rediscovered a few years ago.

Christmas cards haven't always been cute. Rowdy, drunk Christmas gnomes were a popular motif back in the day.

“Some of the early Christmas cards are quite a bit darker than what we’re used to today,” says research librarian at the National Library in Norway.

Is this Norway's new national dish?

A couple of decades ago, Norwegians thought tacos were exotic and exciting. Now 80 per cent eat tacos and other Tex-Mex food more than once a month.

Why did some of the indigenous Sami people revolt in 1852? Two of the rebels tell their stories in a new book.

The Sami were subjected to abuse of power and violence long before the Kautokeino uprising, in which both the sheriff and the local merchant were killed.

The long, harsh Fimbul winter is not a myth

Half of Norway and Sweden’s population may have died. Researchers now know more and more about the catastrophic year of 536.

Heritage conservation and Climate Change: Introducing the Future of our past in the Norwegian context.

Transitions are changes in the way of do things, and to stimulate them it is necessary to expand our understanding of the world and its realities, so we can create new ways to relate to them. Although such proposals seem rather theoretical and abstract, this article will discuss how such transition is happening in the cultural heritage field.

World Heritage in Danger… What Danger?

Bringing heritage back to the people: The cultural politics of the Scandinavian far-right

Early World Heritage politicking at home and abroad

The Lake District – a case of World Heritage perseverance

Archival back-stories of international heritage conservation

The geologist who wanted to understand the Sami

While his scientific contemporaries were exhuming skulls from Sami graves to measure them, the Finnish geologist and amateur anthropologist Väinö Tanner tried to see the Skolt Sami through their own eyes.

Norwegian girls left religious culture for the freedom of New York

Women from southern Norway who immigrated to the United States after World War II swapped the religious culture they came from for modern clothes, high heels, makeup and dance.

Piano – the best suited instrument for the female body

Straddling the legs around a cello was considered immoral; sitting by the piano was more becoming for a lady. Thus, women became important for the development of piano composition and play.

It takes decades to restore a river

No quick-fix can return a river to its natural state after human intervention. It takes at least 25 years for plants to reconquer the banks of a river or stream.

Norwegian fiddle music traditions in the USA die and evolve

Around 360 musicians emigrated from the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle districts to the United States. Nowadays interest extends beyond Norwegian descendants.

Worsted wool was once Norway’s ersatz silk

There was a time when the King forbade Norwegian commoners from wearing silk clothing. The result caused British worsted wool to become all the fashion in Norway.

Swedes in Oslo are tired of negative stereotypes

Young Swedes in Oslo laugh at Swedish jokes in the beginning. But it's not so funny after a few years.

Swedes and Danes dominate Scandinavian Midsummer Eve

A survey shows only 15 percent of Norwegians now celebrate the ancient festivities around the summer solstice.

When rebels dressed in national costumes

Today is Norwegian Constitution Day. Dressing up in national costumes is a big part of the traditional celebration. But no more than a hundred years ago, people were spat on for dressing this way.

Suffering morphs into cosiness in Easter celebrations

Anyone who wishes to be faithful to old Norwegian Easter traditions should eat salted herring and black pudding on Long Friday.

Prostitution in old Oslo

Prostitution was illegal in Norway at the end of the 1800s but allowed in Oslo as long as the women submitted themselves to mandatory medical scrutiny. A new exhibition documents the lives of these women.

Mystical marks in virgin forest explained

The mysterious scars on ancient pine trees in northern Norway have been explained. The pines were once used as a food supplement.

The buildings that tell us who we are

Abandoned school houses receive little attention from central cultural heritage authorities. But for local people the modest buildings represent identity and roots.

The epidemic that was wiped out

Smallpox is one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity, but also a great success story of modern medicine.

Treasures in farm mounds

In North Norwegian farm mounds archaeologists unearth layer upon layer, revealing activities going back to the days of the Vikings. These are now threatened by construction and a warmer climate.

Legacy of a dexterous northerner

Tromsø University Museum has a rocking chair of unknown origin, which demonstrates the handicraft of ordinary people.